The Business Of Congress Classic Reprint PDF Download

Excerpt from An Address to the People and Congress of the United States In every city, town and considerable village in the Commonwealth, there had long been organized, under the authority of the Secretary of the Treas ury, a body of men known as a Board of Trade, an innocent title, little expressive of their true functions. Under the same regulations of the Secretary no shipments of goods to the interior of the State could be made without the permit of the United States Customhouse officers at Cincinnati or Louisville. In order to obtain such a permit the individual applying must have procured the recommendation of the Board of Trade located nearest to his place of business, and that recommendation was given to none but loyal men, each Board establishing its own test of loyalty. Without such recommendation no merchant could hope to add to his stock by importa tion - no mechanic to replenish the materials necessary in his calling. These inquisitorial bodies, therefore, held in their hands the absolute fate of every tradesman and mechanic in the State. The prosperous merchant and needy shop-keeper were alike at their mercy. The tradesman and mechanic were thus left to choose between a vote for Mr. Bramlette and the utter ruin of their business. Such, fellow-citizens, were the circumstances under which the election of August 3d was begun. Its result was no longer doubtful. Had General Burnside designated by name the individuals who should fill the various offices of the State, he would have saved us the expense and trouble of an election -the rights of the people would not have been more flagrantly violated, nor would the officials thus appointed have been any more 'the creatures of his will than are those whom he has more indirectly imposed upon us. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.