The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 THE CRITICAL PERIOD 625Meanwhile, the different states,with their different tariff and tonnageacts, began to make commercialwar upon one another. No sooner hadthe other three New England statesvirtually closed their ports to Britishshipping than Connecticut threw herswide open, an act which she followedby laying duties upon imports fromMassachusetts. Pennsylvania discriminatedagainst Delaware, andNew Jersey, pillaged at once by bothher greater neighbours, was comparedto a cask tapped at both ends.l 6Trade discriminations sometimeslead to war. Not only was therethe possibility that one Americanstate might go to war against itsneighbor but also that discriminationsagainst or by foreign countriesmight lead some country togo to war against a state. In sucha case, the United States wouldbe drawn into the war, for theauthority to make war was vestedin Congress. To say the least,·thesituation was anomalous.It is strange, but true, that theevents which finally provokedAmericans to do something aboutthe union did not directly involvethe Congress and its ineffectiveness.Perhaps it is not so strangeon reflection, for Congress rarelydid anything. The failure to actmay·be indictable, but I think itwould be .hard to get a jury toconvict. Congress presented a lowsilhouette to its critics. True, itrepudiated its currency, could notpay its debts, could not force thestates to meet their quotas, couldnot protect its citizens abroad, anddid not ·do most of the things itwas authorized to do with muchenergy. But, then, it seldom gaveoffense, and. people spread overa vast land were more used toopposing government action thanseeking it. It is most probable thatif some crisis had swept the Congressaway it would have gonewith a whimper rather than abang. In- our day, we have seenexile governments seeking a countryto govern; the United Stateswas an exile country awaiting agovernment.Trouble in Rhode IslandIt was trouble in New Englandin 1786-87 that aroused fearswhich prompted men to action.Paper money, taxes, and debtswere the occasion of challenges tosome state governments. Moststates were under pressure tomake paper money issues. Sevenhad done so by 1787 but, as mightbe expected, there was considerableopposition to such actions.Rhode Island not only issued papermoney but revived harsh methodsto try to make it circulate.Faced with fleeing creditors andmerchants abandoning the state,the "legislature passed an act de':'claring that anyone refusing to