[LS]

There is no such thing as a "true revenue tariff." ANY good or service produced outside the country that is subject to taxation 1) will be imported around the law; and 2) will have bad impacts inside this country.

Your touting of Hamilton's original tariff is pretty weak. Hamilton from the get-go did not want a "revenue" tariff but a TARGETED tariff for "protection." However, the more evidence we have about that, the more we find that these industries would have survived without the protection. But it appears that is not what you are arguing.

However, as to the notion that "revenue" tariffs served the nation well, there are two things to keep in mind. First, LAND SALES, not tariffs, were the major source of revenues for the young country. Second, the size of government was so small that the combination of land sales and tariffs generated needed revenue. However, the first time the country got in any kind of war, the tariff revenues dried up, because Britain was no longer trading with us, and more important, we found that tariff revenues NEVER came close to supplying the money needed in emergencies.

[Willie Green]

First, LAND SALES, not tariffs, were the major source of revenues for the young country.

Land sales merely represent the divestiture of assets.
They are not a sustainable source of revenue over the long term.
Sooner or later, you run out of assets (land) to sell.

Second, the size of government was so small that the combination of land sales and tariffs generated needed revenue. However, the first time the country got in any kind of war, the tariff revenues dried up, because Britain was no longer trading with us, and more important, we found that tariff revenues NEVER came close to supplying the money needed in emergencies.

Well, that "problem" certainly doesn't exist anymore.
We now have a bloated government that needs to be reduced in scope.

And we participate in a "global" economy, dependent on imports that virtually guarantee that tariff revenues will never "dry-up".

Care must be taken that a revenue tariff is not set so high that revenues begin to decline with imports. But at lower tariff rates, revenues DO increase with an increase in rate. It is a nonlinear function, with an optimal peak where revenues are maximized. This is where a revenue tariff should be established, allowing for reduction of other, more onerous forms of domestic taxation.