Which it should be was determined by the unfolding of events not then foreseen, and the force of which it required years to measure.
The one excuse given for urging the passage of the Act of 1857 was that under the tariff of 1846 the revenues had become excessive, and the income of the government must be reduced.

But it was soon found to be a most expensive mode of reaching that end.

The first and most important result flowing from the new Act was a large increase in importations and a very heavy drain in consequence upon the reserved specie of the country, to pay the balance which the reduced shipments of agricultural products failed to meet.

In the autumn of 1857, half a year after the passage of the tariff Act, a disastrous financial panic swept over the country, prostrating for the time all departments of business in about the same degree.
The agricultural, commercial, and manufacturing interests were alike and equally involved.

The distress for a time was severe and wide-spread.