the tariff would have probably been an untenable political liability for the Republicans. It not only raised consumer prices, it generated a surplus that gathered in the treasury, exacerbating the inadequate money supply. Henry Blair, a senator from New Hampshire and an ardent protectionist, had a solution. By spending the surplus the tariff generated to create a federal welfare system, he diminished the surplus, expanded the realm of the federal government, and created powerful constituencies that would serve to sustain both the tariff and the Republicans.
