  He claimed that despite claims that more exports meant a more successful economy,‭ ‬it is actually imports that make an economy successful.  Taylor's defense of free trade and agriculture is a typical example of Old Republican ideals.
‎ ‏	Taylor also places some of the blame on the legislators.‎  ‏He believed that they were corrupt and avaricious,‭ ‬which leads to the support of a privileged minority.  At the same time,‭ ‬he knew that Congressmen could not be unpaid.  He knew that if the salary for a Congressman was too low,‭ ‬that the job would not attract good men.  He believed the trick was to find a rate of pay that was‭ “‬between two extremes‭; ‬one,‭ ‬a rate of wages so low as to expel talents‭; ‬the other,‭ ‬a rate so high as to awaken vices‭” (‬Tyranny Unmasked‭ ‬72‭)‬.  Clearly,‭ ‬Taylor knew which direction the wages had taken to create the current situation.
‎ ‏	Taylor spends a good portion of‎ ‏Tyranny Unmasked proclaiming the evils of protective duties.  He gives many reasons why they are detrimental to the Union,‭ ‬and remarkably for Taylor,‭ ‬most of them are practical rather than ideological.  He begins,‭ ‬of course,‭ ‬by plainly stating that the duties are unconstitutional.  He uses a metaphor that those in power consider the Constitution as‭ “‬a lump of fine gold,‭ ‬a small portion of which is so malleable,‭ ‬as to cover the whole mass‭” (‬99‭)‬.  This strict construction is nothing new for Taylor,‭ ‬or for Old Republicans.  He sees no justification in the Constitution for the tariff,‭ ‬and the only justification outside of it to make the capitalists more wealthy.  In fact,‭ ‬he considered the implications dangerous:‭  “‬If Congress cannot find a line which prohibits it from borrowing and appropriating money to monopolies and exclusive privileges,‭ ‬I do not see why they may not create a king‭” (‬102‭)‬.
‎	‏Beyond its unconstitutionality,‭ ‬Taylor claimed that the tariff was no longer necessary.  He claimed that the only people who profited by it,‭ ‬the capitalists,‭ ‬and this at the expense of the majority of citizens,‭ ‬already had more money than they knew what to do with.  Therefore he wondered why those not profiting should continue to give profit to those that admitted they had an overabundance of their prized paper money.  Additionally,‭ ‬he considered the process that the tariffs were protecting,‭ ‬manufacture,‭ ‬to be injurious to morals.  He claimed that‭ “‬pauperism and crimes are more frequently produced by hard labour for daily wages,‭ ‬than from any other source‭” (‬104‭)‬.  He noted that crime rates were higher in manufacturing areas,‭ ‬such as New York.  One of the crimes he claims increases is smuggling.  He believed that people would find a way to trade their goods regardless of the duty,‭ ‬and that smuggling was the only way to make a profit.  He claimed that smugglers were not thieves,‭ ‬only traders who were enjoying the system of free-trade denied to them by the government.
