The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1869-03-31

made to establish manufactures of worsted,
of silk, of linen and hemp, of wooden and
cotton goods made on frames, OF scythes,
saws, files, planes, fish-hooks, lead-peneils,
and so on to the end, or whatever were the
prospects of American wines, 1t is quite GER
tain that if this treaty had been accepted, all
these varied interests, now counted by mill
lions upon millions, would have received
their death knell, or if not their advent
would have been postponed for generation;
and if the treaty had been in force at the out
set of the late rebellion, the Government OF
the United States would have been almost
paralyzed, and without the power to mend
its financial condition so far as that then de-
pended upon receipts for duties upon foreign
merchandise. 1t was found necessary, for
revenue purposes, to place three or four
times the amount of duties upon many of
these articles, which could not have been
done had the Zollverein treaty been in force,
and under such rates of duty the protection
to home manufactures has been so great that
We have largely diminished our dependence
upon foreign supplies for silks, worsteds,
and whole classes of other manufactures in
cluded in the treaties. A great and growing
nation must be left free to act in any and all
emergencies as its honor and interest may
demand.
NATIONAL COMPLICATIONS.
But beyond the general impolicy of such
treaties, and their lack of constitutional au-
thority, there is another, and it would seem,
insuperable, difficulty. Before the Zollverein
treaty had reached us, Lord Aberdeen appears
to have got possession Of its terms, and at
once notified Mr.. Everett, our minister at st.
James, that his Government would claim,
under our treaty of 1915, an equal relaxation
of duties in their favor. Upon the admission
on the part of Mr. Everett, on the propriety
of the claim, provided 1t was accompanied by
the same equivalents, Lord Aberdeen replied
that she conceived by the convention of July,
1915, we should be bound to admit British
fabrics, on paying the same duties as the Ger
man, without any such conditions on their
part" Upon referring to article two OF the
treaty of July 8, 1915, il cannot be said that
the position of Lord Aberdeen, was untena-
bic. The stipulation found there is the very
common one in most modern treaties, and
reads thus:
"No other or higher duties shall be
imposed on the importation into the
United States of any articles the growth,
produce, or manufacture of his Britannia
majesty's territories in Europe than are or
shall be payable on like articles, being the
growth, produce, or manufacture of any
other foreign country"
Our treaty of 1929 with Austria is the same,
but with an additional clause, as follows:
"If either party shall hereafter grant TO
any other nation any particular favor in nav
igation or commerce it shall Immediately be-
come common to the other party freely, when
it is freely granted to such other nation, or
on yielding the same compensation when the
grant is conditional.
The same conditions will be found with our
treaty with Russia in 1882, and with Belgium
in 1915, with this variation: ION allowing
the same compensation or its equivalent if
the concession is equivalent"