New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1874-05-28
The "ReCfP. Il city" Intrigue.

The public have seen with surprise. not
unmixcd with Indignation, concerted effort,
clearly of Canadian origin, to fill the Jour-
nails that could be SO used, with misleading
statements in regard to the trade of Canada
with the United States, and to give color to
the. pretense that public opinion in this coun-
try desired the renewal of the old miscalled
'Reciprocity" treaty of 1854. This work is
all of the same style, and all originates in
the well-paid intrigue set on foot some months
since by the Dominion Parliament. It finds
ready assistants in all the professional free
traders, who thrive upon such foreign aid,
and the organs of this miscalled public opn-
ion readily place these untruthful statements
in their columns as matters of fact. We
propose to examine a few of them. little as
they deserve anybody's serious attention,
only because their authors have succeeded
in getting them into print ia circular to
members of Congress.
All these statements open with the asser-
ton that Canada has benefited, and we have
lost, by the abrOgation Of the old treaty
and that, as consequence, We want return
TO 1t, which they are reluctant to agree to.
Nothing could be more false than this asser-
ton or implication. Not a voice has been
lifted on our side otherwise than to denounee
1t as ham-always excepting certain mer-
cenary claquers paid to make cutlery. The
people of every State, town, and farm along
our entire border cry out against the free
admission OF Canadian products to markets
they do nothing to protect and sustain.
Practical enemies to us during the war, they
are enemies to our industry during peace /;
yet they wish to cheat or force every farmer
and producer of the States along the border,
down to the low level to which their errors
OF policy have sunk them, Or to lift them
selves up to degree of compensation for
their labors which our rich markets alone can
afford.
fCanada would assimilate its institutions
and social, as well as political, system more
nearly to our own, we could then afford to
enter into closer commercial relations. But
1t Is in almost everything a dependency of
the mother country, and servile imtator of
The tree trade policy that has its agents work.
ing everywhere to assail lis. One of the
chicago organs Of this Canadian intrigue
states "the probable scope" of this expected
treaty to be free exchange of "manufac-
lures OF iron and steel" among many other
articles, the clear purpose of which is to get
British manufactures into this country by
way OF Canada, when they cannot come
direct. And then 'all the products of the
farm, the forest, mines, and water; also ami
mails, meats, and products of the dairy"
shall also be exchanged free which means
that all Canada, with its associated provinces.
produce shall come untaxed into our mark
cts, with British manufactures of iron and
steel, while we absolutely sell them nothing
IN return. We cannot sell anything there,
because they pay no adequate prices, even
II they had power to consume, which they
nave not. lsit not absurd to talk of opening
their market to us, when every conceivable
article bears much better Arice in our own
markets: Does anybody send wheat there
to sell while the market is always twenty
cents bushel better here than there: And
so OF every other article.
But in the statistics these intrguers think
they have handsomely caught US, since these
statistics show largo nominal o.unrt of
flour and grain to Canada. The New Yorl,
World, in sustaining its part Of the intrigue,
has table showing the "exports" of our
products to Canada, as follows: