The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-07-18
Secretary Evarts Com merciai
Treaties.

with foreign governments to further extend
the markets for our products, is one OF the
most important and welcome which has
been made by the new administration. 1t
shows that the President and the Secretary
of State are aware of the needs OF the coun-
try; and the whole conversation in which
Mr. Evarts developed his ideas and lnten-
tions prove him to have such mastery OF
this subject of our foreign trade as prom
Uses very great good to every interest in the
country from his efforts.
The Secretary frankly declares himself an
opponent of free trade, and it is easy to see
that he is not a doctrinaire in any sense.
He looks Mt the country's interest from the
point of view of statesman, who must have
regard to all sides and all interests, and who
surveys the field in order to seek for prac-
tical and beneficial policy. Hence he
rightly says protection and free trade
are abstract terms. vague in. mean
ing and but little understood" He
will not bind himself to either ;
what he seeks is way to revive our home
industries, now PROSTATE, and our foreign
commerce, almost extinct. Hence he says
"My view is that it is not protection or free
trade so much as full trade that we require.
The vast resources of our country need IN
outlet, as we have recognized SO disastrously
during the past five years. Production is
greater than our home demands, and unless
an outlet is found for this excess we must
still continue to feel the depressing effects"
That is complete statement of the problem
before us. While industry lags and is un-
rewarded and enterprise is stagnant it is
fact, as we have repeatedly pointed out in
the HERALD, that the country was never SO
rich in the tools needed to produce
wealth. We have more machinery OF all
kinds than we ever had before; we
have more skilled mechanics and ar
tisans; the ingenuity Of our people has
perfected labor-saving processes in every
department OF production. And the result
of all this is that we are poor because we are
too rich ; we are suffering because our in
genuity, skill and abundant machinery
enable US easily to make far more than we
can use ourselves Hence our home mar
kets are glutted and our factories stand idle
half the time. Mr.. Evarts rightly says,
s'Unless an outlet is found for this excess we
must still continue to feel the depressing
effects !" and he adds, with equal pertinence
and wisdom, that in order to do this, in
order to make an outlet tor our surplus
products, ''we must offer privileges if we
expect equal benefits" That is to say, we
must buy if we hope to sell. That is too
plain and clear for controversy.
The country will, therefore, hear with
pleasure and with renewed hope for the
future the Secretary's concluding words
'In view Of these facts, the vast resources
of our country, the unrivalled skill of our
artisans and tireless energy of our mef-
chants. it shall be my constant and earnest
aim to further the interests Of my country
by every means possible in the department
under my charge and through its influence
at home and abroad" We are glad to see
passing allusion in Mr.. Evarts' remarks to
the commerce of this hemisphere. We trust
he will give his most earnest attention to this
great trade, which has so lamentably slipped
from our hands, and which we have every
facility for controlling One of the broadcast
and most statesmanlike ideas which has
ever been put forth by American
public men concerns this very matter
Of more intimate, the most intimate, COM
mercial relations between the United States
and the nations of North, Central and South
America. The possibility Of great Ameri-
can Zollverein, n commercial union uniting
all the States of the two American CONT
nents, may be a dream of the future, but it
is dream toward the realization Of which
any American who desires to serve his coun-
try may well work with enthusiasm. We are
now one of the greatest manufacturing ma
tions Of the world. We use more and better
labor saving machinery than any European
people None Of the other nations on these
two continents have yet engaged largely
in manufactures. They are not, like the
people of Europe, our competitors. They
produce mainly the raw materials Of in
dustry and exchange these for manufac-
tured products. They must continue for
many years to do So and they afford an al
most illimitable market for our manufac-
lures, if only we are wise and far-sighted
enough to use our advantages. What we
need to that end is what Mr.. Evarts can do
for us; we need new and better commercial
conventions; we need a thorough revision
of our commercial treaties with those coun-
tries.
few figures will show how great are the
opportunities which we have SO long
neglected for building up market for our
surplus manufactures in this hemisphere
OF the total imports of Mexico, amounting
to over thirty millions, we send her only
five millions. Canada imports about one
hundred and thirty millions per annum,
but takes only thirly-four millions from us,
her nearest neighbor Brazil imports about
eighty-fve millions, but takes beggarly