Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1877-09-12
How Shal the Nation Regain
ProSDerity,

multitude OF uSelll Things that the
United States have the facilities for pro
ducing better and cheaper (as can be
demonstrated beyond all question: than
other countries. Why is there no op-
%portunity for the multitude of our
.laborers, who ask for nothing else than
that they may have the opportunity to
support themselves by producing, and
are now denied that opportunity? One
answer Is, that the United States for now
a long series of years has, in its fiscal
policy, denied or ignored the truth of
the above economic, automatic prin-
ciples. 1t has not, indeed, in so many
distinct words said to the American
producers and laborers, You shall not
sell your products and your labor to the
people of other countries, We do not
think it desirable that you should sell
country; and as far as we can interpose
legal Instructions, we don't intend that
you SHALL But N shutting others out,
We have ut the anne time and neces-
sarily, shut ourselves in. And herein
is trouble No. l. The house is too small.
measured by the power Of producing,
for those that live III it. And remedu No.
l is to be found in Withdrawing the bolts,
taking off the locks, opening the doors,
and getting out and clear of all r~estric-
tons on producing and the disposal Of
products.
In fact the country is very much in
the condition Of a merchant who has Il
store advantagcously situated, and its
shelves filled to repletion with n great
variety of desirable goods, The roads
that lead up to the store are in admir-
able condition, with good sidewalks and
s%ignboards and lamps to make sure that
no one goes astray. But when Gus
toners come to the store, they find that
the proprietor has taken down the steps.
walled up the door, and made it so
troublesome to get in that they prefer
to journey by longer and worse roads to
purchase elsewhere. Even if it is only
desired to get into the store, not for the
sake of trading, but of conversing with
the proprietor ON the subject, and show
ing samples of what the outsider would
like to give for what the inside would
like to sell, the outsider (as in the case
of the foreign contributors to the late
Philadelphia exhibition finds to his cost
that eve this is a very troublesome and
veXatious matter.
One of the most striking illustrations
to be found in all history-one that is
going to stand and be quoted for all
time i'll treatices on political economy
of the evil effect of commercial r~estric-
tons i'll limiting trade and industry, and
consequently national development, is
to be found in the history of the COM
mercial relations between the United
States and the British North American
provinces. Thus, in 1928, in the alb
II of anything like commercial free
dom, the aggregate exchanges between
the two countries amounted to only
$20,59l 600. The subsequent year a
treaty Of reciprocity went into effect,
whereby the people of the two countries
were enabled to trade and exchange
their products with little or no obstruc-
ton in the form Of import duties. The
result was that the aggregate of cX-
changes rose the very first year of the
operation of the treaty from S2O,69l 900
to 1884, 900, which subsequently in
creased, year by year, until it reached
the figure of $4,000 600 in 1S62-63, and
SS4,000,OOO III 1S65-66. In this latter
year the treaty Of reciprocity was re-
pealed, and restrictive duties again be-
came operative. The result was that
the annual aggregate of exchanges i'm
mediately fell to S5S,000.0O0; and in
1873, nine full years after the expiration
of the treaty, when both nations had
largely increased in wealth and popula-
ton, the decrease of trade consequent
ON the abrogation of the treaty had
been but little nor than made good;
the probable aggregate for 1879 having
been about $3.50 700.
Again, the quantity of freight-mean-
ing thereby commoditics-transported
on the railroads Of the United States, is
at present at the rate of about two hun
dred millions of tons per annum flor the
year 1876, a period of great industrial
and commercial depression, 1877 ,0S2, 900
tons. If we assume each ton so moved
to be worth on an average but $50 Ia
low estimate), then the value Of the ex-
changes at present annually effected in
the United States, through the agency
Of railroads alone, excluding all other
instrumentalities Of trade-boats, ships,
wagons, animals, and the like-from
consideration, is, in round numbers, ten
thousand millions Of dollars; or, to state
it differently, if the present population
of the United States is forty-four mil
lions, then every 100000 Of its people
now exchange annually commodities
among themselves, through the agency
Of railroads alone, to the value of a thou
sand millions Of doLars. 1t is true that
much of this freight is transported back
ward and Onward under different con