Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-09-12

products. -
In fact the country is very much in
1.-THE condition. ofa merchant sEIo5has
sstore Sad vnntageousk situated, and lis
shelves filled teAgepletion' with aAgreat
variety Of desirable goods. The roads
that lead up to the store are in admir-.
able condition. with good sidewalks and
sIgnboards and lamps to make sure that
no, one. goes ,astray. But when Gus;
TONERS com e to thesstore, they find that
the proprietor has taken down the steps,
walled up the door, and made it SO
troublesome TO getln that they prefer
to journey by .longer and worse roads to
purchase elsewhere Even if it is only
desired torget into the store, not for the
sake of trading, but of converslng with
the proprietor on the subject, and show.
ing samples of what the outsider would
alikete give for what the inside would.
like to sell, the outsider as in the case
of the foreign contributors to the late
Philadelphia exhibition tindsto his cost
that even this is a very troublesom eand
vexatious matter
Onezof the1nost striking Illustrations
to be found mall history-oney that is
going to stand and be quoted for all
time in treatices on political economy
of thezevil effect Of commercial restrie-
items In limiting trade and industry, and
eonsequ national development, is
to be found IN the history Of the COM
merclal relations between the United
States and the British North American
4 provinces Thus, in 1S52-s5533 in the alb
IS sence of anything like. commercial. free:
dom, the aggregate exchanges, between
: the two seouH1tnles oalnounted ito only
sc, 591 900. The subsequent year IA
treaty. of reciprocity went~into effect,
whereby the people Of the two countries
were enabled to trade and exchange
Observation-Disclosures or noaobstruc
ID tionsm the form of import duties. The
result was that the aggregate Of ex-
changes rose the very first year of the
operation of the treaty from $40, 691 900
to $50, 1874, 900, which subsequently in
creased, year by year, until it reached
the figure of $55,000,000 in 1S62-63, and
$S4 100000 in 1866. In this latter
year the treaty of reciprocity was re-
Fpealed, andrestrictive duties again be-
came operative. The result was that
the annual aggregate Of exchanges i'm
mediately fell to $5S,OOo000; and in
1875, nine full years after the expiration
of the treaty. when both nations lad
largely increased NV ca lth and .pepula-
ton, the decrease Of trade consequent
on the abrogation of the treaty had
been but little more than made good;
the probable aggregate for 1875 having
been about $50, 100000
Again, the quantity Enlightenment
: ing thereby comm oditfes-transp orted
~ Il Al Il
at present af the rate of about two hum
dreds millions oftons per annumN for the
year 1876, a period of great industrial
and commercial depression. 1877 .OS2 900
tonsl 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 hke-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 thou
sand millions of dollars It is true that
much of this freight is transported back
ward and forward under different con-
ditions and forms over the same routes,
and does not all represent direct move
nlent between the producers and coil-
sumers; but it is safe oassume that not
one ton is transported a single mile lex
cept for the real or supposed advantage
of somebody, representing producer,
eXchanger, or consumer; and that pro-
ducer, eXchanger, and consumer Jointly
and severally know what-they are about,
and wherein is their interest, better than
any lawmakers can tell them
On the North American continent,
north of the United States, there are at
present about four millions Of people
1925, 219 In 1871 nhabiting the British
Provinces. The line which separates
these Provinces from the United States
IS purely artificial and not natural; and
except where q lake or river has been
accepted and named as the boundary.
no one can readily tell where one couIl-
try begins or the other ends. It stands,
therefore, to reason, that were it not for
5 artificial barriers, arbitrarily set=slp by,
legislation, men and commodities would
pass as freely between the type ries
as they now do between different sec
tons of thegPro9nces, otssbetWeen the
different states Of the .4Anpresn upialI.
y sariide2that ztIae-H eth otls and amot1t'of
i s~s snsn3s 75sH sn95sy
subject to the ssne'infuepsess Bwtlle
aatlDnd isldlstys add effecting. RATIONAL
! gdevelopm ent has beelh mainly instru-
menta Ehl Sestab ing an manner of ar
bitrary and burdensome restrictions on