The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-12-09
THE MEMORIAL
" THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. OIL
NEW ORLEANS.

VI THE CHAMBER or COMMERCE. OIL
NEW ORLEANS.
1e mis- ExceIIency the President Of TIM
United states, and to the senate ana
Mouse 0f Representatives, respectfully
represents:
That they represent certain commercial in
tnfegts Oh d large area Of the Union lying be
Il tween the Appalachian mountains on the
East and the Rocky mountains on the West
1 This area may. claim an extent OF more thar
4 seven hundred Thousand square miles, with Q
0Opulation Of little less than twenty millions
10 liz not necessary to tabulate the wealth OF
productions OF this commercial district, or tC
estimate the value OF It's agricultural or
3 manufacturing productions. It Ia sufficient
% gay that each has attained an excess above
4 HE domestic and foreign demand.
No one can examine the extrao1 binary in
a crease Of our productions In provisions and
manufactures, and the arrest Of immigration
& 0f rude and skilled labor from Europe, fol
lowed by the stagnation ofcapital and the dis
content of labor without pereeiving that the
b United States has reached by d few gigantic
strides the position as producer which
centuries Of effort. This surplus production
demands more market II cannot, of course
be- exported to Europe, from which country
has come in great part the labor that has
created this surplus. This plethora cannot
fl he absorbed by the home market. Il is only
= hi u new and substantive foreign field that
fhis necessity can be supplied. Nor can we
ssxygv0lUp such market by the means en-
6icyed by European nations for the same
4 purpose. We cannot coolly provide for the
/ Reclamation OF our own surplus population by
Ii civil OF foreign war, or encourage Its de-
DOrtation into other countries. We cannot
0nlarRe the market demand for our own sur
4 plus productions by conquest, or by colonial
fhiB Industrial dilemma without departing
! from the principles OF international justice
which we have been exhorted by the founders
II our government TO hold sacred.
We are the co-occupants OF o continent in
habited by peoples whose political institu-
tio1is are for the most part like our own. We
hAve always dwelt peacefully alongside Of
& &hes0 nations. We have sympathized with
their efforts for freedom, and have aided to
protect them from the expressions of Euro
pHan deHpotlsm with too much fidelity to cre-
Hte any apprehension that we mean aggres-
q 0lVn or acquisition by any unlawful means.
When we consider the great and increasing
1emand Of these countries for the fabrics
ma that the United States produces these,
supplies In an abundance and with perfec-
4 ti0u adequate to the largest demand OF these
&onntries when we remember that the United
Nfntes has stood as the sponsor and protector
u Qf these peoples, and iS even now an insuper-
NbIe barrier between their rights and the des-
Hotlsms from whose grasp they have been
4altvered, o natural surprise arises that these
n friends and allies should carry on SO large, so
11orative and SO exclusive q trade with those
& Instant despotisns and bestow SO small a
s1hAre upon q nation with which their inter-
course would be 30 much more congenial and
xxtfantagpOuS.
We need, indeed, an enlarged continental
policy TO perfect the Independence of these
Peoples. The United States should, with that
66ject, and for Its own interest, encourage re-
S6IproCAl Intercourse with and among It's neigh
b6r nations. It will by such policy create q
sIAtion q demand and supply, with these
HBowers have only. cultivated with military
4 k0ECo and colonial dependence.
II Tho enormous disproportion between our
etional trade with Europe and with the
$V0tlntrieS and colonies OF our own continent,
e shown by the fact that while our whole
$Anreign trade amounted In 1876 to $1,131 14t,-
|@g9, our trade with the countries of this CONT
mont south OF the United States was. accord
Inc 10 the statement Of the Secretary OF the
Treasury, but $1250O0,OoO, while the whole
40r0lgr1 commerce Of these countries was
mo 0OO, 900 for the same year.
n The course OF trade between the interior
f40mmercial district, to which we have re-
l1erred, and foreign countries LIS almost ex-
1l0sively with Europe, and is conducted
Aetern Atlantic ports and cities. This trade
5lA therefore attended with an expense of
transportation across the country and the
|0qa which leaves little profit to the producer
~ Lille uShVy W65UtTu pTOQuCG exported.
4hile the importations are burdened with du-
|1!0s and charges greatly enhancing the for
&tRn cost 70 the consumer. From this course
"a trau0 with Europe your memOrialists can
perceive no relief except through the ocean
hort and outlet of New Orleans. IL ia. how
|Svef, obvious that such portion of Western
rude az may find market in South America
would DO greatly relieved II allowed to pur-
rue direct course between the producer and
|onsumer by way OF the port Of New Or
n i'm sfur.H <.f al
4Omical delivery will be appreciated, when
We remember that only fifteen per cent OF our
purchnse d. tropical products are paid for
|<n trade. and that chiefly In Western provis-
2Qn6, while an annual balance OF more than
0&hty millions Of dollars Is annually liuuida-
"a IA epecie.
The facilities for this direct trade between
me- Interior area indicated and the continental
Arkets will be at once manifest from the
c6 that this great area Is bisected by the
Llsslseippi river and the Northern lakes.
E4en there exists Q chain Of inland seas con-
4eting even the Dominions of Canada with
ne Gull Of Mexico This chain OF inland
eae ~ reinforced and supplemented by par
Hell and diverging lines of railroad connect
InG the great cities Of the rivers and lakes.
ma even the Eastern Atlantic cities, with the
0p1cel seas. We cannot fOrbear adyerting
~ the dlscouraging circumstance that this
Nast region last year imported by this route,
open summer and winter less than eight per
New Orleans i''-'
This unequal and unnatural course OF COM
merce Is entirely attributable, as your memo
Eialists conceive, to two principal causes
n /. The want of proper commercial treaties
md conventions between our government and
those OF the countries and colonies referred to.
a. The want OF adequate facilities OF com
nerctal intercourse between the United States
md especially its western interior and the
Gountries and colonies referred to.
10 Illustrate the first proposition we quote
rom the most recent schedule Of the rates of
1sty imposed by the Spanish government
|MpOr provisions imported into the colonies of
Cuba and Porto Rico: $5 40 per barrel on |
hour .'of American wheat" 64ls cents per 100 |
pounds on Indian corn; 81 As per cwt on |
lard; So "a per cwt upon hams. with similar |
rates upon other products OF the United |
Hates. To these duties, which average about |
30 per cent dd Uatorea.. there has been super !
added q war tax OF % per cent on all goods |
Imported into Cuba. The government of |
Mexico imposes similar rate of duties upon /
bxDvisi0ns which, though 1t does not in |
brms discriminate against the United |
3tAtes, Is In effect collected exclusively upon
49, M mi nv,c