Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1878-07-05
AMERICA AND ENGLAND.
A State of Affairs Which May Restore
Our Long-loSt Prosperity.


harvest prospects in England for the
benefit Of your agricultural readers If
/ | had written three or four weeks AGO
OH this subject should have had to ~
port that everything promised MI I'M
usually large yield of grain the grass
crops having already been far beyond
the average. But y long and Obstinate
spell Of cold and wet weather changed
the aspect ot the growing crops, and
now il is quite certain that our harvest
will be hut poor one. This is I'M
doubtedly II great misfortune for Eng
land, and II comes ut Il time when all
branches of trade are Stagnant. rcr-
hapS some Of Your readers may rcmem-
Ter that nearly two years ago calico
attention TO the declining condition Of
English cotton and iron manufactures
AT that Tune no one was willing to pay
any attention To the question here, or
laughed 1T the idea that American COM
petition could ever njure Lancashire
or Statlordshirc The political econe.
miSts " came forward III body and
proved by figures that England was inn
porting far more than She was export
ing, and consequently must hc growing
richer. In other words, they showed
that the road q wealth is 10 spend twice
rs much rs YOU earn. have some
times tried the experiment for short
period, hut II did not lead to the result
predicted Ivy the philosophers,
Many months have elapsed, and the
tigurc-monscrS are evidently beginning
70 have their eyes opened. we no lon
ger read III the Times city article that
England cannot possibly suffer from
foreign competition. American cali
Goes are i'll every dry goods store
American IRON is being used on English
railroads. The change seems incrcdi-
bic, hut have looked very carefully
into the facts and there cannot hc II
moments doubt with regard to them.
The trade returns for May. which were
only issued yesterday, disclose n startling
state Of affairs startling, that il, to nil
who have nh eve for facts and attach
more Importance to them than to theo-
rcS. The exports again show II falling
oil OF over - per cert. In all depart
mcnts of the cotton and iron trade We
sell less and less to former customers
The writer Of tho Times city article ii
now fairly scared Speaking of iron
and steel manufactures, he says. " At
present il is II trade which must mean
loss, and perhaps ruin in the long rum
to important sections of the communi-
~, for II is II trade carried on ut IN ohvi-
ous loss. Now, when this very rcsalt
was foretold not long ago III Your own
columns and those of one of Your Lon
don contemporaries, the Times, Mr..
Grlilcn. and other political writers treat
ed It M u mere display of stupidity and
| Ignorance. ! must say | wish il Ind
been that and nothing more, for il il not
pleasant to see u national trade falling
into decay.
But what has all this got to do with
American readers, some one may sav.
A good deal. In the first place, it is
America q hope Mr.. Grant White will
allow me to use that word u do not
know of II handler one) which is the
most active and most successful COM
pettor OF England in her present mar
kcts. Then, again, America not only
takes away England's foreign custom
crs, but is undertaking her ut her own
doors-in London Liverpool, and every
large town. While thus cutting her
commercial resources down, she
(Americal grows harvests which no
other country is able to produce and
which England il obliged to buy. This
year, ] understand, You Will have Il very
fine harvest. can only say that it will
be wanted in Europe. Russia has not
grown much more grain than she wants,
and the yield here will be comparative
~ small. Europe must 80 across the
Atlantic for what she needs To make up
her deficient supply Of food. And then
rccollect that il is not for grain only
tnat England now comes with money
in her hand to United States ports. Tie
sale Of American beet is simply enor-
nous, considering that when left New
York in 1876. the trade was almost, If
not quite, unknown. And now we pay
something like $50, 100000 year for
American beefand the business is CON
stantly increasing. 80 that for the
staff Of life, and l.rge proportion
Of the meat consumed, this country
must now depend very greatly on the
United States These are the
facts-draw from them what
conclusion you will. There
is one conclusion which should be dis
posed 70 draw, namely TINT this state Of
affairs must inevitably restore your
long-lost prosperity II il an i'll wind
that blows no one any good. Foreign
capital must necessarily pour into the
country, making up in large measure
for the losses Of the last few years and
infusing new life and energy into all
departments Of trade. This IL as GER
tain rs that the sun viii rise tomorrow.
The recovery Of trade in America doe.
not now depend upon accident or arti-