The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1884-07-19

industries of the nation.
OUR FOREIGN COMMERCE.
A frequent accus atlon by our oppc
nents is that the foreign commerce U
the country has steadily decayed IN
der the influence of the protect'v
tariff. In this way they seek t.
array the importing interest agains
the republican party. It is a com
mon and yet radical error to con
found tn commerce of the countr.
with It's carrying trade; an errO
often committed innocently anC
sometimes designedly. bat an erro.
so gross that it does not distin guisf
between the ship and tn
cargo. Foreign commerce repre-
sents the exports aud imports Of
q country regardless of the natiOnali'
ty of the vessel that may carry the
commodities of exchange. Our car
ryiug trade has from obvious causes
suffered many discourag-ments
since 1860, but our foreign commerce
has in the same period steadily and
prOdiglOusly increased. Increased
indeed ut u rate aud to All amount
which absolutely dwarfs all previous
| developments of our trade beyond the
seas. From 1860 to the present time
the foreign commerce of the United
States divided with approximate
| equality between exports and inns
pUrts reached the astounding aggre-
gate of $24 900, OOO, 600.
The balance in the vast commerce
is inclined in our favor, but it would
have been much larger if our trade
with the countries Of America, else
where referred t., had been more
wisely adjusted. 1t il difficult even
to appreciate the magnitude of our
export trade since 1860, and we
c N gain a c. rect conception of it
only by comparison with preceding
results in the same felt. The to!al
exports from the United States from
The declaration of Independence in
1776 down to- the day OF LincolE's
election in 1860, added TO ali that
had previously BEEN exported,
from the American colonies, from
their original settlement amounted
TO less than SO. 900 zoo, 900. On the
other hand our expprts from 1860 to
the close of the last fiscal Year ex-
ceeded $l2, 600, ZOO, 900, the whole of
it being the proouct Of American
labor. Evidently protective tariff
has not injured L exports when
under its influence we export
ed in taenty-four years 40 per
cent. Llore than the total amount
tina had been exported in the entire
previous history of American com
merce. All the details when
analyzed correspond with this
gigantic result. The CONNER
cial cities OF the United States
never had such agrowth az they have
enjoyed lnc 1866. Our chief en-
porium, the City of New York, with
its dependencies, has within that
doubled her popula ion and !
increased her wealth tive fold. Dur |
the same period the imports and
exports which have entered and left
her harbOr are than doubled in
bulk and Value the whole amount |
reported by her between the settle,
ment Ofthe first dutch colony on the
Island uf Manhattan, and the out
break of the civil war in 1860.
AGRICULTURE AND THE TARIFF.
This interest is by tar the largest
IN the nation, and is entitled in
every adjustment of the revenue to
first consideration. ANY policy
hostile to the fullest development of
in the United States |
nust be abandoned. Realizing this
the opponents of the present
'ystem OF revenue rave labored very
earnestly to persuade the farmers Of
he United States that they are
'obbed by a protective tariff and the
fort is thus made to consolidate their
influences in favor Of free trade.
sut happily the farmers of America
re Intelligent and cannot be misled
y ssphistry when conclusive facts
re before them. They see
that during the past
Wenty four years wealth has not
cen acquired in one section or-hv
interest at the expense of another {
ecti'n or interest. They see that
he agricultural States have been t
ven more rapid in their progress s
the manufacturing States. The /
'rmers See that in 1860 Massachu- {
Its and illinois had about the same
'eailh, between $500, 600, 900 and t
each, aud that in 1880
massachusetts, had advanced to 81
10, U O,OOO, while Illinois had xd- O
anced to 50, zoo, O0O, 600 They see J
lat New jersey and Iowa were lust I
lual IN population in 1860, and tnat y
twenty years the wealth of NewJer> y
a. increased by the sum OF $780, i.
10000, while the wealth of Iowa 1
as increased by the sum of 81, 800. t'
1900. They see that the nine -"
aiding agricultural States of tn II
est have grown so rapi lily IN pros Il
Gritty That the aggregate addition to Il
'elr wealth siuce 1860 is almost as II
eat as the wealth Of the eutire d
'untry in that year. They see that a
10 South, which is almost exclus. b
ely agricultural, has shared in the 81
neral prosperity, and that ="
avlng recovered from the loss pi
I'd devastation of war has p'
so rapidly that it's total NJ
ealth is at least double that which CT
possessed in 1869 exclusively of e,
ayes. In the e extraordinary de- d.
lOpments the farmers see the helm I'll
| Influence of a home market. and z;
ey See that the financial and reve. de
lie system enacted since the Repub. t.
party Came into power has II,
tablished and constantly expanded H
e home market. They see that al
en- in the case Of wheat, l.,
1lch Is your chief cereal W
port, they have sold an sh
erage during the years since fri
e close of the wal of three bnsh-ls Of
home to onethey have sold abroad de
q that in the increase of corn. 1,,e tn
~ other cereal which we export IN tn
y extent, me hundred bushels I {
been used at home to three LIZ
q a half bushels exported. In he
years the disparity has been a. lir
'at that for every peck If corn de
one hundred bushels have arr
n consumed in the home mar tn,
). The farmers see that IN
Increasing competition from
grain fields of Russia snd
distant plains of India. the