The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1884-07-30
but they should not forget that the law

OraDiy applied TO the REDUCTION OF Cue
public debt and the consequent relief
of the burden of taxation. Not a dollar
has been wasted and the only extrava-
gance with which the party stands
charged is the generous pensioning of
soldiers, sailors and their families-an
extravaganza which embodies the
highest form of justice in the recogni-
ton and payment of a sacred debt.
When a reduction of taxation is to be
made, the republican party can De trust
ed to accomplish it in such a form as
will most effectively aid the industries
of the nation. Our foreign commerce.
frequent accusation by our opponents is
that the foreign commerce OF the coun-
try has steadily decayed under the inf,l-
ence of the protective tariff. In this
way they seek to Array the importing
interest against the republican party.
1t is a common and yet a radical error
to confound the commerce of the coun-
try with its carrying trade, al error
often committed innocently and M
times designedly, but an error SO gross
bat it does not distinguish between the
ship and the cargo. Foreign commerce
represents the exports and imports of a
country regardless of the nationality of
the vessel that may carry the commodit-
les of exchange. Our carrying trade has
from obvious causes suffered many dis
co~uragements since 1860, but foreign
commerce has in the same period steadi-
ly and prodigiously increased, increased
indeed at a rate n to an amount which
absolutely dwarfs all previous develop
ments OF our trade beyond the sea.
From 1860 to the present time the for
eign to the Unitdd States,
divided with approximate equality be-
| tuynaY nvnnrfc anI norarfr hao rao0hnI
the astounding aggregate of twenty-four
thousand millions of dollars.
The balance of the vast commerce
inclined in our favor, but it would have
been much larger if our trade with the
countries of the American continent,
elsewhere referred to, had been more
wisely adjusted. It is difficult even to
appreciate the magnitude of our export
trade since 1850, and we can gain a cor
rect conception of it only by a compari-
son with the preceding results in the
same field. The total exports from the
United States from the declaration of
independence, 1776, down to the day of
Lincoln's election in 1860, added to all
that has previously been exported from
the American colonies from their origi-
nal settlement, amounted to less than
nine thousand millions Of dollars. On
the other hand our exports from 1860 to
the close of the present year exceeded
twelve thousand millions Of dollars
the whole Of it being the produce of
American labor. Evidently a protective |
tariff has not injured our export trade,
when under it's influence we exported in
tWenty-four years forty per cent more
than the total amount that had been
exported in the entire previous history
of the country. All the details when
analysed correspond with this gigantic
result. The commercial cities of the
Union never had such growth as they
have enjoyed since 1860. Our chief
emporium, the city of New York, with
its dependencies, has within that period
doubled her population and increased
her wealth. During the same period
entered and left her harbor are more
han double il bulk and value, the
whole amount reported by her between
the settlement of the first Dutch colony
on the Island of Manhattan and the
outbreak Of the civil war in 1860.
The agricultural interest is by far the
largest i'll the nation, and is entitled in
every adjustment OF revenue to the first
consideration. Any policy hostile to
the fullest development Of agriculture in
the United States must be abandoned.
Realizing this fact, the opponents of
the present system of revenue have la
bored very earnestly to persuade the
farmers OF the United States that they
are robbed by a protective tariff, and an
effort is thus made to consolidate their
vast influence in favor of free trade;
but, happily, the farmers Of America
are intelligent, and cannot be misled by
sophistry. When conclusive facts are
before them, they see plainly that dur
ing the past twenty-four years wealth
has not been acquired in n section Or
by one interest at the expense OF an
other. They see that the agricultural
states have made even more rapid pro-
gress than the manufacturing states.
The farmers see that in 1860 Massachu-
sets and Illinois had about the same
wealth-betWeen eight and nine hun
dred million dollars each-and that in
1880 Massachusetts had advanced to
twenty-six hundred millions, while IL
liuois had advanced to thirty-five hum
dred millions. They see that New Jer-
sey and Iowa were just equal in popula-
ton in 1860, and that in twenty years
the wealth of New Jersey was Increased
by the sum Of eight hundred and fifty
millions of dollars, while the wealth OF
Iowa was increased by the sum of fifteen
hundred millions. They see that the
nine leading agricultural states of the
west have grown SO rapidly in prosper
ity that the aggregate addition to their
wealth since 1860 is almost as great as
the wealth of the entire country in that
year. They see that the south, which
is almost exclusively agricultural, has
shared in the general prosperity, and
that having recovered from the loss and
devastation of war, has gained so rapid
ly that it's total wealth is double of that
which it possessed In 1860. exclusive OF