The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-07-24


cargo. The foreign commerce rep
, sents the exports and imports of
country regardless of the national
of the vessel that may carry the co
moditie5 of exchange. Our carryl
trade has, from obvious causes, sun
ed many discouragements since 10
n but our foreign commerce has, In
= same period, steadily and continuous
increased-irdeed, at a rate and to
amount which absolutely dwarts
previous developments OF our ira
beyond the sea.
From 1860 to the present time t
commerce of the United States, div
ed with approximate equality betwe
exports and imports. reached the
founding aggregate of $24,OCO,OOO,Ot
The balance in this vast commerce
clined in our favor, but it would ha'
been much larger if our trade with
THE COUNTRIES OF AMERICA,
elsewhere referred to, had been mo
wisely adjusted. 1t is difficult even
approximate the magnitude OF the e.
port trade since 1860, and we can ga
a correct conception only
comparison with preceding results
the same field. The total exports fror
the United States from the declaratio
of independence in 1916, down to tn
day of Lincoln's election, in 1856
added to all that had previously bee
exported from the American colon1e
from their original settlemtn
amounted to less than $9,OOO,OOO,OOl
On the other hand our exports iron
1860 to the close of the last fiscal yeal
exceeded $I2 OOO,OOOO00, the whole o
it being the product OF Amer
can labor. Evidently a protectlv
tariff has not injured the export trad
when, under it's influence, we exported
in twenty-four years, 40 per cent
more than the total that had been ex
ported in the entire previous history
of American commerce, All the de
tails correspond with this gigantic re
sult.l
THE COMMERCIAL CITIES.
of the union never had such a growth
as has been enjoyed since 1860. Our
chief emporium-New York city-with
its dependencies has, within that peri
cd doubled her population and increas-
ed her wealth five-fold during the same
period. The imports and exports
which have entered and left her har-
Dor, are more than double in bulk and
value the whole amount imported
and exported by her, between the set
Element of the first Dutch colony on
the Island of Manhattan, and the out.
break of the civil war in 1860.
AGRICULTURE AND THE TARIFF.
The agricultural interest is the largest
in the nation, and is entitled, in every
of the revenue laws, to
the first consideration. Any policy
hostile to the fullest development of
agriculture in the United States must
be abandoned. Realizing this, the OPP
ponents of the present revenue system
have labored earnestly to persuade the
farmers of the United States that they
are robbed by a protective tariff, and
he effort is made to consolidate their
vast influt nee in favor of free trade.
But the farmers of America are In
telligent and can't be misled by
when conclusive facts are
set before them. They see plainly
hat during the past twenty-four
years, wealth has not been acquired
n one section, or by one interest, at
he expense of another section or an
,ther interest. They see the agricul-
,ural states have made even more
'apid progress than the manufactur-
ng states. The farmers see that in
$40 Massachusetts, and illinois
lad about the same wealth
between eight and nine hundred mill
on dollars each, and that, in 1880,
had advanced to 3d.
while Illinois advanced to
$, 200, 100000. They see New Jersey
md Iowa were just equal in popula-
ion in 1860, and in twenty years the
wealth OF New Jersey was increased
" the sum of $e50,0OO,000, while the
wealth of Iowa was increased by the
UNI of 81, O0,000,000. They see that
he nine leading agricultural states of
he west have grown so rapidly in
prosperity that the aggregate addition
o their wealth, since 1860, is almost
s great as the wealth of the entire |
ountry in that year. They sac
THE SOUTH,
which is almost exclusively agricul-
ural, shared in the general prosperity,
md that, having recovered from the
oss and devastation of the war, has
S, at least, double that which it pos
essed in 1860, exclusive of slaves.
OUR FOREIGN POLICY.
We are at peace with the world; at
PEACE and upon sound basis-with
10 unsettled questions of sufficient
to embarrass the United
States. The United States has no
,ause, and no desire to engage in con-
iict with any power, and we may rest
n assured confidence that no
power desires to attack the
United States. With the nations
Of the western Hemisphere, we Guilt
Vate closer relations. and for our COM
mon prosperity, and advancement
should invite them all to join US in an
agreement that. for the future, all in
troubles, in North or South
America, shall be adjusted by impair
5ial arbitration, not by arms. This
protect was part of the fixed policy of
President Garfield, and it should. in
my Judgment, be renewed. The
effect even of suggesting it to
the Spanish American States has
been most happy, and has in
creased the confidence of those
people in our friendly disposition.
It fell to my lot as secretary of state
in June, 1881, to quiet apprehension
in the republic of Mexico, by giving
in an official dispatch, that
there was not the faintest desire in
the United States for territorial eX-
tension south of the Rio Grande. We
seek the conquests of peace. We de-
sire to extend our commerce, and, in
a special degree, with our friends and
on this continent. We have
not improved our relations with
SPANISH AMERICA
as wisely and as persistently as we
might have done. For more than a
the sympathy of those
countries has been allowed to drift
away from us. We should now make
every effort to gain their friendship
Our trade with them is already large
During last year our exchange in the
western hemisphere amounted to
$780, 900, 000-nearly one-fourth of our
entire foreign commerce. To those
who may be disposed to under-rate the
value of our trade with the countries
of North and South America, it may
be well to state that their population
is 100000, and that. in proportion
to the aggregate number we import
nearly double as much from them as
we do from Europe. But the result
of the whole American trade is, in a
high degree, unsatisfactory. The i'm
ports during the past year
exceeded 1929, 100000, while
the exports were less than
one hundred and twenty-five millions,
showing a balance against us of more
than S100,000,0O0, but the money does