The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1884-07-10

ready answer is that She has no more favorable
i posotion with regard to those countries THAI
can pc readily and easily ACQUIRED by the
United states with respect to ali the countries
ever the United States desires it and wills it
and Is ready to take the steps necessary To st,-
cure ~. Az present the trade with Spanish
america runs so strongly in channels adverse
TO US, that beside our inability to furnish man
fractured articles, we do not get the profit ON
our own raw products that are shipped there.
| Our petroleum reaches most of the Sln,nisI,
American ports after twice crossing the A1IulI-
tic, paying often better profit to the European,
| middle man who handles 1t than it does 10 the
producer OF the oil in the northwestern coun-
t1es OF Pennsylvania. Flour and pork from the
west reach Cuba by way of Spain, and though
| we buy and consume ninety per cent OF the
total products of Cuba, almost that proportion
VI nor purchases are made in Europe-made, of
course, with money furnished directly from
our pockets.
AS our exports to Spanish America grow less.
az S LhuILopean exports constantly grow larger,
tne balance against us will show an annual in
crease, and will continue to exhaust our supply
1a tne precious metals. We are increasing our
we annually pay for coffee, wool, hides. guano
cnlncona. caoutchouc, cabinet woods dive
Mooas ana other articles, go for the ultimate
per or European manufacturers who take
S sne goid from us and send their fabrics to
Spanlsn America live could send our fabrics.
our gold would stay at home and our general
prosperity would be sensbly Increased. Ant so
iong US we repel Spanish America SO long as we
leave leave ner 10 cultivate intimate relations with
|
remain unsatisfactory and even embarrassing.
Ihose countries sell to us very heavily. They
thssv i bpine u ns very f lightly And the amount
tne heaviest aggregate balance of trade we ever
a1sro ag1ast us In the worst of times. The
IN tne nve most adverse years we ever expe-
| 5,ie1n1ceu, was about one hundred millions of
dollars This plainly shows that in our Euro
pean exchanges there is ALWAYS q balance In onr
favor and that our chief deficiency arises from
our our masi-ad1usted commercial relations with
foil a.. al.
American trade were placed on a better and
more equitable foundation, it would be almost
us, 10 bring us in debt to the world
WIN such heavy purchases as we are COM
Peiiea 70 make from Spanish America, it could
naardiy pc expected that we should be able TO
ADJUST the entire account by exports, But the
pttiance against us of one hundred and twenty
t9 IN gold coin is far too large and in
lime ZINE OF stringency is q standing menace of
financial disaster. 1t should not be forgotten
tnat every million dollars of products or fabrics
Lnat we sell IN Spanish America is a million
dollars i'll gold saved to our own country. The
immediate profit is 10 the producer and the
exporter, but the entire country realizes gain
~ ~, Ine ease ana athuence of the money market
which iAinsured by Keeping our gold at home.
The question Involved is so large, the object to
De achieved Is so great, that no effort on the
part OF the government to accomplish it could
be TOO earnest or too long continued
II Is only claimed for the Peace Congress. de-
signed under the administration of Garfield,
that IL was an important and Impressive step
on tne part Of the United States towards closer
The present tendency in those countries is
towards Europe, and 1t is q lamentable fact
ing as they We're sixty years ago when they
threw OFF the yoke OF Spanish tyranny We
We're Then weak republic of but ten millions,
out We did not hesitate to recognize the indie
pendence OF the new governments, even at the
FISK OF war with SPAIN Our foreign policy at
that time was especially designed to extend
our influence i'll the Western hemisphere, and
the statesmen of that era-the era Of Dewitt
CLINTON and The younger Adams, OF Clay and Of
Buren, and Benton. of Jackson and Edward
L1vngston-Were always courageous in the in
spring measures which they advocated for the
expansion OF our commercial dominion.
Three score years have passed. The power of
the Republic In many directions has grown be-
yono all anticipation, but we have relatively
lost ground in some great fields of enterprise.
We have added thousands of miles to our ocean
front, but our commerce has fallen off, and
from ardent friendship with Spanish America
we have dr1fted into Indifference If not into
coldness 1t is but one step further to reach
q condition OF positive unfriendliness, which
may end i'll what would be equivalent to a COM
mercial alliance against us. Already one of the
most dangerous of movements-that of a Euro
pean guarantee and guardianship of the the
Inter-Oceanic Canals suggested and urged
upon the Great Forign Powers by representa-
tfves of South American country. If these
tendencies are to be averted, if Spanish Amer
lean friendship is to be regained, If the COM
mercial empire that legitimateIy belongs to us
is to be ours, we must not lie idle and witness
It's tfensier to others. If we would reconquer
1t, great first step is to be taken. 1t is the
counts Can there be suggested wiser step
than the Peace Congress of the two Americas
that was devised under Garfield and had the
weight of his great name?
In no event could harm have resulted from
the assembling of the Peace Congrass Failure
was next to impossible. Success might be re-
garded as certain. The subject to be discussed
was Peace, and how it can be permanently pre-
served in North and South America. The labors
OF the Congress would have probably ended in
Well-d1gested system of Arbitration, under
which all future troubles between American
q and 80
factoriiy adjusted. Such contamination
would have been worth u great struggle and
great sacrifice. 1t could have been reached
without any struggle and would have involved
no sacrifice. 1t was within our grasp. 1t was |
ours for the asking 1t would have been q sig
nal victory of philanthropy over the selfish
ness Of human ambition; a complete triumph
OF Christian principles applied to the affairs
OF Nations. 1t would have reflected enduring
honor on our own country and would have i'm
parted new spirit and new brotherhood to
all America. Nor would its influence beyond
The seas have been small. The example of
seventeen independent Nations solemnly |
agreeing to abolish the arbitrament of the !
sword, and to settle every dispute by peaceful |
methods of adjudication, would have exerted |
an influence to the utmost confines of civilian l
ton, and upon the generations of men yet to |
come.