The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-06-16
BALANCE OF TRADE ORUDITIEs.


have mastered It's A b C's desire 10 be
amused, allow us to commend 10 their az
ten,ion the vJluminous disquisitions on
that subject which from week 10 week
appear in the Ottaod RepuJlicda over the
signature Of &c. ID. r." The subject seems
20 have become craze with the writer. AZ
rreenbacks were once with Alexander
Campbell and Dr. Adair, and like them he
can write on and write forever on his pet
theme imagining his utterances the essence
OF economic wisdom.
Collected and arranged In order, these
disQuisitions would already fill quite large
volume. Rather by way of amusement
than otherwise, let us take the last chapter
that In the Republican, Of June Sth-if
anything, above an average specimen
analyze II and see what kind of stuff this Is
The chapter is headed"Tariff and Balance
of Trade" II opens by calling attention TO
an alarming export Of gold" now going on.
lis meaning. we are told, Is that we are I'M
porting more goods than exporting-the
balance of trade Is against us, and we are
exporting gold to cover that balance, at the
same rate each week growing poorer. The
eruse of this adverse state of of trade Is
the revision of the tariff In 1888, and the
remedy is increase of tariff taxation.
Now we have gone over the Money Ar
ticles" Of The Mter-Ocean for the past
month or two and have been wholly unable
to find mention Of any alarming or even
unusual expectation of gold. There was
some gold expectation during the last
week or two in May, but II was In connec-
ton with phenomenal glut Of money In
New York." and the hope was expressed
by the money article writer that relief
might come by an export demand" June
Sd the export of gold had entirely ceased,
and June Sth mo further expectation Of
gold is anticipated" Meantime the glut
of money in New York continues-sterling
exchange is dull at 4.SS demand and 1861
60 days--that Is, draft on London for
a pound sterllng-S4S7-can be bought In
New York for "a SS-about 10th of one
per cent. No gold can be exported at such
figure At the same time, the importa-
ton of gold continues to exceed the export.
In 1882 this country imported 420OO,OO0
and exported S23,00O,000; about the same
ratio continued until 1887, when we i'm
ported $G0000000 and exported $4,000.
600.
| That miserable sham called tariff reform
of 1888 had no more to do with these
movements than the last eclipse of the
moon.
But there Is that trouble balance of
trade" against us. Let us see. In 1889,
before that fatal tariff revision, our total
imports less coin and bullion, were $1O7,-
1903; exports 1888 ,239 1872. In 1897
our imports were 1919 l59,4IT; exports,
S703022, 1928. The excess of exports over
imports has ranged along at aboutthe same
figure from 1882 to 1887 showing singular
persistence on the part of the stubborn
figures" totally to ignore the unhappy
tariff revision.
Then bear In mind our exports not only
pay for the goods that came In return, but
out of them must be paid the interest on
many hundreds of millions of stocks and
bonds owned abroad of our States, rail
roads, and other huge corporations, All
this, amounting certainly TO over 100000
600 a year, must be paid by exchange made
by our exports. surely, then, there can be
no immediate danger of this countrys i'm
poverishment by excessive importation Of
foreign goods.
And yet, strange and marvellous rs 1t may
seem to our friend &c. d. IT," II is a settled
axiom in political economy, that no country
can continue permanently prosperous that
exports more than IL imports. For example,
merchant In New York buys $4,000 lbs
of cotton for $4,000 and ships 1t to Europe,
selling II there for $12 1000 net He lays 1t
out in goods and brings back $4,000
worth, which he sells at home for $4,000,
making $4,000 by the transaction. If he
had brought back gold he would have
made but $4,000. This country In 1887
sent abroad $7O3,O22, 1923 worth of goods,
and brought back SOTO ,l50,477. On such
an export, had fair profit been made, her
imports ought to have been 800, 600 600
Instead, however, $500, 900, 900 on the trade,
she made 1t stand of by importing $685.
100000 England is wiser than that Her
exports In 1887 we're $1,343, 1886, 0S5, and
her imports $l,749,3l7, 1860, an excess of
$4O6 600, 900 of imports over exports, nearly
equal 70 our entire imports. Look At III!
A little island no larger than one of our
largest States, with 100000 of people,
imports and exports twice as much as the
whole United States with her 60,O00,0OO Of
peoplel And the excess of 100000 a
year of imports over exports Is the measure
of her profits and the secret OF the enor-
nous wealth OF that little nation whose
a n,