St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-10-03
OUR COMING VISITORS.

It was wise suggestion on the part
of somebody that the delegates to the
American congress which assembled in
Washington yesterday should spend six
weeks in rambling over this country
and studying its resources and great
capabilities before settling down to the
work of the conference. The congress
was only organized yesterday, and to-day
the delegates will set out on tour of
the country, which will include visit
to our Twin Cities; and after swinging
around the circle they will return to
Washington about the middle of No.
Yember, when the earnest work of the
congress will begin. In the meantime
our own delegates will have refreshed
their knowledge of their own. country,
and the representatives from the
other countries will have acquired a
vast store OF information about the
affairs of this country which they could
not have obtained otherwise. 1t is a
singular fact that the people of South
and Central America know less about
the United States than any country on
the face of the globe. Their commerce
is mainly with European nations; their
lines of communication are almost sen-
tirely with other countries; and speak
ing, as they do, language foreign to
ours, there is no reason why they should
have anything more than a superficial
knowledge of our affairs. 1t is in no
vainglorious spirit that we speak when
we say that the things that the repre-
| sentativeS of the American countries to
the south of us Will see on their six
| weeks travel through this country will
be revelation to them. They are an in
| telligent and well-informed body of gen.
! tlemen, and yet their fund of knowledge
gathered from books and from the de-
| scriptiOnS given by other travellers can
not possibly prepare them for the gor-
| geOus revelation that will greet their
vision as they sweep across the con-
tinent on this hurried visit. They will
90 back to Washington with good deal
bigger ideas of this country than they
ever had before, and will have their de-
| sire to enter into closer relations with
us stimulated.
There is one great barrier, however,
which stands in the way of our cultivat-
| ing closer commercial relations with our
| neighbors to the south of us, and until
that is broken down we fail to see how
| any Roadway is to be made. We allude
to the tariff. The steamship subsidy
scheme would be a good thing for the
owners of the brazilian steamship line,
| but it cannot counteract the effects
| OF our high tariff in repelling
South American trade from this
country. AS long as the duties on the
! products OF South America are MAIN
tanned at the present high standard, it
| is folly to suppose we can induce our
! South American neighbors to trade
/ with US when there are so many free
/ ports open to them in other parts Of the
! w0rlC;. it is the current belief at
! Washington that Secretary BLAINE is
so anxious to make a mark on his
| Western hemisphere policy that he is
actually willing to throw to the winds
the protection doctrines which he has
| made so conspicuous in two campaigns,
and will advocate revision of the
! tariff so as to admit all raw material
; free in case the South and Central
American delegates insist upon it. Mr..
CLEVELAND was probably right when he
asserted that an educational campaign
| was necessary in order to bring the
American people to full realization of
the necessity for tariff revision. The
/ good effect of recent educational work
is most apparent when Mr.. BLAINE, the
| apostle and high priest of protection. is
(: ROW counted among the tariff reform
/: prop.etS. If the Three Americas can
aTiGg s;cUt tariff reform in this protec-