The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-04-01

CONSENT.
1t may well be asked whether favorable
response would be received from Canada
and from England to an invitation for com
mercial union. That question may be truly
answered in the affirmative. 1t must be adj
mitted that the position of the present gov
eminent is opposed to the freest trade rela-
tions with the United States. tits true that
pursuance Of the national policy now pre-
vaillng in Canada is Numerically opposed
to commercial union with the United States;
but great and important change has occur
red in the sentiment of the people at large.
The vast majority of the population OF Can
ada is made up OF four classeS-the farmer,
the fisherman, the lumberman and the miner.
These combined number five to one as
compared with the mercantile. manu-
featuring and professional class. No event
in the whole category of events could occur
which would so much benefit the vast major
ity. Every tree that waves in the breeze
would be worth dollar to two dollars more.
and the lumbermen would be just so much
benefited Every acre of land, every herd
of cattle, every sheep that bleats upon the
moor, would be more salable and more valu-
able. So with fishing stations, and particu-
larry so with all mining locations. The eff
feet even OF a meagre and imperfect agitation
upon the question of commercial union has
been in Canada remarkable, and the desire
for an UNI estricted reciprocity on the part of
The great mass Oh Iu6 pIOuuctTS VI udtuTdl
products In the Dominion is unmistakable.
Numerous by-elections, resolutions of farm
ers' Institutes, public meetings and the advo-
cacy of the ablestlpapers in the country ALI in
dictate that at thenext general election, which
occurs within three years, complete revolu-
tion impends in regard to the United States
relations. The prospect of change in the
government, and a change in the policy of
the country, may be marred and postponed
by untoward events between the two coun-
tiies In the meantime; but If matters can be
quietly adjusted, II there Is no serious con-
flict, and if, especially, there is no retaiia-
ton in the air, there Is but one result certain
In Canada-that the next Parliament will
partake largely Of a commercial union COM
plexion.
THE DILEMMA OF THE IMPERIAL GOVERN
MENT.
Supposing that at the next general election
in Canada a majority should PREVAIL who
would meet the resolution introduced by Mr..
Hit in the spirit which animated its adop-
ton, and appoint commissioners to discuss
the details of plan for a commercial union.
Suppose that having decided to adopt the
principles laid down in that resolution, bill
passed the Canadian Parliament to carry it
into effect. The question is, how would this
be looked upon In England? Hitherto the
encouragement, as representing the crown,
has in the presence of Parliament assented,
with one exception, to every measure that
has been presented to him since the confed-
Grafton, 20 years ago. He gracefully bows
his head to every wish of the Canadian peo-
pie. as expressed through their constitution
al and parliamentary channels. He will
hardly cease to bow his head so long as the
results affect Canada only; but when the day
comes, as 1t certainly will come, that an act
is presented to him for assent, the effect of
which will be to keep British goods out of a
portion Of the British empire, while Ameri-
can goods are admitted free, he will stand
bolt upright and withhold his assent fhe
question Of the right of Canada to trade
freely with whom she chooses will
be transferred from Ottawa to London, and
the imperial government will have to pass
upon the question of whether the English
manufactures shall be preferred, and, in a
sense, regulate the commercial policy of
Canada, orwhether the farmer and the fish
erman, the miner and the lumberman of that
country shall regulate their own policy. 1t
will thenbe determined whether her majesty
and her constitutional advisers prefer the in
terests of che citizens of one part of the Brit
ish empire to the vast and essential interests
I OF much larger proportion of her subjects
in another part of that empire. III the inter-
ests OF the vast majority of Canadians are to
be sacrificed to the interests of Birming-
ham, a day will come in the history of Can
ada that may lessen the ties that bind the
daughter to the mother land. But such a
day will never come. England will Weld,
because her policy has been up to this time,
one of kindness and liberality, and to change
1t would be to encourage and promote a rev.
olution that would be most serious and far
reaching.
Mr.. Wiman then proceeded to point out the
advantages to New England of free and
unrestricted trade with Canada, and drew
advantages which New England possessed If
she could rely upon the maritime provinces
as sources OF supply of necessary raw ma
terlal and cheapened food. Agricultural
products, such as oats, potatoes, barley, hay.
peel, mutton. poultry. dairy products and
fruit could be produced most abundantly and
frelghted most cheaply, while in the article
OF fish food no country had a greater adyan-
tage than New England would have from the
treest and unrestricted access to the enor-
nous coast lines of the Dominion, the richest
fisheries in the world. But more important
than even cheap food are the mineral re-
sources OF the maritime provinces Gov, An
drew OF Massachusetts, being asked on one
occasion 70 give his general impressions of
bSxa see New % sBrqn sy iskss and o Gone cone
slderarion the two states of New York and
pennsylvania; compute their potential cor
productive power In agriculture and mineral
development; add to these the resources of
the coast line fisheries, and you win then
have reasonable comprehension of what
these provinces may become"
REGENERATING NEW ENGLAND IRON IN.
DU5TRIEs. I'D
Commercial union with Canada had, how
ever, ceased to be matter affecting only
cheapened food. 1t had become a question
upon which the continued welfare of the
whole of the New England states may
presently depend. The control of the com
nerce of the world has for nearly a century
been maintained by Great Britain simply on
one paramount advantage over other nations
Ito, WIZ " the power Of producing, iron and
steel at a lower cost than any other place.
The superiority of Great Britain in this re-
spect is declining, her supplies of fine iron
ore are falling, and her works are very great
~ dependent upon Spain, Africa and the
island OF Elba, Her supply Of coking coal
is lessening, the principal mines in Durham
nave become very deep. very hot, and the
veins narrow, so that the cost of coal at the
oven Is much higher than it is at several
places in this country. With the opening of
the iron and coal mines in the southern and
western States, great change is occurring
in this country, somewhat to the disadvan.
tage OF the Middle States and New England.
Iron works established in Eastern Pennsyl-
ania and in New Jersey, in which the cost
81 bringing the. materials together from
not compete with the mines in the West or
South. where the cost of bringing the ma
terials together is only 81 or SO per ton. This
again reacts upon New England. which had
entil very recently been supplied with the
iron from the Middle States on as reasonable
terms as the western and southern works.
Under this disadvantage numerous heavy
machine works in New England are likely
to be hampered, because of the disadvantages
in the price of material.
On the other hand the consumption of iron
and steel in this country, as would appear
from the recent report of the Iron and Steel
Association, is 40 per cent, of the entire pro-
duct Of the world, and for the past 10 wears
1t has been 80 percent. on the average of the
whole product. The demand increases more
rapidly than the supply, although subject to
great variations with the fluctuation In the
demand for the construction of railroads.
The general demand aside from the railroads
has steadily increased out of proportion to
the increase of population, as iron and steel
are more and more used for machinery and
structural and other purposes.
The relation of Nova Scotia, New Bruins
wick and Cape Breton, indeed the whole of
Canada, becomes Of paramount Importance.
La Nova Scotia, as in Alabama and the West
the high sandstone ridges which separate
the iron from coal in Pennsylvania, New
Jersey and New York are not found Ample
supplies of the best iron, of the best coking
coal and of chemically pure limestone lie
close to each other within radius of six
miles from the sea and railway. IL thew
were worked under reciprocity or CONNER
cial union, the vast industries in which New
England formerly eXcelled all other states
T.. .E.ok q t..