Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1890-09-19
Mr.. BLAINE ON RECIPROCITY.
A LETTER IN REPLY TO SOME OF
THE OBJECTIONS TO THE
PLAN.


of State, has written the following
letter in reply to some objections
to his plan for reciprocity with
Latin America
"Bar Harbor, Me-, Sept. l5.-Col.
w. w. Clapp, editor Boston Journ
al, BOston.-..My Dear Sir: am in
receipt of your favor asking me
If can attend the annual banquet
of the Boot and Shoe Club of Bos-
ton in October. You add that the
members are Sin hearty sympathy
with my views regarding the best
method of extending American
trade, aud would be glad to have
me address them
81 regret that my engagements
will not permit me to accept the
invitation, but you will please
thank the club for the compliment
they pay me. am glad to hear
the members of the club are In.
terested in a system of reciprocal
trade with Latin America. They
can do great good by counterfeit.
ing a certain phase of New Eng.
land opinion, entertained at home
as we'll as in Washington, an Opin-
ion which l must regard as in the
highest degree unwise and hurt
fol to New England interests
New England is to receive in the
new tariff the amplest protection
for every manufacturing industry
within her borders, both great and
small, and 1t will, In my Iudg ment,
be both inexpedient and lDjarious
| for her representatives to dlsre-
gard a measure which will pro.
mote Western interests. l have
lately r, ceived a letter from Mr..
J. r. limbs, of st. Louis, a leading
representative of the -four inter
ests and president of the late con-
vention of millers at Minneapolis.
Speaking for the grain and -four
| ing interests of that great section,
Mr.. limbs says that 'advices of
recent date from Cuba state that
the duties now collected on Ameri-
can -four are at a higher rate than
was first supposed to be the case
And he adds. Il respectfully
submit that the miller will be IN
able to retain any part of the
| Cuban -four trade unless inmedi-
ate relief IS secured 10 view of
these facts, is it possible that a
protectionist Congress can even
think of opening our markets to
Cuba's products free, while allow.
ing a great Western interest to be
absolutely excluded from her mar
ket by a prohibitory tariff With
reciprocity the West can annually
sell many hundred thousand bar
rels of -four in the markets OF Co
ba and Porto Rico, together with
large mass of other agricultural
products. Without reciprocity she
will be driven more and more from
those markets. Giving the full
est protection to all Eastern inter
ests, as the tariff bill does, surely
no man of good judgement, GER
talnly no prOteOtionist OF wise fore
cast, wishes to expose a Western
interest to serious injury, especially
when it is manlfestly easy to pro.
tect it and promote dramatically
easy, because at this very time the
boards of trade, the chambers oil
commerce and the public opinion
in Havana are demanding reclpro.
cal trade with the United States.
I select Cuba and Porto Rico for
examples, because 10 certain quar-.
ters it has been said that while we
might secure reciprocity With some
little countries In South America
we could do nothing with the
Spanish ISLAM Let Us at least
give the Spanish Islands an Oppor
tunity to speak tor themselves.
Certain wise men ask: How can
We sell farm products in South
America when the same things
are produced there ? Cereals are
undoubtedly grown in the southern
most parts of South America, but
the wise men will remember that &C.
reals and sugar do not grow in the
same soil, and that the sugar coun-
tries of South and Central America
and the West India Islands contain
40,0O0,000 of people, who import
the largest part of their breadstufts.
Indeed the largest part of the su'
gar product of all Latin America
is at our doors, and we can greatly
enlarge our exchanges there If
Congress Will give us the OPP
portunity for reciprocal trade.
Another class observe that they
want time to study the system. To
this 1 might reply that the best
method of studying a system is to
observe its practical workings.
While studying in the abstract
and refusing 20 take some object les.
sons, these gentlemen propose to on
IL open our market to Latln.Amer.
lean products free OF all charge,
without asking Latin-America to
give US In turn some freedom IN
their markets. The object lesson
Immediately before US is the treat
ment of the sugar question. Shall
we make Latin.America a gift OF
the trade ? When We have stud |
led that lesson we shall be pre-.
pared for the second. The worst
proposition OF all is put forward
by those who sayi "Let us put |
sugar on the free list now and next
year we will take up the subject of
reciprocity" If / understand
their logic, it is to make sugar
free this year without condition
and newt year tn ask Snain NJ abe /