Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1890-12-05


successfully cultivated is very large and
another field crop of great value is offered
to the choice Of the farmer.
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
The law relating 20 the civil service has,
so far as / Can learn, been executed by
those having the power of appointment in
the classified service with fidelity and i'm
partiality, and the service has been in
creasingly satisfactory. The report Of the
commission shows large amount of good
was done during the year with. very
limited appropriations.
IMPROVEMENT IN TRADE.
The general trade and industrial condition
throughout the country during the year
have shown marked Improvement. For
1888 the merchandise balances of foreign
trade had been largely in our favor, but
during that year and the year following
they turned against AS. 1t is very crafty
ing to know that the last fiscal year again
shows balance in our favor of over $685.
900, 900. The bank of clearings, which
furnishes business transacted for the first
ten months of the year 1890, show, as COM
pared with the same months of 1889, an
increase for the whole country of S.4 per
cent, while the increase outside of New
York wac over 10 per cent. During the
month Of October the clearings of the
whole country showed an increase of 3.
per cent. over October, 1889, while outside
of New York the increase was III per
cent The figures show that the increase
in the volume of business was very general
throughout the country. That this larger
business was being conducted upon safe
and ahla hacic 30 oh Nv hx 20 Of
that there were 800 less failures reported
in October, 1890, than in the same month
of the preceding year, with liabilities
diminished by about S5,000,0 900.
The value of our exports of domestic
merchandise during the last year was over
$l15, 900, 600 greater than the pre-
ceding year, and was only exceeded once
in our history. About 500, 600, 900 of this
excess was in agricultural products. The
production OF pig iron--always good
gauge of general prosperity-is shown by
a recent census bulletin TO have been 1853
per cent greater in 1890 than in 1880, and
the production of steel 200 per cent greater.
Mining in coal has had no Limitation
except that resulting from deficient trans
portation. The general testimony is that
labor is everywhere fully employed, and
the reports for the last year show a smaller
number of employees affected by strikes and
than in Guy year since 1884.
SEVERAL RECOMMENDATIONS.
He concurs in the secretary of wars
recommendation for coast defenses, and
the encourag ement of the state militia
the acts of violence committed against
obnoxious postmasters have been prose-
pi1ta6 m. tho pnetoffices abolished
One hundred fraudulent naturalization
papers have been cancelled by the attorney
general. He commends legislation for
more full and judicial inquiry before grant
ing them.
The management and efficiency of the
postohlce has been greatly improved; the
mails have been largely freed from lottery
matter.
FOREIGN TRADE.
From the time Of my induction into
Office the duty of using every power and
influence given by law to the executive
department for the development of larger
markets for our products, especially our
farm products, has been kept constantly in
mind, and no effort has been or will be
spared to promote that end. We are UNI
der no disadvantage in any foreign market,
except that we pay our workmen better
wages than are paid elsewhere-better
abstractly, better relatively to the cost of
the accessories of life. do not doubt that
a very largely increased foreign trade is
accessible to us without bartering for
either our home market for such products
Of the farm and shop as our own people
can supply or the wages Of our working
people.
RECIPROCITY.
x many Of the products OF wood ana
iron, and in meats and breadstufs, we
have ad yantages that only need better
facilities of intercourse and transportation
to secure for them large foreign markets.
The reciprocity clause of the new tariff act
wisely and effectively opens the way to Sc
cure large reciprocal trade in exchange
for the free admission to our ports OF GER
tain products. The right Of independent
nations to special reciprocal trade conces-
sions is well established, and does not i'm
pair either the comfy due to other powers
of what is known as the Favored nation
clause" so generally found in commercial
treaties. What is given to one for an ade-
quate agreed consideration cannot be
by another freely. The state Of
the revenues was such that we could dis
pense with any import duties on coffee, tea,
hides and the lower grades OF sugar and
molasses. That the large advantage re-
sulting to the countries producing and ex-
these articles by placing them on
the free list entities us to expect fair re-
turn in the way of customs concessions up
on acticles exported by us to them was so
obvious that to have gratuitously abandon
ed this opportunity to enlarge our trade
would have been an objectionable error.
There are but two methods of maintain
ing control of this question open to con-
gress 70 place all of these articles upon
tho dutiablo list subject to such treaty
agreements as could be secured, or to place
them all presently upon the free list, but
subject to tho remposltion of specified
duties Of the countries from which We re-
ceived them should they refuse to give US
suitable reciprocal benefits This latter
method, think, possesses great advant-
ages. 1t expresses in advance the consent
of congress to reciprocity arrangements
affecting these products, which must other
wise have been delayed and unascertaincd
until each treaty was ratified by the SEN
ate and the necessary legislation enacted
by congress. Experiences has shown that
some treaties looking to reciprocal trade
have failed to secure a two-thirds vote in
the senate for ratification, and others hav-