The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1890-08-13
BlAINE'S LATEST LETTER.
He Ignores All the Facts That Fab TO
Support HIS Contention.

Support His Contention.
Says Mr.. Blaine to Mr.. Frye: "Come,
implore you, to the support of my
reciprocity project" or words to that
effect. He intimates that it was mis-
take to admit coffee free from Brazil
without first exacting the free admis-
sion of certain American products into
Brazil, and adds: "To repeat this error
with sugar ITO an amount three times
as large as with coffeN will close all
opportunity to establish reciprocity of
trade with Latin America" And again,
referring to his proposal to retain the
sugar duties for the purpose of trading
them off for commercial favors from the
Latin-Americans, he says: Here is an
opportunity for Republican Congress
to open the markets of forty millions Of
people to the products of American
farmers. Shall we seize the ortunity
or shall we throw it away9'
Mr.. Blaine directs special attention
to our trade with the Spanish possess
sions of Cuba and Porto Rico, from
which we get nearly or quite one-half
of the sugar we consume. He condemns
the policy of admitting sugar from them
| free without insisting that our agricult-
ural products shall be admitted to them
free. He would have Mr.. Frye and
others believe that the American farm
er would be "undeniably, richly bene.
| flied" by dicker for the free admis-
sion of our agricultural products into
Cuba and Porto Rico in return for the
| free admission of sugar from those
| islands into the United States.
| If we look into the matter little we
will discover that Mr. Blaine, as usual,
ignores all the facts that fail to support
his contention. The principal Ameri-
can agricultural product imported into
! those islands is wheat -four, and the
most of it goes to Cuba. In 1887, the
last year for which we have returns, the
value of flour imported into Cuba was
81, SSl, 49, of which 81, 145, 355 was from
| Spain and $1,736, 100 was from this coun-
try. Porto Rico buys enough flour, per-
haps, to bring up the total importation
into the two islands to So, 000,0 900. To
be liberal, call it S5,O00,OO0. We import
from them about S44, 900 worth of
sugar. Mr.. Blaine does not state these
facts to Mr. Frye. That gentleman
might not think market for S., GOO, 600
worth of -four so valuable a prize to be
secured for the American farmer in OK
change for an American market for $44,
| 900, 900 worth of sugar. About the onl y
other American agricultural product
bought by the islanders to any consider
able extent is lard, of which they take
about So, OO0, 900 worth. But since near
ly al of it now comes from the United
States it would not benefit our farmers
much to dlckcr for the free admission
of lard into Cuba and Porto Rico.
| An examination of the trade statis-
tbs of other LatinAmerican countries
does not strengthen Mr.. Blaine's case.
His talk about opening the markets of
10000, 900 of people to the products of
American farmers sounds very fine and
large. but it is mostly wind. The Lat
in-American countries are themselves
AGRICULTURAL and their imports ale
| therefore mostly manufactures. There
is no great demand there for our agri-
cultural products. and it is not likely
there ever will be. Mr.. Blaine ought
to know this perfectly we'll. And yet
he deliberately proposes to ''benetit"
American farmers by offending and
| driving off their best customers, and Of
fering them by way of compensation a
mere chance of increasing their sales to
| the Latin Americans. Great Britain
alone buys ten times as much of ME
produce of our farms as all the Latin
! Americans do, or ever will. And yet
Mr.. Blaine favors policy which is adj
mirably calculated to drive away this
best customer, and give us only a bare
chance of getting a vastly poorer Gus
| toner.
| 1t is not the American farmer that
Mr.. Blaine is trying to benefit, but the
American ship subsidy and bounty beg
gar and the tariff-pampered American
manufacturer. His only care for the
| farmer is for the farmer as a voting ma
chine. He sees the farmer victims of
his policy slipping away, and he seeks
to hold them by Offering them the Chi
mera of Latin-American market.
cago Times.