St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-09-17
The Great Maine Acrobat Re-
iterates That Reciprocity
Is Not Free Trade.
He Is Also Quite Sure That
Protection Is Not Rec
iprocity.
Would It Then Logically Fol-
low That Protection Is
Free Trade?
Or That His Reciprocity Is a
Scheme for Catching
Votes

BAR HARBoR, Me-, Sept. 16.-Mr.
Blaine has written the following letter
to Col. w. w. Clapp, editor of the Bos-
ton journal: NY Dear Sir: l am in re-
ceipt of your favor asking me if can
attend the annual banquet of the Boot
and Shoe Club of Boston in October
You add that the members are ''in
hearty sympathy with my views regard
ing the best method of extending our
American trade and would be glad to
have me address them" l 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. l am glad to hear
that the members of the club are
interested in system of reciprocal
trade with Latin America. They can
do great good by counteracting a GER
tain phase of New England opinion, en-
tertained at home as we'll as in Wash
ingtOn, an opinion which must regard
as in the highes. degree unwise and
hurtful to New England interests. New
England is to receive in the new tariff
the amplest protection for every manu-
featuring industry within her bounds,
( both great and small, and it will. in my
Judgment, be both lneXpedient and in
furious for her representatives to disre-
gard measure which will promote
Western interests. 1 have lately re-
ceived letter from j. f. limbs, of ST.
Louis, a leading representative of the
-four interests and president of the late
convention Of millerS at Minneapolis.
Speaking for the grain and
FIGURING Interest
of that great secion. Mr.. limbs says that
"Advices of recent from Cuba state that
the duties now collected on American
flour are at higher rate than was first
supposed to be the case" And he adds:
81 respectfully submit that the Ameri-
can miller will be unable to retain any
part of the Cuban flour trade unless
immediate relief is secured" In view
of these facts is it possible that pro-
tectioniSt congress can even think of
opening our market to Cuba's products
free, while allowing a great Western
interest to be absolutely excluded from
her market by a prohibitory tar
can annually sell many hundreds
OF thousands barrels of flour
in the markets of Cuba and Porto Rico,
together with large mass of agricult-
ural products. Without reciprocity,
she will be driven more and more from
those markets. Giving fullest protec-
tion to Eastern interest, as the proposed
tariff bill does. surely no man of good
judgment, certainly no .protectiOnst of
wise forethought, wishes to expose
Western interest to serious injury, es-
oil Sc, p,fa fIx, fo
protect it and promote it-manifestly
only because at this very time the
boards of trade, the chambers of COM
merce and public opinion in Havana are
bent on reciprocal trade with the United
States. | select Cuba and Porto Rico
for examples, because in certain quar-
ters it has been said that, while we
might secure reciprocity with
X Some Little Countries
in South America, we could no nothing
with the Spanish islands. Let us at
least give the Spanish planters an op-
portunlty to speak for 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 South in most parts of South
America. but wise men will remember
that cereals and sugar do not grow in
the same soil, and that the sugar coun-
tries of South America and Central
America and the West Indies contain
100000 900 people who import the largest
part of their breadStuffS. Indeed,
the largest part of the sugar product
of all Latin America is at our doors,
and we can greatly enlarge our eX-
changes there if congress will give us
the opportunity for reciprocal trade.
All other classes observe that they want
time to study the system. l might reply
that the best method to study system
is to observe its practical workings.
While studying in the abstract and re-
fusing to take some object lessons,
these gentlemen propose to open our
market to Latin-American products free
of all charge, without asking Latin
America to give us in turn some freedom
in their markets. The object lesson i'm
mediately before us is the treatment of
the sugar question. Shall we make Latin
America gift of that trade ? When we
have studied that lesson we shall be pre-
pared for the second. The'worst prOpo-
sItion of all is put forward by those who
say: ''Let US put sugar Oh the free list
now, and next year we will take up the
subject of reciprocity" Do | under
stand their logic? 1t is to make sugar
free this year without condition, and
next year to ask Spain if she will not
kindly consent to grant US reciprocal
trade? Holding the complete vantage
ground ourselves, the proposed policy
transfers the vantage ground to Spain.
Instead of granting favor to Spain to-
day, we are to ask her for favor to-
morrow. Those who take this ground
belong to that class Of
Careful Guardians
of property who prepare very strong
lock for the stable after the horse is
gone. l do not mean, in anything l
have said, to imply that reciprocity is
only Western interest. AS | remarked
in note to Senator Frye, it will prove
beneficial and profitable both to the
farm and the shop. What, for instance,
could be more natural or more just than
that, in giving free market in the
United States to hides from the Argen-
tine Republic, we should ask the Re-
public to give better market than we
now have for the product of sugar from
the United States? The many forms
in which business interests will
be promoted by reciprocity eau
not be known until the active COM
mercial men of the United States shall
|. have developed these forms by investi-
CATION and experience. We shall not
realize the full benefit of the policy in
day or year, but shall we therefore
r