The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1890-09-18
FOR RECIPROCITY.


Refusal or Delay Met and Combatted--
The Vantage Ground Is Now Ours; It
May Not Remain So.
BosToN, Sept 1.-THE following let
ter from Secretary Blaine was published
yesterday:
BAR HARBoR, Me, Sept. Is.
Colonel W. ", Ctopp, Editor boston Journal.
| Boston.
My DEAR sIR;-I am in receipt of your fa.
vor asking me II l can attend the annual
banquet of the Boot and Shoe Club OF Bos.
ton, in October. You add that the members
are "n hearty sympathy with my views re-
| gafdlDg the best mode OF extending Ameri-
can trade, and would be glad to have me ad-
dress them"
regret that my engagements will not per-
init me to accept the invitation, but you
| VIII please thank the club for the compli-
mcnt they pay me. am glad to hear that
tho members of the club are interested In
system ofrcciproca trade with Latin Amer
lea. They can do great good by counter
acting certain phase of New England
opinion, entertained at home as well as in
Washnston-an opinion which / must re-
gard as In the highest degree unwise and
| hurtful to New England interests. New En-
gland ls to receive In the new tariff the am
plest protc ction for every manufacturing
| Industry within her borders, both great and
| small, and 1t will, in my Judgment, be both
uespedIent and injurious for Representa-
tives to disregard Il measure which win pro-
mote Western interests.
| Ihave lately received a letter from Mr.. j.
| +. limbs, Of st. Louis, a leading representa-
| tive OF the flour interests, and president OF
/ the late convention of millcrs at Minneap-
! oils. Speaking for the grain and -four inter-
ests of that great section, Mr.. limbs says that
/ "adv Ices Of recent date from Cuba state that
/ the duties now collected on American -four
/ are at higher rate than was first supposed
/ to be the case" And hc adds "I respect
/ fully submit that tho American miller will
be unable to retain any part of tile Cuban
/ -four trade unless immediate relief Is se-
cured"
In vIcw of the facts Is it possible that
| Protectlonist Congress can even think OF
opening our markets to Cuba's products
| free, while allowing n great Western in
dustry to be absolutely excluded from her
markets by prohlbitory tariff With reci-
| procity the West can annually sell many
hundred thousand barrels of flour in the
markets of Cuba and Porto Rico, together
/ with large mass of other agricultural
products. without reciprocity, SHE Will bo
. driven more and more from these markets.
| Giving the fullest protection to all East
| crn interests, MS the proposed Tariff bill
does. surely no man of good judgment, cer-
tainly no Protcctionist OF wise forecast,
/ wishes to expose a Western interest to scri-
Gus injury, especially when it Is manifesty
easy to protect 1t and promote it-mini-
! testify easy because at this very time the
/ boards OF trade, the chambers of COM
mercc, and the public opinion in Havana
/ arc demanding n reciprocity with tho
United States. select Cuba and Porto Rico
for examples because in certain quarters ID
| has been said that while we might secure
reciprocity with some little countries in
South America, we could do nothing with
| the Spanish Islands Let us at least give
the Spanish Islands an opportunity to speak
. for themselves
/ Certain wise men ask GLOW can we sell
farm products in South America when tho
same things are produced there? Cereals
are undoubtedly grown in the southern
most portions of South America but the
: wise men Will remember that cereals and
sugar do not grow in the same soil, and
that the sugar countries of South and Con-
/ tful America and the West India Islands
contain forty millions of people who import
tile largest part Of their brcudstuffs In
deed the largest part OF the sugar product
/ of Latin America is at our doors and we
can greatly enlarge our exchanges there IL
Congress will give US the opportunity for
reciprocal trade.
| Another class observe that they want tim
+ to study the system To this I might reply
that the best method of studying II system
/ Is to observe Its practical workings. While
studying in the abstract and refusing to
take some object lessons, these gentlemen
propose to open our market to Latin 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
mcnt OF the sugar question. Shall We make
Latin America n gift of that trader When
we have studied that lesson we shall be pro-
pared for the second.
The worst proposition of all IL put forth
by those who say: Let us put sugar on tho
free list now, ana next year we VIII take up
the subject of reciprocity" If I under
b stand their logic, II Is to make sugar FREQ
this year without condition and next year
to ask Spain II she will not kindly consent
4 to grant us reciprocal trade.
Holding the complete vantage ground
themselves, the proposed policy transfers
the vantage ground to spain. Instead of
granting favor to Spain day. we are to
ask her for favor tomorrow. Those who
/ take tins ground belong to that class OF
! careful guard dlans of property who prepare
avery strong lock for the stable after tho
horse Is gone. do not mean, in any thing
II have said, to imply that reciprocity is
+ only Western interest As remarked, in
note to senator Frye. it VIII prove both
beneficial and profitable, both to the farm
and the shop. What for instance, could
he more natural or more just than that
In giving II free market in the United States
to hides from the Argentine Republic, We
should ask the Argentine Republic to give
us a bcttor market than we now have for
States. The many forms In which our bust
/ ness interests will be promoted by reef
| procity can not be known until the activo
commercial men of the United States shall
have devel oped the forms by investigation
and experience, We shall not realize tho
full benefit of the policy in a day or n year;
| but shall we, therefore, throw away count
| less millions of trade, in addition to the
| sixty millions We have already thrown
away. and then gnorantly declare without
! trial that "the system won't work"
Finally, there is one fact that should have
| great weight, especially with Protection
lists. Every Free trader in the Senate voted
| against the reciprocity proposition. The
| Free-trade papers throughout the country
are showing determined hostility to It, 1t
| IS evident that the free trade Senators and
the trade papers have specific
reason for their course. They
know and feel that with a system o,
reciprocity established and growing, their
| policy OF free trade receives a most serious
| blow. The Protectionist who opposes recl-
| procity In the form In which Ii Is now pre-
sented knocks away one of tho strongest
supports of his system. The enactment of
reciprocity Is the safeguard of protection
The defeat of reciprocity Is tho opportup.
| ity of FREQ trade,
Yours very respectfully
JAMES G. BLAINE.
Passenger and Ticket Agents.