The morning call., 1890-08-30

Small OF the Colby University introduced
the leader of the Republican party and
the famous advocate of an interstate and
progressive protective tariff, Hon. James
G. Blaine"
BLAINE's SPEECH.
In regard to national questions, Blaine
said, l wish to declare tho opinion that
the United States has reached that point
where one of its highest duties is to enlarge
the area Of its foreign trade. Under the
benefcient policy of protection we have
developed our volume of manufactures
which in many departments overruns the
demands of the home market. In the field of
agriculture. with the immense propulsion
given it by improved agricultural implements
we can do far more than produce breadstuif5
and provisions Tor our own people. Nor
would it be an ambitious destiny for so great
country as ours to manufacture only what
we can consume or produce only what we
can eat. We are already, in many fabrics
and many products, far beyond that, and our
great demand is expansion. l mean expan-
sion of trade with countries where we
can find profitable exchanges. We are
not seeking annexation of territory.
Certainly we do not desire it unless
it should ccme by voliti0n of the
peo~le who might ask the priceless boon of
place under the flag of our Union. l feel
sure that for long time to come the people
of the United States will be wisely content
with our present area and not launch upon
any scheme of annexation AT the same
time think we should be unwisely content if
we did not seek to engage in what the younger
Pitt so well termed the annexation Of trade.
RESULTS OF PROTECTION.
For nearly thirty years now the United
States has had the great advantage of pro-
tective tariff. Its industrial policy has been
il force since the Federal Government has
teea organized. Happily, great majority of
cur people, without strict regard to party
lines, believe the results to the American
people from protective policy to have been
incalculably beueficient, aggregating in
quarter of a century national and individual
wealth beyond anything ever dreamed of be-
fore in the history of the world.
PROJECTIONS VICTORIES.
l do not mention protection because I in
tend to speak in reference thereto before this
audience. That would he a needless, if not an
impertinent effort. | merely wish TO proclaim
its victories. Without protection the United
States would have been poor indeed after the
rayages of the war from 1861 to 1865. With
protection every section is 1ourishmg and has
proSpered grown and gained. Even where
revenue duties have been laid with no expecta-
ton of developing industries there have, in
many instances, been great financial and in
dustrial results.
WHY DUTIES ARE LAID.
a heavy duty on silk was levied primarily,
not for protection, but simply to secure a
large revenue from one of the luxuries of the
rich, but as consequence the silk industry
increased so rapidly that it constituted one
of the leading fabrics OF New jersey, one of
the largest manufacturing States in the
Union. / could readily advance other illus
trations to the same effect. AS j have al
ready intimated | am here to speak
of the expansion Of our foreign trade, not
by any novel process, not by any mode that
will shock or disturb home industries, not
by any mode that will invite our people to
rash experiments, or that will launch us
into doubtful and dangerous investments.
What mean TO speak of briefly is a system
of reciprocity, not in conflict with pro-
tectlve tariff, but supplementary thereto,
and presenting field of enterprise that
will richly repay the effort and energy Of
the American people.
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS.
We shall find it instructive and valuable to
examine into the sources of our imports and
the destination of our exports and to strike
balance between the two. Take the last year,
1889. In that year our Whole exports TO all
countries in the three continents of Europe.
Asia and Africa, and Australia, Canada and
Hawaii, amounted in round numbers to $685.
000. 600. and our imports from all these cOun-
tiles amounted in round numbers to S529, ,000,-
00o, showing that from that vast trade we
had balance of Sl29,0G0,000 in our favor,
equivalent to that amount OF gold among
our people. But when all accounts were
closed, instead of having S129, 900 in our
favor, we had a balance of Si3,000,000
against us from our foreign trade. We
must, therefore, have lost S142, $1,000 in
our commerce with countries outside of
these to which | have referred. Where
could we have found such a large adverse
balance? Let me tell you, we lost S41, 100000
in Cuba, from which our imports were S52,-
000, 900. and to which our exports we're only
S1I000,000 Forty-one million Is n pretty
large sum to lose In one island In single
year. In the republic of Brazil We left
S5l,000,000.
OUR LOSING CUSTOMERS.
Our exports to Brazil were $4,000, 900.
In Mexico we lost Sl0,G00,00 Our imports
from Mexico were S2l,00o,0o0 and our ex-
ports TO Mexico 1,000,0 900. To sum it all
up our imports from the countries south of
the United States were S216 000, 600. and our
exports to them were 74.000.000. The bal
aDcs against us In our trade with these c0un-
tries therefore is S142,ooo0o0, exceeding
cur gains from all the rest of the world by
Si3,oO0,0 600. By no figure of speech can we
hatter ourselves into the belief that our
trade with our American neighbors is In
prosperous condition. How can this state
of affairs be remedied? You have heard a
great deal said within the past ten years by
our Democratic friends about the iniquity
of the Republican party in keeping
up the war tariff. AS matter
of fact the war tariff has not been
kept up, but has been amended
over and over again, until the revision of
1883 left scarcely a trace of the actual tariff
thai was in operation at the close of the
war aud for a few years afterward. Dur
ing the war we were compelled to tax al
most everything in the air, in the water, on
the earth and under tue earth. The neces-
sites Of the Government were so great that
we could allow scarcely anything to be i'm
ported without paying tribute, and think
no patriotic man can deny that that was
wise policy.
MONEY THE PRIMAL NECESSITY.
We were not then studying the philosophy
of trade relations, but how to save the life
Of the nation. Money was a primal neces-
sity, and we seized it wherever We could
reach it lawfully, but during the last
eighteen years great change has been
made. So entirely has the war tariff been
abolished. that In the fiscal year ending
June 80. 1889, the articles admitted free
were considerably more than one-third OF
| all the imports. To be exact, the I'M
ported articles that paid duty exceeded
| Sass, COG, 600 in value, and the imported ar
| tcles that paid no duty exceeded S256, ,000-
! 600 in value. The inevitable tendency Is, l
! think, toward an increase OF the free list.
| Our great mistake was made when we be-
| gan to repeal the war duties on so large an
| amount of imports. And this duty re-
| pealed was in favor Of an advantage to the
exporting country and we have asked
nothing in return Instead OF this course,
which, must say, was one of carelessness
and wastefulness by both political parties.
every repeal Of duty should have been pre-
| ceded by most thorough investigation,