The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1891-02-12
Grand total Of eEports................ s7.l5l.723


| OF course il is expected and certain that this
small amount of exports to Brazil will be
/ greatly augmented under the reciprocal con
cessions just secured by the promptuess Of tho
| State Department. aided by the International
/ good WILL which is a significant result Of the
/ Fan American Conference. Our imports from
/ that country, which in 1875 were Si2Oj}Ji6, .
and nearly all dutiable, increased To So, SIS,
\ .J6 M ISIS, Of hitch SiG.-13, - were free Of
/ duty. A former tariff measure had given away
/ the duties without asking any equivalent! Ia
/ the meantime our exports % Brazil, which IN
1915 were, IN domestic Articles, -, 63l 800,
diminished, as tie foregoing detailed statement
/ shows, 70 S7I5l.72j or Sls32iZ, a decrease of
our exports Of nearly half a million ia II years
/ OF regular trade, and an increase Of our i'm
ports from the same country amounting To
Sll ,J9J, $50, with import duties thrown into the
4 sea by US, aud export duties imposed and main
tanned b. Brazil, As is the case over again with
our trade with most Spauish-Ameriean coun-
| tries still In fact, we remit import dutesaud
/ pay their export duties, relative TO the princ-
| pal South American States, TO an aggregate
amount that pays the expenses Of their Ma
| tional Administrations; and We still not
| wholly awake 10 the uustatCsmauiikC cOudI-
ton. Probably no man sees this so clearly and
in detail Of facts, in this country, as James G..
/ Blaine, aud not 20 men Of official position to
make their knowledge tell know 10 at all.
| Three or four statistIciau5, among whom Is Mr..
/ Michael Seaman, Chief Of the Statistical b.
reau Of the Department. Of State. have the past
and present conditions continuously aud
| clearly IN view BY the success, more or less
decided, which the Presidents proclamation
announces with Brazil, tie largest aud most
pOpulOGs Of the nations south OF Us, the kEOa-
ing ones aud the interested are encouraged 10
believe that the long -cOutinued balance OF :radc
/ Of always moro than hundred nj. lions
with Spanish America. with is consequent ex-
change against US on Europe, Will now begin to
be an error Of Ignorance, crime Of statesman
ship, of the "unrelenting past" There is COM
| fort in the certainty that revolutions never
20 backward which spring from the unauimity
OF such galaxy Of Republics as we have now
/ begun TO shine in.
1t Is impossible lOr ono not an expert in Bra
lillian trade matters, and on the ground ut that
/ to determine the per ccntagc % present sleri-
ice that country IS making under the new
/ raugcmeHt. Except upon live animals, the Bra
lillian imp0rtduties appear TO be specific upon
the weight Of articles, and not in any way upon
value. Bot the import duties levied by the
Governments have not been the only import
/ charges collected at the W Fi0u3 ports "a the
various states levy separate import duties
! Although this will OF course be discontinued
under the international arrangement lust COM
pleted, relative TO this country, still what the
.
mined unless we know the extent Of all the
present charges. State and National. For in
stance, our Consul at Rio GTande DO Sui writes
20 the Department Of State on Dec. ~, 1859, a5
follows: "A special tariff for this State went
into effect the 18th of March last, lowering
the duties from p TO 80 per cent on many
articles" such as cotton, woOllen, and silk
goods also articles Of linen, jute. paper,
ivory, mOther-Of-pearl, wood cutlery, iron,
steel. lead lin, zine, etc" The total imports
at this port tor 1881, the lat report made,
were 81, 65j, 80, exports Sl,6Oi, 659, and trade
S325S2is upon which the duties collected
were 81 ,362, $40, for there are both import and
export duties there. This IS at the rate of over
fl per cent al yalOrem. On some articles the
export duties 1t santos are follows CacaO,
10 per cent; coffee, Ia; hides, 10; tobacco 10 !;
rubber, H. Brazil wood, %, and piassava 20.
The import duty there upon Kerosene is a. the
rate Of SI.75 per case, and upon -four 10 cents
per barrel. A list of import duties upon a.
articles of agricultural production, levied by
the National Government, shows an average
! rate of little moro than 30 cents per kilO-
gram, or per pound, upon all articles
While these data unsatisfactory in vari-
, Gus features, they are perhaps sufficient in the
main TO answer the purpose Of showing that by
the slmphheatIOn OF the important business in
volved in our commerce with Brazil, in the
ports aud at the custom houses, and by the re-
ciprocity OF trade benefits assured We are for
the first time III many years, at least, in posi-
tiOn 10 fairly begin to eqaalizs 70 our al
: vantage the comparatively enormous bal
anCe of trade against Us with Brazil,
/ and TO do it with our surplus productions at q
maximum profit. But this IS by no means the
whole story. 1t is but the interesting FIRST
chapter. Not one important Spanish American
country can long afford to stay out in the cold,
: and gather only the crumS Of our trade. With
sugar from Brazil what movement for "a mOEs
: min will ha in (ttfhg
Aud so Of other countries and other articles
: And with the wldened advantages there will
necessarily follow multiplied means OF direct
aud regular communication, with southern as
surely with northern ports, and of other
convenience Of commercial intercourse. The
2 writer may be just a little enthusiastic about
this reciprocity affair, but wait a moment In
1866 as the Chief Of the Bureau Of Statistics Of
the Department of State, IL became his duty to
= compile and write the :" Letter of the Secretary
: Of State" Dir. Fish, to the Speaker of the
| House OF Representatives upon our commercial
| relations with foreign countries, and IN that
document lie wrote this: This country is q
seemingly uninterested spectator of the con-
tiuuOus and slowly successful efforts of its near
neighb0rs, whose destinies are involved TO a
greater extent than are those of other portions
j Of the world with her own, to emerge from
traditional hindranceS into a development
which, for the interest Of all, should be in
? sympathy with hers, and which may properly
D influence, to n large extent, through the
: peaceable operations of commerce."
: It is gratifying at last, that the spectator :"
has become awake 10 growing billion Of trade
and interested in the integrity Of Republican
. natiOnalities.
That letter OF some 60 pages was distributed IN
. | print TO the extent of huudTe advanced copies
! | TO the principal newspapers Of the country
against all tradition. and was used abundaatly.
: Its showing Of the dep!Orabie condition of our
| trade with Spanish America was u new and a
r concise one, with official backing and the vim
of truth. That was the beginning of the Presi-
;, dents proclamation. The careful showing of
q IL years ago is bearing abundant fruit. Mr..
y Blaine read that document from BiF. Fish, as
= did Mr. Randall and others who measured its
I, significance in facts and il has never gone out
% of sight or influence. And at last, after we
y have permitted the richest market we could
: have to turn far away from US to our cost OF
= millions ii is well TO greet with some enthu-
3 siasm the definite and suspicious beginning OF
> its sure return with our own long withheld
! encouragement aud National welcome. The
y oldest and the newest of the American Repub-
n lies have joined hands, never to be disunited.
% Hare you done your duty in getting one more
% subscriber for THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE!
You should do this, for it is The best gay to help
: your comrades.