St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-04-21
RECIPROCITY WITH SPAIN
Gives the United States Immense
Trade in the Antilles.


Trade in the Antilles.
MADRID, April 2O.-The reciprocity
convention between Spain and the
United States. as drafted by Premier
Canovas de Castillo, representing Spain,
and Gen. j. w. Foster, representing
the United States, is based, as far as
the United States is concerned, upon
the third, or reciprocity section of the
new American tariff law. In return for
the privilege of free entry into the
United States of Antilles sugars, molas-
ses. coffee and hides, and a reduction of
the duty on tea, America will obtain
eXemtion from duties OIL most of her raw
and manufactured products and a re-
duction of the tariff on cereals and
-four. The negotitions were pro
tracted upon the question of
the entire abolition of the tariff OH
cereals, flours and oils, including petro-
leum and lard. The same question in re-
gard to tobacco was alsoiraised, bat. not
coming within the scope of the third
section Of the American tariff law. was
put aside. Premier CanOvaS offered
prOtracted resistance to the abolition of
the tariff on flour. Barcelona and SAINT
ander traders, who are largely interest
ed in flour shipments, presented ,ener-
getic protests which fortified the miniS-
ter in his indiSpoSition to accede to the
American proposals. Eventually, rep
resentations that American reciprocity
would be impossible without the flee
admission of American cereals induced
Premier CanovaS to assent to such re-
duction of the tariff as will place Ameri-
can flour upon nearly equal footing
with Spanish -four. Santander mer-
chants declare that, taking into consid-
Grafton the cost of the transporta-
ton of CASTLE grain, of which
the bulk goes 20 the Antilles. American
flour will crush out the Spanish product
in the Spanish West Indies. Cuba now
consumes 900 barrels of flour yearly
chiefly Spanish, which enters free of
duty-and pays for it s12 per barrel.
Trade in American flour, burdened with
an extra duty Of 20 per cent since 1889,
has been completely wiped out, to the
advantage Of the Spanish product.
Under the new convention the entry of
American flour, practically free of duty,
will lower the price to about So per bar
rel, and will eXtinguish the importa-
ton of Spanish flour, while increasing
the Cuban consumption to a million of
barrels yearly, all of which will be
American product. If the pressure of
Spanish interests had not been
counteracted by the demands of
the Cuban commission of nota-
bles, who were determined to
obtain reciprocity with the United
States, Premier Canovas would have
declined to make such concessions. The
prospect of dangerous tension of the
relations of Spain with Cuba and Porto
Rico, resulting possibly in civil war,
obliged the government to sacrifice
home industries to colonial interests.
Under the new convention America
will obtain a kind of zollverein with the
Spanish Antilles. Her wheat, beans,
flour, lard. petroleum, manufactured
products and machinery will enter prac-
tically free of duty. Among other Span
ish exports. olive oil will be replaced by
American lard, and beans, now ex-
ported to Cuba in large quantities, will
cease to be sent. The advantages re-
sulting to Cuba will be great, but it is
impossible to estimate the injury to
Spanish trade.