The record-union., 1891-04-20
Special to the REcoRD-UNIoN.

special TO the RECORD-UNION.
GALVESTON, April 19.-After the recep-
ton last night, responding to a formal
welcome by General Waul, on behalf OF
the Mayor, who was i'll, the President ex-
pressed thanks for the cordial welcome,
and, in the course of his remarks, said:
Il am glad to have been able to traverse
the harbor and look upon the liberal
work which the Government inaugurated
for your benefit and for the benefit of the
Northwest. have always believed that
it was one of the undisputed functions OF
the General Government to make these
great waterways and harbors, into which
our shipping must come, fit to receive the
tribute of rail and river, safe and easy OF
access. / deprecate the waste of public
money, but am not an economist in the
sense that I. would leave incomplete or
suffer to lag any great work highly pro-
motive to the interests of our people.
I'VE are great enough and rich enough
to reach forward to grander conceptions
than have entered the minds of some of
our statesmen in the past. If you are
content, l am not, that the nations of
Europe shall absorb nearly the entire
commerce of the new sister republics that
lie south of us, that is naturally in a
hood; ours by nearness of access ours
by that sympathy that binds the hemi-
sphere without king. [Cheers.
The inauguration Of the Pan-Ameri-
can Congress, or more properly the
American Conference, the happy conduct
OF that meeting, the wise and compre-
hensive measures which We're suggested
by it, with the fraternal and kindly
spirit that was manifested by our south
ern neighbOrs, has stimulated desire in
them and IN our people for larger inter-
course of commerce and friendship.
THE provisions of the bill passed at
the last session looking to reciprocity of
trade not only met with my official ap-
prOval when [ signed the bill, but with
my jealous promotion before the bill was
reported. Prolonged cheering It's pro-
vision concerning reciprocity is that we
have placed upon our free list sugar. tea.
coffee and hides, and we have said to
those nations from whom we receive
these great staples, Give US free access
TO your ports for an equivalent amount of
our produce in exchange. or we will re-
impose the duties on the articles named.'
The law leaves it wholly TO the Exec
utlye TO negotiate these arrangements.
1t does not need that they shall take the
form OF treaty. They need not be sub
mItted for the concurrence of q State. 1t
only needs that we, having made our
offer, shall receive their offer in return:
and when they have made up an accept
able schedule Of articles produced by US
that shall have free access to their ports,
proclamation by the President closes
the whole business.
ALREADY one treaty with that Youngest
South American Republic, the great Re
public of Brazil, has been negotiated and
proclaimed. / think, without disclosing
any Executive secrets, | may tell YOU
that the arrangements with Brazil is not
likely TO abide lonesomeness much
longer. Prolonged cheering.] That
others are TO follow, and that as a result
of these trade arrangements, products of
of the United States-our meats, our
breadstutfs and certain lines of manu-
factured goOds-are to find free or favored
access to the ports of many of these South
and Central American states. All the
States viii share in these benefits. We
have had some analysis of the manifests
of some of our steamers now sailing to
the South American ports, and in a single
steamer it was found that twenty-five of
our States contributed TO the cargo.
But we shall need something more
we shall need American steamships to
carry American goods to these points.
[Great cheering. The last Congress an
propriated $500, 600, and authorized the
POstmaster-General TO contract with
steamship companies for a period not ex-
ceeding ten years for carrying the United
States mail. The foreign mail service is
the only mali service out of which the
Government has been making a net profit.
We do not make Il profit out of our land
service. There is IN annual deficiency,
which, my good friends, the Postmaster
General has been trying hard to reduce or
wipe out. The theory of our mail service
IS that it is for the people; that we are not
to make profit out of it; that we are to
give them as cheap postage as possible,
I'VE are many of us looking forward
to the time when we shall have one-cent
postage in this country. We have been
so close and penurious in dealing with
our ships in carrying foreign mails that
we have actually made revenues out of
that business, not having spent for it
what we have received for it. Now we
propose to change the policy, and max e
more liberal contracts with American
lines, carrying American mails. Some
one may say we ought not to 90 into this
business; that it is a subsidy. But my
friends, every other great nation of the
world has been doing it, and is
doing il to-day. Great Britain and
France have built up their great steam
ship lines by Government aid, and it
seems TO me that our attitude with refer
ence to that is amply protected by an
illustration / mentioned the other day
In the olden time no wholesale merchant
custom, but he stood in his own
store and waited for his Gus
TONERS; but presently some enterprising
merchant began to send out men with
Vhelr samples to seek trade, to save the
country buyer the cost of a trip to New
YORK or Philadelphia, until finally that
pracuce became universal, and these
active, intelligent travelling men are
scurrymg this country over, pushing
ana soliciting in their several lines of
business. Now imagine some conserva-
tive merchant in New York saving to
himself: All this is wrong trade ought
TO come 10 me- If he should refuse to
adopt these modern methods what
would be the result? He must adopt
new methods, or go out of business. We
have been refusing to adopt the universal
method of our competitors in commerce
to stimulate their shipping interests and
have gone out of business. TCheers. I
Encouraged by what your spokesman
has said tonight, ] venture to declare
that / am in favor of going into busit,ess
again, and when it is re-established T
hope Galveston will be in partnershin
TGreat cheers.
at has been the careful study of tho
Postmaster-G General, in preparing to exc
cute the law to which | nave referred. To
see how much increase in the routes and
ships we could secure by il. We have
said to a few existing American lines:
tYou must not treat this appropriation as
plate of soup, to be divided and con-
snmed by you. You must give us new
lines, new ships, increased trips and
new ports of CALI Already the steam