Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1891-09-02

100000 worth of our products. This
difference of S10S,000.000 which Re-
publicans call "a balance of trade
against us" "shows at once the results
of reciprocity, the necessity for it and
the promise of its future potency"
So says the New York Tribune, and
we agree with 1t. But in order to
know more of the potency" of recip-
rocity, consider the fact that we sold
England in 1889 s37O,OOO,0OO worth
of farm products, in return for which
we received only 10000, 900 of Eng
ligh goods, which, when taxed at the
Mckinley rate of an average Of 60
cents on the dollar. cost us $99,000,-
900 more than their value-or than
the selling price England charges us
on the exchange for the wheat, cotton,
corn and provisions, of which England
takes more than half sent abroad from
America. This tax cost added to our
import received in return for agricul-
tural exports is equivalent in so much
to deduction from the profits on our
surplus. That is, our exports of $780,
600, 900 year to England are taxed
800, 100000 on the exchange with
England. 1t makes no difference in
results whether the tax is laid on
what we get in exchange. AS tax
on our trade it comes out of our trade,
and we lose it. This is another dem
onstration of the necessity for reci-
prosity.
We send s1Os,OOO,OOO in money a
year to Spanish-America to settle bal
ancea. England gets this money and
sends it back to us for our agricultur-
al products. Under this arrangement
England, which offers reciprocity to
us and to Spanish-America alike, be-
cause it is not silly enough to tax its
own trade, commands the Spanish
American market with its exports,
and commands our markets for agri-
cultural surplus for the very simple
reason that, being better customer
for us than all the rest of the world
together, it is entitled to have some
thing to say in the bargain.
Now, to be able to buy our bread
stuffs and cotton at all under tariff
which tries to stop it from trading
with our farmers unless it can pay
in gold instead of goods, it must get
the gold we send to Spanish America.
1t does get it, or most of it, but get
ting it costs something, and great
deal of this cost falls OH our farmers.
After England has brought less than
half of what they sell it annually, it
must get gold to pay for the rest, and
the more it costs it get this gold the
less it can afford to pay for our crops.
Under this arrangement we pay the
cost of trade around a triangle in
stead of a straight line. Before Eng
land can take our crop surplus it
must compete our manufacturers out
of Spanish America and get the gold
we send there to pay for sugar, coffee
and hides. England does it, and the
South American farmers, after selling
us their products high, get their sup
plies cheap at our expense, though
England would rather buy our pro-
ducts with its supplies, giving us the
benefit of the saving, than to 60 to
South America to get gold to pay
balances. When it does that our
farmers must bear the cost in lower
prices for their breadstuffs, provisions
and cotton, while at the same time
they are being taxed 60 cents on the
dollar of their imported supplies.
What is true Of England is as true
in principle of Germany, to which
under the protective system we sell
hardly any breadstuffs or provisions.
The attempt of the Republican
party to put our foreign trade on the
gold basis has demoralized the cOun-
try. There could be no greater or
more pernicious delasion than that
the goods we get from foreign coun-
tries represent total loss instead of
total gain. Reciprocity means the
free and fair exchange of commodi-
ties f; the giving of goods for goods !;
the taking of farm supplies for farm
products. England offers us full and
complete reciprocity, and reciprocity
with England alone would be worth
more to the agricultural States the
first year than all the trade of Span
ish America in decade. But the
sort of reciprocity that gives New
England free hides and raw material
from South American farmers in ex-
change for farm supplies sold cheap
er there than the identical articles
are sold in Illinois and Iowa will not
go down in the west. 1t is fraudu-
lent. The west must have fair play.
1t must be allowed to get at its
European markets, instead of bearing
as now the double burden of taxes
to enrich northern plutocrats and the
costs of a triangular trade which re-
suits in cheaper farm supplies for
Spanish America.-Republic's tariff
department.