The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-11-06
The FORTHCOMING MESSAGE.

before the meeting of the Fifty second
Congress. The annual message of the
President will be looked for with unusal
and extraordinary interest Especially is
this the case in reference to that portion
oeahng with the so-calied reciprocity ques-
ZION. BY the MCKINLEY act, certain
treaty making powers were assumed to be
delegated to the executive in retaliation
Tor failure on the part of certain Central
and South American governments to &c
cept the terms of that measure previous to
January l, 1892. The probability is that all
OF those states fayoring the scheme will
nave notified our government of their &C
ceptance before the Presidents mes
sage Is sent in, SO that full data on that
subject will be in the hands Of Mr.. HARRI-
SON to be transmitted to the people through
Congress
VIII MIR HARRISON exercise the arbi-
trary discretion given him to re- impose
import duties upon the ncn-acceptance of
the reciprocity plan BY the countries south
OF US! Ordinarily one would say that,
Congress being in session, the Chief Mag
lstrate should submit the question to that
BODY, particularly as there are grave doubts
OF his constitutional power to exercise
legislative functions az the proxy of the
, enate. But with an Overwhelming ma
lorlty in the House opposed to the BLAINE
HARRISON policy, it is questionable whether
ne Will obey SO plain suggestion of duty
lie VIII be more apt, unless restrained by
the supreme court, to act upon the author
lty bestowed on him by the last Congress.
But was II ever intended to do more than
threaten the Central and South American
republics into compliance with the wishes
OF the administration! 1t is our own peo-
pie Wfo would be most affected by the re-
imposition OF the old duties on sugar and
other South American products. Suppose
for instance that in this manner President
HARRISON should affix a duty of IL cents
per pound on hides imported from
Uruguay and the Argentine republic.
How would the American boot and shoe
manufacturers relish thatl What, they
would ask, have they done to be made to
suffer for the Indifference or the defiance
or the great cattle growing countries? And
what nave our citizens at large done to be
visited with the results of the so miserably
mlsIamed reciprocity principles Already
IN Massachusetts we have seen the effect
OF the popular antagonism to that feature
OF the tariff laws that imposes heavy duties
on raw materials. What would be the in.
dlgnation on the revival, after twenty
years, OF tariff on imported hides and
leather?
Many Of the Spanish-speaking nations
seem Indifferent to the prohibition, by |
taxes, OF the entrance of their products to |
our ports. The reason is they have ample |
markets in England, France and Germany. |
Ii mas only been by persistent drumming
and hatterlng representations that any at |
tention has been paid abroad to this reci-
procity scheme Indeed, it is a question
whether the American people can have con-
ndence In the stability or good faith of |
South American governments, torn and |
disrupted as they are by constant revolu-
tons Only yesterday the telegraph
brought the news of formidable Insured.
ton in Brazil, with which country our state
department made a commercial treaty last
FEBRUARY as the first fruit of reciprocity
according to BLAINE; and the habit of those
ncKIe people to change their governmental
forms at will gives no assurance of fidelity
in anything.
There are signs visible that the move
ment to gain entrance to the foreign ports
OF this continent for the productions of pro-
tected manufacturers, in exchange for raw
needed to produce them, is begin
ning to be looked into with more scrutiny
than at hrst. strong argument will, of
course, be put forward in the message to
sustain the administration policy, and for
This purpose thorough preparation has been
made; but it will be examined with care
md critical scrutiny by the people.