Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-17
Financial Disasters Which Came With 1t
Make 1t Easy for Free Traders to
Fool the People.
complaint OF AUSTRIAN MERCHANTS.
5taly Has Discovered That It Could Not Have Been
Framed 10 Inure More to Her
Interests.
FALL COMMERCIAL NATIONS WILL FOLLOW SUIT

LONDON, May 16-Hon. Thomas B. Reed,
Speaker of the last United States House of
Representatives, who has been visiting
Rome, devoted himself almost entirely to
sightseeing there, and after thoroughly
doing Rome went to Naples, where he
visited Vesuvius, Pompeii, Capri and other
attractions in the neighborhood. He is now
understood to be in Northern Italy.
To a correspondent of the Associated
Press, at Rome, who interviewed him, Mr..
Reed was disinclined to discuss politics,
but when asked for his observations con-
cerning the Mckinley law, the ex-Speaker
grew more communicative, and said:
''The Mckinley bill has been very un-
Justly criticised, and am satisfied that the
people of the United States, when they
come to understand its workings, will
acknowledge that it is most valuable meas
ure, a measure intended to encourage both
our foreign commerce and our domestic in
6ustries.
How 1t Works Both Ways.
SIT will stimulate, our foreign commerce by
the large number of articles on which the
duties have been reduced or which have
been added to the free list. 1t will stimu-
late our domestic energies by reason of the
reduction in the duties on raw material and
the increased duties on a very few articles
of necessity which have been largely i'm
ported, but which we have hitherto been
unable to manufacture proftably. 1 think
that with this sufficient protection our
manufacturers will soon be able to establish
these industries on as firm footing as those
which need no increased protection.
sit may be that the duties on Brussels
carpets, silks, laces, champagnes and some
other articles of luxuries have been ad-
vanced But the average household ex-
penditure for these will be no comparison to
the amount paid for those articles which by
reason of lower rate of duty on the manu-
factured article or on the raw material can
be purchased for reduced prices.
Very Unfortunate Time.
'It was extremely unfortunate" Z" he con-
tinued, 'that the bill-went into effect at
time of, or was followed soon by, a most
severe financial panic; when the failure of
the Barring Brothers, with liabilities of
500, 900, 600, seemed to shake the foundation
of the strongest houses; when general in
solvency seemed to STARE the whole COM
mercial world in the face, and was only
-averted by the prompt and joint action
of the Bank of England and
Fngland's fnanciers, with the tens of
millions of dollars drawn from all
Europe and the United States; when the
combinations of untoward circumstances
were sucn as had never before happened;
when, in anticipation of large profits,
merchants had ordered from Europe, in
many instances, even before it was known
such quantities that even with an easy
money market, the capacity of our merchants
to pay for them would be severely tested.
''Under such circumstances the failure of
the Barings occurred, and the only securi-
ties salable in large quantities held in
England were thrown on the New York
market in such immense quantities that the
Disbursement by the United States Treas
ury of some $40, 100000 or $4,000, 900
seemed but drop in the bucket to stay the
demand for money.
Made 1t Easy to Fool Voters.
''Going into effect under such circumstances
it was not an extremely difficult matter to
convince thousands of voters that the
financial difficulties were due solely to the
inherent defects of the measure. Why,
look at the case of Austria, whose merchants
complain so loudly of the ruin that the Nc
Kinley bill has wrought to their trade!
They complained that their industries
were affected to such an extent by the
measure that through their efforts
the Austrian Government was forced to
seek to draw other nations into measures of |
reprisal against the United States Not
these complaints the facts |
proved that the exports for the first three |
months under the operation of the bill were |
60 per cent over the corresponding |
quarter of 1890
'Here in Italy merchants and the press re-
echoed the wailings of the balance of the
European press until they discovered that,
had the bill been specially devised for the
purpose, it could /
Not Have Been Better Adapted
to increase her trade with the United States,
for by its provisions 80 per cent of our pur-
chases from her are on the free list; 81 per
cent are admitted at reduced rates of duty;
L per cent at the same rate, while the duty
was advanced on but four per cent.
The commercial alliance of the central
States Of Europe, which certain powers are
endeavoring to bring about, is evidence that
the commercial nations are not slow to take
every possible precaution to protect and
stimulate their trade-and that is exactly
the policy on which the Mckinley bill is
founded.
Il am very confident that the next few
years will be years of great prosperity to
he United States, and that they will prove
to be favorable both to our domestic MANN