The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1891-03-06
aLAIr.ea 20 I'D
a Necessary Subsistence for Doomed pro
lection

- - ---F-~~---
a Necessary suhstilu.g FOR Doomed Pro
lection
James G. Blaine keeps his ear close
20 the ground and is a man of great in
genuity- 1t was habit which enabled
him to discover in advance the doom of
protection and quality that empOw-
cred him to face about without seem
ing 10 turn He has substituted reel
prOcity for protection with ali the deft-
ness OF a cOnjnrer transforming copper
pennies into silver quarters What Is
reciprocity? Free trade based upon
protection principles.
According to protectiOnistS 1t is prcju-
dicial to the people of a nation to re-
ceive more goods from the people OF any
other nation than they send to those
people Or, in the language of pOlit-
zeal economy, if exports and imports
between two nations do not offset each
other the nation which imports more
than it exports is afflicted with ''an ad-
verse balance of trade" This is a kind
OF aftiictiOn which an individual might
bear with considerable equanimity, but
PrOtectionists regard it as a species of
commercial tuberculosis when the in
dividuals of a country are concerned as
an aggregation; and. Notwithstanding
the fact that Ireland has long had a
balance of trade in her favor" coun-
tries are supposed to be IMPOVERISHED
ing. Influenced by this middle age no
ton, Mr.. Blaine proposes that we be
not allowed to order what we want from
another country unless the government
of that country permits its people to or
der what they want from US. But wher-
/ ever this reciprocal arrangement can
/ be effected Mr.. Blaine would proclaim
/ free trade. What if our vOrl1ingmen
/ are thrown out of employment by the
/ influx of pauper-made goods? What if
! the farmer is deprived of his home mar
! ket? What if our industries are pre-
vented by foreign competition from di-
/ versifying? What if steel rails do rise
/ to one hundred and sixty dollars a ton
/ and calico to thirty cents yard? What
/ If wire nails do once more rival gold in
/ price? Every objection to free trade
/ disappears provided, fOrsOOth, the free
! trade is reciprocal. AS if it would not
/ be reciprocal if protection We're abOI-
/ ished.
What virtue is there in reciprocity
that does not attach in far greater per
lection to free trade? How can it make
any difference to the people of this
country whether their imports from
Brazil are Offset by exports to Brazil
/ or by exports to countries with which
! Brazil trades? If we import more
/ from Brazil than we export to that
country we pay the difference by means
/ OF drafts based on commodities shipped
/ elsewhere. From other countries we
/ import less than we export to them,
and similarly they pay the difference
in drafts. So far as current trade is
/ concerned there is no such thing as a
! continuous difference when all parties
TO the commercial relation are cOnsid-
/ cred. The people of one nation may be
indebted to those of another but a third
will be indebted to that, and in the
general settlement there is a general
balance. 1t is only when people in one
country pay debts to those in another,
or make loans to them, or make gifts
to foreign friends, or remit rents to
nonresident landlords, that the even
balance of trade is disturbed. And
then it is not the country that exports
the difference but the country that i'm,
ports the difference that is enriched.
These principles understood, it Is
clear that free trade is reciprocity. But
it is natural reciprocity natural as be
ing governed by the natural inclinations
of the people instead of arbitrary rules
And natural reciprocity does not lay q
foundation for substituting steamship
lines; while that is precisely what
Blaine's reciprocity does 1t is this
that makes it popular with protection
lists, who are socialists to the extent OF
wanting government to build ships and
them, but indivlduaists when it comes
to ownership, management. and dis
tributiOn OF prO6ts.-Chicago Times.
HOT SHOT FOR GAR REED.