St. Paul daily globe., 1891-12-14
THE CREDIT DUE.

While jubilation is being had over the
assumed triumph of the reciprocity
scheme in the admission of the Amer
ican hog to European countries, it may
be noted that there is no absolute
porcine freedom in the thing. The hog
has to pay his way. The tariff has been
reduced and the locked gates have been
thrown open, subject to rigid sanitary
conditions. This is a great deal, and
worth some exultatiOn, for it affords
market for many pound of pork. Ac-
cOrding to the Republican theory. the
shippers have the hardship of pay
ing the duties, but the current
observation about dissipates that
notion. If the governments of the
old countries choose to tax their
people on their meat, it is an affair of
their own. A great deal has been eff
fected in the reduction to moderate fig
ures. But the president in his message
has the candor to admit the real fact
about this opening to the American hog.
Two prominent DemOcratS-VESr in
the senate, and HATCH in the house
both stigmatiZed as Southern BOurbons,
are chiefly entitled to the crdit The
MCKINLEY prohibitory tariff, with its
negation Of its OWL spirit in free sugar,
or its reciprocity attachment would
not of themselves have opened a
new avenue to a solitary hog. The
president says ''the law of the last
congress provided a system of ofinspection
for our meats intended for export and
clothing the president with power to
exclude foreign products from our mar
ket in case the country sending them
should perpetuate unjust discrimina-
tions against any product Of the United
States, placing this government in a
position to effectively urge the removal
of such determinations against our
meats"
1t was the meat inspection bill that
laid the foundation for the successful
work. That took away the excuse for
shutting out the great American meat
product. The president names Ger
many, Denmark, Italy, Austria and
France as the countries that have adj
mitted the hog, and adds that s'ths
removal of these restrictions, in every
instance, was asked for and given solely
upon the ground that we had now pro.
vided meat inspection that should be
accepted as adequate to the complete
removal of dangers, real or fancied,
which had been previously urged"
In the case Of Germany, the power to
impose duty on sugar may have been
useful as a possible recourse, but it cut
no figure with the others.
Mr.. BLAINE lacks the frankness of
the president in this matter. When the
restriction in the German ports was re-
moved he was able to see nothing but
the triumph of his pet reciprocity. He
scared into the vision of an opening for
S15,000,000 to S20,000,O00 of American
pork where not pound had been
taken for ten years." 1t is to be hoped
he will not prove to be as romantic in
his figures as he is III the impelling
cause. But the fact is that the German
demand for hog meat will depend largely
On circumstances not to be accurately
determined in advance. 1t did not
amount to very much before it was shut
Oft by the German authorities. In 1880
the total shipments to Germany of
American pork, bacon and hams
amounted to less than S2.OOO,OO0, and in
1881 it was more than 100000 below the
year previous. Germany and France
are high protective countries, and the
duties still retained will put the cheap
est American meats above the reach of
the masses of the people. Still, a good
beginning has been made, and under
Democratic policies it may culminate
in something near real reciprocity.