The times., 1891-04-17
GRAPES, HORSES, ETC.
WOULD FREE-TRADE WITH CANADA
BENEFIT OUR FARMERSi


ity Must Be Considered. Not an In
dividual.
A correspondent writes:
Il am Protectionist from center to
circumference. and my choice is the
American flag and not England. I
have hal this question asked me by q
fruit grower Please answer it: 4 send
crap = To the Montreal market and pay
two celts per pound duty. and buy a
team of horses there for my farm work
and p,y 25 per cent. duty on the horses.
Woull not Free-trade be better for meY"
Your friend says that he pays the duty
on the grapes. Well. that is Canadian
tariff beyond the power Of the United
States to alter. Undoubtedly he would
be benefited if his products were ad-
mitt-d free to the Canadian market,
just as Canadians would profit if we ad-
mitted their products free to our markets.
There is very little room for controversy
on this point. 1t is the corner stone of
the recently negotiated Brazilian treaty,
and the foundation of Mr.. Blaine's reci-
procity policy. But so long as Canada
chooses to levy that duty of two cents
pound on grapes, your friend must con-
tinue to pay it before he can enter the
Montreal market. So much for the
grape duty. Now about the duty on the
horses.
Your friend says he pays the duty on
ehe grapes. Then the Canadian must
pay the duty on the horses. Your friend
cannot dodge this conclusion. The fact
that he is the one who actually hands the
duty to the customs officer does not alter
the case. The Canadian who sold the
horses paid the duty just as surely as
your friend paid the duty on his grapes.
And this is how he did it:
Suppose the team cost in Canada $500.
The duty added makes the cost to the
fruit grower 1915 at his farm in New
York. We can safely assume that there
was any number of equally desirable
teams to be had at home. Why did he
go to Canada for his horses? Because the
Canadian was willing to sell them at a
price so far below the price upon similar
American horses that, with the duty
added, they cost no more than the Ameri.
can horses would cost. That is, the Ca
madam horse dealer threw off from the
price of his horses the seventy-five dol
lars duty in order to entice the American
purchaser.
Now, if there were no duty on horses,
do you suppose that the Canadian would
sell his horses for $500 when he could get
1915 across the border? You certainly
must give him credit for more common
sense. On the other hand, if we should
declare Free-trade in horses with Canada,
how long do you suppose it would be be-
fore Montreal would be swarming with
Yankee horse dealers, all looking for
those 1915 teams, which could be bought
for $500? And what would be the imme.
diate result of the competition of these
numerous bidders for the few Canadian
horses that could be placed on the mar.
ket? The price would jump to point at
which a purchase Of Canadian horses
would at most only pay for the trouble
and expense of the journey and the trans.
portation of the team to,the states. But
what a glorious thing this boom in the
horse market would be for the Canadian!
Is it not clear that he is the one who
would be benefited by the removal OF
the duty on horses, just as your friend
would be benefited by the removal of the
duty on grapes? Is it not equally clear
that the present difference in the price of
New York and Canadian horses is due to
the existence of the 25 per cent. tariff
which keeps them out of the American
market? This difference, which is simply
the amount Of the duty, is charged to the
Canadian, whether he brings his horses to
the United States or your friend goes to
Montreal after them.
Undoubtedly it would be fine thing
for your friend if he alone were privi-
legged to sell and buy across the Cana
dian border without any obstructing
tariffs So it would be q personal bene-
fit to you if you alone had the privilege
of buying the cheap pauper labor goods
of Europe without paying any duty.
When the same privileges are extended
to all, however, the case is different.
Prices would work just as when the lit
tie army of Yankee horse dealers rushed
to Montreal after the cheap horses.
Besides all this, the question arises,
Would one under Free-trade be able to
buy even if prices were low? The ques-
ton takes added force from the fact,
known to every one, that the people who
live in the very shadow Of the great fac
tories which turn out the cheapest goods
are least able to buy them. A carriage
ride is a far greater luxury among Can
adams than in this country, for all
their cheap horses. Seek through the
whole world and you will find the coun-
try of the cheapest prices contains most
want, misery and degradation.
When your friend buys a Canadian
team, even If he is benefited by the trans
action, yet his neighbor in New York,
who has team to sell, is injured in hav-
ing the demand for horses supplied from
Montreal. Thus you see that when the
question is considered in its bearing on
the entire community the whole broad
tariff controversy is opened up. On our
side of the question we have the ever
present, practical and all powerful argu-
ment that under our Protective system,
with its somewhat higher priced COM
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