Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1892-03-11

Republican Tide Rising Everywhere
Circulation and Business-The Demo-
cratic Dilemlna-Pottery 10 Cheaper
The Case of an irishman-Brief Poll
tical Notes.
Mills Policy q Road to Ruin.
A few days ago the St. Louis Republic
published a long interview with Mills,
of Texas, and among the many strange
things he said vas this.
n reduction of the tariff to % per cent.
upon q revenue basis would increase our
imports $a3J0.OOO Y, QUO, and that amount of
exports would have to 90 out to pay for the
imports. Eighty per cent. of these. ex-
ports are agricultural products, of which
cotton is the largest: II we lave pro-
duced of that this year 5000, 600, 600
pounds.
Roswell g. Horr, of Michigan, makes
answer, to this paragraph in the New
York Weekly Tribune as follows:
That short extract contains the Cist of
the free trade theory. 1t is Just that state
ment. i'll one shape n another. which IL
free trade friends have been repeating for
the last fifty years. Let us examine the
subject n moment.
In the outset, the statement is q frank,
square admission that the free traders seek
to increase the imports of manufactured
goods into tins country to the enormous eN-
ltlt Vi 'TCUu.UUV.VoV u NCtIs lutL IucICilSC
must of necessity be composed almost
wholly ct goods Which are now made or
produced in this country under the i'll
iiuencc of protection. Mr.. Mills will not
claim that there would be any natural
increase III the imports of tea. coffee, SUI
gar or hides. or OF any other article now
on the free LIST. Neither would lie claim
thai there would be any increase in the
importation of Injuries. OH which our
protective system, levics purely revenue
II $50 --l ,I,..s, - 50
peting with American products. lie
will not clam that there. would
follow Il great influx OF diamonds. costly
champaencs. or ligh-pliccu goods, which
we do not produce in this country. The
rich would continue 90 buy about the same
the duty. Hence. of necessity he desires
To have the foreign manufacturers enter
our markets and sell ;ss3o0.0U0,0 GOD worth
more oT goods. Ill place OF those which
are now made and sold by our American
producers. III he does not mean exactly
that. tien does Ale mean anothing?
1t is To ire Simply astounding tina. any
man. with Il gram oI common sense. can
clam filat such y procedure would benefit
dis country. That step would ut once
gagged in this country i'll producing $780,
uU0.0Uo worth of goods. or III least compel
them TO seek other kinds OF work.
"Ot course. would be MI; Mills reply.
.let tncll 80 10 lifullnS. l5ul tnere is no
lack OF farmers i'll this country. There are
plenty OF men producing farm products to-
ilay. What We do need is really more men
making manufactured goods. 81 rs to in
crease the home market for the products OF
the farms. ~ good home market always
means prosperous farming.
''l5ut. says Mr.. Mills, ''our importation
of SS3CO, 00O. OOO more of foreign goods means
lllat the same increased amount OF our
products would have TO go ont to pay for
that increase of imports, and that would
mean Il large increase in the quantity of
our farm products. which those nations
would buy, and also a large increase in the
price we would receive for such productS.'
Mr.. Mills knows. or ought to know. that
there is no foundation i'll fact for such u
statement. Foreign nations never have
graduated, and never Will graduate. their
purchases OF our products ny the amount
we purchase iron them. In their pur-
rhases of our farm products. they will be
Governed entirely by their own needs ard
never in any way by our desires. They
Will always buy The goods they need
where they can the cheapest. They will
never take Il pound OF meat or Il buSlel OF
gram more from the United States than
they need. let us buy from them all
they need from the United States if they
can do better elsewhere. The statistics OF
the trade of the world prove my statement
to be true and leave no chance for contro-
NerSv upon tie QueStlOn.
The mistake which Mr.. Mills and his ell
tire school of political economists lake is
this: They assume that If America should
buy SSO0, 010.0O0 more manufactured goods
than at present they must he pa,L for.
necessarily, by American farm products OF
not the case. They must be paid tor no
doubt, but if the balance of trade is against
us they must he paid for i'll hard cash or
securities. The plan of Mr.. Mills would
simply compel this nation to send its gold
and silver cut OF the country to meet the
United States woul he constantly exhaust
ing its mines of precious metals for the
benefit of the Old World. The present
plan keeps the balance OF trade in favor of
present wise system. a few years from now
we will have III thus country more ready
hard cash than will be owned by any two
nations on the face of the globe.
Why do these free trade theorists always
ignore the fact that IL debt between nations
ran be paid in money and securities rs well
MS between individualSo a farmer who
sells each year more dollars worth of stuff
from his Farm thai he is compelled to pay
out OF his living expenses. who is getting
each year a balance in cash. is on the road
to Il competency. Nations are governed by
precisely the same conditions. y nation
which is each year producing and selling
more than it buys. and so is compelling
balances to be paid to it i'll cash, is the ma
ton which is doing we'll. On the other
hand. any nation which is constantly COM
Dclled to send its precious metals abroad to
meet its debts is most surely running be-
hind. =.
The Mills plan would simply impoverish
this nation and UNI n large number of in
~t.ustrlcs which are now furnishing labor
tor its citizens, and winch add much to the
general prosperity OF all II people.
Money Circulation and Business.
Furthermore the same lesson which
we are being taught now, that enter
prise and prosperity are not the accom-
paniment of mere currency enlarge
lnent. is a very old principle acknowl-
edged the world over and one which all
our financial history has been illustrat-
ing. The United States on the LIST of
January. 1892, had in active circulation