St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-01-30
WILL CANADA ANNEX,
Interesting Expressions OF
Opinion by Canadians on
the Subject.
Prof. Goodwin Smith Says
Canada Is Not Ripe for
the Movement.
He Prefers Commercial Union
and Says the States Do Not
Invite Political.
Some Canadians Oppose and
Some Favor Raising the
American Flag.

Prof. Goodwin Smith has just been
interviewed at his lovely home at 1.-The
Grange" on the subject of Canadian an
nexation. He seems to be annoyed at
being singled out as leading spirit in
the new annexation propaganda. lie
said:
II cannot say that | am yet prepared
to go blindly into this scheme of polit-
ical union. In the first place, l don't
think the ultra-political unionistS eX-
actly understand what they want. OF
course they want what we all want, a
more liberal commercial policy, not only
with the United States but the rest of
the world; but whether the only means
to attain that is to hoist the American
flag may we'll be a subject for more dis
cussion than it has had yet. The sub
ject is broad and deep one. | would
not like to be quoted just now as dis
tinctly favoring a change OF flags. l do
not think the time is ripe. Besides, y
said Professor Smith. with smile, 81
am not aware that we have yet been in
vited to become portion of
the American Union. Suppose we
should hoist the American flag OF the
esplanade. or over the city hall, or over
the parliament building, and then have
to take it down again, at the request of
Uncle Sam, because we had not had his
permission to use it-that would be
awkward We now have tariff wall all
around us, instead of mere barrier
on our southern boundary, And
that wall was erected in pur-
suance of Sir John Macdon-
AIDS famous motto. RECIPROCITY
of trade, or reciprocity of tariffs Well.
Sir John did not get reciprocity of
trade, but his reciprocity or tariffs he
got with q vengeance. And the result
is that today we are paying as much as
we used to for what we consume
from abroad and getting about half as
much as we used to for what we pro-
duce at home. That is the result Of Mr..
Macdonald's system of political econ
omy. There is but one immediate and
forceful remedy. That is commercial
union or reciprocity with Our nearest
neighbOrs. If that cannot be had, then
we may think of something else.
Each several province of the domin
ion is by nature welded to commercial
partner on the south, though perverSe
policy struggles to divorce them. The
maritime provinces want to send their
lumber, their btuminOus coal and their
fish to the markets of New England {;
Ontario and Quebec want to send their
barley, eggs and other farm prod
uctS, their horses, their cattle and
their lumber to New York and other
neighboring states; Manitoba and the
Northwest want to send their superior
wheat, their barley. their wool and the
fish of their great lakes to st. Paul and
Minneapolis; British Columbia wants to
send her bituminouS coal, her salmon
and the timber of which she is the
mighty mother to California and Ore
gOn. All of them want to get American
manufactures as well as the products OF
more southern climate in return.
In a Hard Position.
'But it is in regard to minerals, per
haps, that the case of Canada is the
hardest. She has all the economic min
erals except tin. She has vast stores of
magnetic and hematatic iron, such as
would make the best Of iron and steel.
In some districts she is rich in copper
and nickel She has valuable veins OF
silver and collaborating quartz, the
former IN the Lake Superior district,
the latter in Nova Scotia and
British Columbia. She has abund-
ullCS vi COQIs bOltl III DIlllOli SOl7
umbia and in Nova Scotia. Chemical
minerals she has also in abundance, and
stores of mineral manure. Yet the total
value of her mineral exports for 1896
was little over S5,000,O00, nearly half OF
the amount in bittuminOuS coal, while
she imported hard coal to nearly the
same value. She exported of minerals
in 1889 to the United States 81 per cent
and TO the United Kingdom and British
possessions only Is per cent Of her total
production. Her chief mineral export
to Great Britain is of phosphates. What
she wants is free market, free inflow
of American capital. and free purchase
of mining machinery.
"And yet in spite of the tariff wall tC
the south of US Canada has been trading
more with the United States than with
England or any other country in the
world. and nearly as much as with all
the other countries of the world put
together. In year before the McKin
lev act her exports to Great Britain
were SSS, 105. 1876; her imports from Great
Britain were $40, 249,555 Her exports
522, 404; her imports from the
United States were 5G,3GS, 900. OF the
total trade of Canada in the same year
41.95 per cent was with Great Britain
1866 was with the United States, while
only Q per cent was with the rest of the
world. High as the tariff wall between
Canada and the United States is, trade
we see, has climbed over 1t. Wherever
an opening is made in the wall trade
rushes through. Before the removal OF
the duty on eggs the trade in them wa;
nominal; it rose. when the duty was re
moved, to over $2,OO0,OO0 in 1889. The
Mckinley tariff sends it down again.
Il look, of course, upon the overthrow
OF McKlnleyism in the United States al
long step toward Canada's commercial
redemption. Whether the position
taken by Wilfrid Laurier that the cleo
ton of Mr.. Cleveland in that country
means free trade, and hence free trade
in Canada must follow, be correct
/ am not prepared to say, l think i