The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-12-03

winch were necessarily Iacity De-
ginning was made at the great task of
capturing for manufacturers and mer-
chants Of the United States a larger
share of American international COM
merce, and the feeling among business
men. as it has been expressed here. is
that these treaties should have been
continued until something better was
ready to take their place.
The most important results Of the
reciprocity scheme of Mr.. Blaine was
among our own people. 1t was edu-
cational. 1t pointed the way TO new
fields of conquest The advantages
secured for them in the southern coun-
tries inspired the merchants and manu-
facturers Of the United States to make
a determined attempt TO obtain a share
of the markets which they had pre-
viously neglected. and the passenger
lists of the steamers and the statistics
Of the postal service show that more
commercial travellers have gone from
this country to Central and South
America, more buyers have come from
those countries TO this, and more cor
respondence has been conducted dur
ing the last two or three years than was
known before.
Worthington Ford and other statisti
clans who carefully watched the re-
suits of the Blaine reciprocity scheme
claim those treaties were not success
full in promoting commerce between
this country and South America. But
they are only half right. They base
the argument exclusively upon the
figures of imports and exports.
To be wholly fair they must take into
consideration the fact that during the
short period the commercial treaties
were in force not only this country, but
many South American countries, We're
suffering commercial depression. The
trade movement Of the world was to a
great extent paralyzed. In almost
every important channel of interchange
there was diminution both of bulk and
value of goods carried. 1t is true that
under reciprocity our trade with the
treaty countries did not show net in
crease. There was, on the other hand,
a small percentage Of net loss. But
the loss of trade between the United
States and the treaty countries was
much smaller in proportion than the
loss between those countries and Eng
land, France and Germany, their prin-
cipal markets and purchasing points.
1t was less, then, in proportion, than
the loss between this country and Eu
rope, and very much less than the ratio
Of diminution of trade movement
among our own people during that
period of shrinkage of value and timid-
ity of operation.
1t is fair to infer that but for the
existence of the reciprocity agreements
our trade with Central and South
America would have suffered much
more than it did. 1t is likewise a fair
inference that, under normal condi-
tons, there would have been a crafty
ing growth of trade as the direct result
of the Blaine policy.
Local as well as general causes oper-
ated to prevent the test of 1914 being
a fair one as TO the merits of reciproc-
ity. In two of the principal countries
the coffee crop was almost a failure,
diminishing the power of that nation
to sell or to buy. In the great country
OF Brazil the rebellion for a long time
caused stoppage of trade. Nicaragua
and Honduras, too, were harassed by
instructions.
All Of the southern Republics and
colonies have also suffered severely
from the reduced value of silver, which !
is their common currency and STAN
dard, and corresponding increase in
foreign exchange. The price of labor
and production and living has not in |
any measure decreased. A silver dol |
lar which was worth 80 cents in gold |
in some of these countries few years |
ago, is now worth less than 30 cents in |
foreign exchange. so that from this |
cause alone the value of foreign mer- |
chandise has been increased to cor
responding degree in all Of the south |
ern markets, and the aggregate value |
of their imports is reduced accordingly. |
The English merchants have suffered |
from this cause, not only in Latin
America, but wherever silver money is
current.
So, 1t is seen, the question Of money |
cuts an important figure along with /
the question of reciprocity. And while
the merchant and manufacturer now
see the necessity of capturing the trade
of Latin-America, they must also come
TO see the necessity Of treating silver,
the money Of those countries and the |
money Of commerce fairly, and relin-
quish the present fad of outlawing all /
coin but the metal that is manipulated |
by the creditor, not the commercial,
classes, TO increase the value of their 1
notes without raising the figures on 1
the face of the notes. to the contraction /
of commerce and the stringeney OF
business medium.
=