The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1895-10-25
OuR FOREIGN Trade.
We Fay for Imports With Espors.. Not With
Money An Trade IL hsrser.

Money-An Trade 4. Hsrser.
The only resort left for the protec-
ZIONIST organs is their claim that by
eneoura ring foreign commerce the
Wilson tariff Is sending all our money
out OF the country" In order to make
il appear that this has been the result
Of the new tariff. these papers are pub
fishing statistics showing that the inn
ports during the fiscal year ended June
30 1895. are larger than those for the
previous fiscal year And the fact that
there has been an Increase in the total
value of imported goods is made the
basis OF the charge that the tariff re-
form policy is running the country by
bringing in more goods than we can
pay for.
To this attempted protection argu-
ment correspondent declares there
are two conclusive answers. The first
j. that while imports were larger dur
ing the past year. they were nearly
SioO. 900. 900 less than in 1898 and more
than 500 ooo. 900 less than in i,9s or
1891. Comparing the statistics of inn
ports under the first year Of the Will
sen tariff with those of the last year
under Mckinleyism. when owing To
the high tariff panic the importation
of all kinds of goods had greatly fallen
of is fraudulent prctense that is
easily exposed. The proper year for
comparison is the first year of the Me-
kinley tariff. when the imports were
Ssi4. 9id. ls,i. over $50. 900. 900 more than
last year. so il the Wilson tariff Is
hi, hn OIL s.sal "a lies
prove that the Mckinley tariff was far
more ruinous
Friends of low tariffs could well af-
ford to rest satisfied with this re-
ioinder 10 the cry of increased imports
But they do not believe that even
though tariff reform did cause larger
imports. il would he an In jury. or that
the sending Of money abroad is loss
to this country. IL foreign manufac-
turers are willing TO exchange their
products for the gold and silver prod
uc.s of our mines. VIII. should we com
plain? Gold and silver are not sent
abroad as money. but as commodities.
and require labor for their production.
Just a. much as oil or wheat Nobody
complains when we sell pork or cotton
to foreigners II the latter continued
for any length of time 10 sell u goods
and take nothing but what the protec-
tionists call money" they would soon
find that they had parted with valua-
BILE products in exchange for metal
that they coald neither eat. wear, or
use TO satisfy any rational desire The
only way in which their stores of
money could be made useful would bc
to send it back TO this country in cx-
change for food, cotton. oil. etc
Protectionists do not seem 10 under
stand that foreigners as well as Amer
cans. only want money in order to ex-
change il for goods or services The
idea tina. a country would get richer
by boarding up metal of any kind j. a
delusion which belongs 10 the centu-
ries when men believed that money
was the ONLY real wealth II il were
true that sending money away for
goods was an injury. il would apply as
well to domestic as to foreign trade
1t would he just as hard to send money
from Vermont to Georgia in payment
for cotton. as to send il TO Canada TO
paw for barley. In both cases money
Is exchanged for goods The fact that
one country is under a different gov
eminent does not alter the real nature
of the tran saction- All trade is barter.
and the more trade the better for all