Evening star., 1897-01-08
The Liberal View Of the Reciprocity
Question.
ADVANTAGE 10 TEE UNITED STATES
North and South Lines of Natural
lnter-Communication.
MR.. RIER COMM
Of The Evening Star.

OTTAWA, Canada, January q 1897
Mr.. Laurier, the Canadian premier, or
Sir Richard Cartwright, minister Of trade,
will go to Washington In the next fort
night to sound the republican leaders on
the subject of reciprocity between the two
countries. The dominion parliament meets
in February or March, when the liberals
will introduce large tariff changes. As it
is expected that Congress will hold a spe-
cial session In April to pass a new tariff
bill, the Canadian ministers are naturally
desirous to know what. IL anything, can
be done in the way Of bringing about closer
trade relations.
The following statement was made today
to the correspondent of The Star by a
prominent liberal, who knows the views Of
Mr.. Laurier and Sir Richard Cartwright:
The liberal government, now in power
in Canada, is pledged to seek closer COM
.mercial relations with the United States.
The Canadian tories also favor closer re-
-latfons; they would like to have a free
interchange Of natural products but, as
tney happen to be protectionists, are not
disposed to include factory goods, the sup
position being that the American manufac-
turer would swamp the Canadian. Liber-
ais take 1t for granted that it would be
useless to ask the United States for a
reciprocity treaty in natural products
alone, and are ready TO negotiate a treaty
comprehending some or all natural pro-
ducts, with such manufactured articles as
may be mutually agreed upon.
Canada Naturally Our Customer.
"A glance at the map will enable strang-
er to grasp without trouble the elementary
arguments for closer trade relations with
the United States. The state Of Maine
projects like a wedge to within few
miles of the Lower St. Lawrence leaving
the seaboard provinces lying by them
selves within the New England area to
which by geography they belong. Coming
westward, Quebec and Ontario are separat-
ed from Manitoba by q thousand miles of
rock and water, while Manitoba is separat-
ed from British Columbia by the Rocky
mountains. The dominion is thus broken
up into four blocks Of territory, each of
which, IL let alone, would trade not with
the rest so much with the states ad-
Joining 1t to the south. Instead of moving
from north to south, trade is now artifi-
cially driven east and west within the
same climatic zone. The only market for
Canadian minerals is in the United States:
they cannot be sent to England, and; while
the United States tariff remains as il Is
cannot be properly developed at ALL For
much that the Canadian farmer raises
England is only second-best market: his
natural market is the United States, from
which he is excluded. The Nova Scotia
fisherman is in the same case, and SO were
the lumbermen till Congress removed the
lumber duties. To sum il all Up, the Ca
madam people are prevented by the United
States tariff from making the most of their
labor and resources. Promising them clos
er trade relations with Africa or the An
tipodeS is not much more to the purpose
than a promise Of closer relations with
Mars or Saturn. New York, Michigan
Ohio Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Eng
land, from which they are divided by moth
ing but a surveyors line would be worth
more to them as markets than a hundred
Australias- If the richest group of states
in the Union were commercially divorced
from the rest and hemmed around by
like Canada, want closer relations.
Attempts at Reciprocity.
Efforts to obtain a new treaty have been
made by Canada on various occasions In
1890 Mr.. Blaine arranged treaty with
Newfoundland, a separate colony, but the
tory government, then in Office In Canada
objected to it, and Lord Salisbury shelved
it. In 1891 Mr.. Blaine (see his biography
by Miss Dodge wrote to President IIarri-
Importance that there be 40 treaty of
reciprocity with Canada. They will aim at
natural products, to get all the products
OF the farm on us in exchange for heaven
knows what. The fact is he went m we
do not want any intercourse with Canada
except through the medium of tariff and
she will find that she has a hard row to
hoe, and will ultimately, 1 believe, seek
admission to the Union At that time the
tories in Canada were seeking reciprocity
MFR. Blaine's idea that Canada should be
starved into annexation was prevalent i'm
the United States when the treaty of 1854