The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-16

~
| tempt has been made Of late by the Ottawa
| Government to reach European markets,
md while In this attempt IL has, at least,
the sympathy Of English statesmen, yet all
intelligent Canadians know that the mar
kets which lie at their doors, just across
| tho International boundary line, are worth
far more to them than all the transatlantic
markets combined.
Another fact to which Mr.. SMALLET
| shows himself alive Is this, that, even II
the Ottawa Government should propose to
admit our manufactures to the Dominion
duty free, while at the same time imposing
duties on rival wares from EnRlnnd-a con-
| cession which Sir WILFRID LAuRIER has
said he will never make-the farmers In
our northern border States would still be
vehemently opposed to the admission of
| Canadian farm products into our markets
free Of duty. They would make a strenuous
protest against such q bargain through
their Senators and Representatives in Con-
gress, and they would have good reason
to demonstrate.
Take the case of barley, for example. OF
that grain wo ourselves produce enough to
supply the needs of all our breweries.
Under these circumstances IL the large
barley surplus OF Ontario, which needs only
| q short haul to reach our Eastern markets,
were brought into competition with our
own supplies Of the same grain, our barley
Rrowers would unquestionably suffer.
The lumbermen of Michigan, Wisconsin
and Minnesota would resist no less vehe-
mently the abrogation OF tho present duties
on Canadian lumber. They have not for.
gotten that, under the Wilson act, our
Western cities were flooded with cheap
Canadian lumber, and scores of sawmills in
our own pineries were obliged to shut
down. 1t follows that, even II q treaty Of
unrestricted reciprocity acceptable to
American manufacturers could be agreed
upon between our State Department and
the Ministers Of the Dominion, the con-
1rmation Of 1t by the senate would be OK
tremely doubtful.
Mr.. SMALLEY also gives evidence Of first
hand observation when he says that, al
though Canadians profess to be proud of
belonging to the mighty British Empire,
they all know, in their hearts, that they
remain members Of it at serious cost to
their business interests, and under the
weight of grave impediments to the gen.
eral development of their country. They
prove their perception of this truth by mi
grafton. This is true not only Of the prov
ince of Quebec, but also of Ontario, and
even of Manitoba and British Columbia.
There are already Canadians enough re-
siding in either Boston. New York, or
Chicago to make a flrst-class Canadian city,
and there are already Canadian farmers
enough in our Northwestern States to peo.
pie a new Canadian province.
Could the old, sentimental tie Of loyalty
to the mother country be once severed, the
whole of British North America. from New
to the United States, under the irresistible
attraction of business interests. As it is,
the natural trade centres of the Dominion
lie in the United States. There are very
few points in its thin and narrow fringe of
population which are not nearer to some
large American city "a to any considera.
BILE city in Canada. New Brunswick and
Quebec would trade with Boston and New
York, II customs duties did not stand in
the way; Ontario would trade with Buffalo
and with Detroit; Manitoba would trade
with st. Paul, Minneapolis. and Duluth;
the new mining regions in the east of Brit
ish Columbia would 90 to Spokane for sup
plies, and tho western part of British Co.
lumbia would do business with Portland,
Seattle, and Tacoma.
Mr.. SMALLEY poses once again the often
mooted question whether complete freedom
of trade between Canada and the United
States would constitute an inducement or
an obstacle to political union. What is the
teaching Of history upon this point2 1t Is
certain that IL Scotchmen at the beginning
of the eighteenth century could have Sc
cured a customs union with Great Britain
without consenting to political fusion,
Scotland would have remained an indie.
pendent kingdom to this day, having no
| political tie in common with the southern
part of Great Britain except that of al
legiance to q common sovereign. The crea.
ton of the German Zollverein by no means
stimulated a movement toward political
union under the leadership of Prussia. On
the contrary, almost all the members of
the Zollverein sided earnestly with Aus.
tria in the War of 1866.
Our own belief is, as our readers are
aware, that the rigorous maintenance OF
high tariff walls and the unwavering ex.
clusion of Canadian trade must, in the end,
prove so detrimental to the business inter.
csts of Canada that she will be sure to seek
happiness under the Ame rican flag.