The Saint Paul globe., 1897-06-05

When George HoadIey was a senator
from Ohio a debate on some phase of
the tariff question was on and one SEN
ator had spoken of the restrictive eff
fects of such laws on our foreign trade.
OF him Hoadley, in his reply, asked
the question, famous as an exhibition
Of provincial ignorance: What do we
care for abroad?" Wednesday the Ma
tional Association of Manufacturers
crowned their iabors of promoting in
ternational trade with a conference in
Philadelphia Of representatives of trade
from the other republics of America,
and formally opened the great museum
where are displayed not only the prod
ucts Of our factories, but those of COM
peting foreign mills, with all the data
needed to inform our makers of the
competitive conditions they must meet.
Last year the association sent dele
cation to visit all the South and Cen
trail American countries to investigate
their wants that we could supply, the
trade conditions to be met and the
commercial conditions Of finance, cred.
its, tariffs and the other factors Of the
problem. We have here the most con-
vincing Of testimony that our manu-
facturers do care for abroad"
With singular obliviousness of the in
consistency involved President McKin-
ley, chief apostle of the Hoadley school,
was invited to attend and open the
conference with a speech. It would
seem as if nothing could be more in
appropriate than to ask a man to open
a conference whose purpose Is the in
crease Of international trade, whose
public life has been one long warfare
against it, and who came to the pres
idency through bill expressly framed
to restrict where it could not obstruct
imports of foreign goods, the unavoid-
able complement of exports of our mer-
chandise. And the address made by
the president betrays a similar oh
tuseness Of the antagonism of his pol
Icy to the interchange of the products
of nations. "The avowed object" Of the
association, he said, SIS to aid in the
trial prosperity. No worthier cause
can engage our energies at this hour
1t is a most praiseworthy purpose, the
extension Of trade to be followed bv
wider and better fields of employment
and easier conditions for the masses.
Such an effort commands the instant
approval OF all lovers of mankind. for
with 1t are linked the prosperity of the
humblest toiler and the welfare of
every home and f1reside"
These words might fftly have fallen
from the lips Of a speaker pleading
the cause Of the freedom of trade. but
they sound strange in the mouth of one
whose dogma is that nothing should be
bought IN foreign markets that can be
made at home and that all such ex-
changes are sheer loss. The gentlemen
y who represented the commerce Of other
countries must have wondered. when
they heard him speak Of ''the friendly
and mutually advantageous inter-
change" exemplified by the museum as
IAN inspiring help, not only to trade
and commerce, but to international
comfy and good WILL" If this was the
same man who justified laying exorbi-
tant taxes on those exchanges because
it was the foreigner who sent them that
paid the tax. Later, at the banquet.
these gentlemen must have been again
surprised at hearing the man who had
pleaded for international comfy and
good will in trade assure them that
"fn little. time whole tariff law
will be DONE" and when done Eve will,
(sic) have business confidence and bust
ness prosperity" We can imagine tbe
Mexican representatives asking IN
what manner the tax on lead ores and
cattle will promote amity with this
country; the Argentinians WONDERING
how the tax on hides and wool will ia
cilitate exchanges with their country.
the Venezuelans how the tax on timber
and asphalt will promote trade with
them; the Central Americans how the