The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-11
WHY 1T is A, SHAM.

Democrats uniformly, favor reciprocal
trade, but they want real reciprocity.
Republicans, knowing that the general
sentiment favors mutual exchanges,
but knowing that they antagonize pro-
lection, dodge the question by provid-
ing what they call reciprocity" which
bears the same relation to the real arti-
Gle that bull butter does to cow but
ter. Like the dealers in the former
they try to palm off their fraudulent
article on the unsophisticated as
being the real simon-pure stuff.
Real reciprocity would encourage
trade with those who trade most
with us, just as men do among them
selves, and it would lay no hindrances
in the way of that trade that could
possibly be removed or avoided. The
sham article reverses this and courts
trade with those who trade the least
with us, while raising all sorts Of OBJ
stacles against the exchanges proffered
by those who buy the most Of US. Can
ada and the South American republics
afford the evidence of this. Premier
Laurier came to Washington recently
on an intimation from this administra-
ton that it would like to open nego-
tiations looking to a larger interchange
of the products of the two countries.
He found that it was but lure to en-
trap him into sealing regulations. He
went home in disgust. Johnson, that
rich specimen Of Republican states
manship who halls and roars from
North Dakota, says he is "unalterably
opposed" to any reciprocity with Can
ada, because it lis absolutely ridicu-
lous' to think of swapping the trade
of 100000 for that of 100000.
On the other hand, we have had ten
years of frantic effort to establish re-
ciprocal trade with Cuba and the Latins
to our south. We have a bureau of
American republics publishing it's
monthly magazine, with heavy graft
of advertising, and it's $25 directory of
business men, all especially devised to
encourage trade with the Spanish mix
lures of Central and South. America.
The Mckinley act provided for the ne
gotiation of treaties making mutual
tariff concessions with these especial
countries, and several were negotiated
by Harrison. The purpose was to fur
nish markets for more barrels of pork
and -four, to sell more. We sold
little more and bought great deal
more. We are now, under the Dingley
act, going to repeat the experiment.
A comparison Of our trade with these
purchases of us, with the exchanges
with the Dominion, to which the ad-
ministration turns a cold shoulder re-
veals the hypocrisy of this reciprocity
of which Republicans make so much
The following tables of imports and ex-
ports to all British North America in
the fiscal years 1896 and 1897, and to
all South America during the same
years. indicate that what Blaine called
dropping" our millions, buying more
than we sell. is the condition of our
South American trade, while the re-
verse is the case to the north:
Exports to 1885, 1897
British N. America ...s. 1851 ,0S6, 046 $685. 034 037
South America ..........: 36,297,671 33,76S, 49S
Imports from 1886. 1897
British N. America ..H ,212,0 900 $40 los 14S
South America .......... los, S2S 462 107 389 900
Here we have our ne1gnbors on the
north buying of us annually some $780,
0O0,0 900 worth of our products more than
we buy of theirs, while in all the south
ern continent we buy some $4,000, 900
more than we sell. If it is objected
that these were the conditions under
the Democratic free trade" law and
did not cover the period of reciprocal
treaties with some of the South Amer
lean states, we give the imports and
exports for 1894:
Imports from. Exports to. Excess
B. N. A ..$31 1926 731 $5S 313 223 Elk $26 9S6 1872
S. A.. 100 147 107 80 212 $40 I'M 66 934, 1877
Gen. A.. 9,769,049 5,231, 9S1 I'm. 4567 ,O6S
These facts Of trade are worth tons
of theory, and plainly indicate what
should be the direction of any effort to
extend the removal of trade obstruc-
lions.