The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-06-30
OUR OWN COUNTRY FIRST.

Tie protesting against our proposed tariff
legislation is not confined to European gov
ernments. The represt natives of some of
the Latin-American States are doing some
Directing on their own account. Senior
Romero, Mexican minister to the United
States, delivered banquet address in New
York a few days ago, in which he said:
THE best way to increase your foreign
trade is not to obstruct importations by
building walls around the country, for you
may be certain that every dollar you pay
to South America for importations Will be
spent in this country for American manu-
featured products" A representative of the
Argentine Republic who spoke in Cincin-
natl on Monday talked on much the same
line After giving some figures relative to
the trade between the United States and
Argentina he said:
The two principal products that We ex-
port to the United States are wool and
hides. We have over one hundred million
sheep, which produce every year ABOUT
250 10000 kiloS of wool, and this article mas
always been imported into the United
States free of duty the same as we import
free of duty your machinery and your pc
troleum. But now the new tariff bill has
imposed a prohibitiye tax on our wool.
we nave been exporting TO your country
our hides during the past twenty-five years
free of duty, but now you have taxed them
with l12 cents per pound, and you may
consider how much the duty will affect our
trade when you think we have over twenty
two millions of oxen.
For these reasons the speaker said that
if Congress imposed a duty on wool and
hides the Argentine Republic would send
its products to European countries where
they are admitted free, and the United
States would lose their trade.
There is nothing alarming in these state
ments That of Senior Romero that a pro-
tective tariff would restrict our imports
from South American States is not borne
out by facts. Official reports by fiscal years
show that our imports from South America
were much larger under the Mckinley tar
if than they have been under the Wilson
German tariff-$15O 1873 in 1892, against
Sos, 84S, 357 in 1886 A policy that stimulates
home prosperity and increases the power
to buy increases consumption in all lines.
AS for the argument of the speaker from
the Argentine Republic, it is good from his
point of view, but bad from ours. He says,
in effect: I'VE are a great sheep and cattle
producing country, therefore the United
States should encourage these Argentine
industries by admitting wool and hides
free The gentleman from Argentina for
gets that the United States also is sheep
and cattle-producing country, and that,
from our point of view, it is much wiser,
well as more patriotic, to encourage
the industries of the United States than
those of Argentina. AS a business PROPOSE
ton it is much better for us to buy our own
wool from our own farmers, who spend all
the money they receive for their wool in
our markets, than to buy the wool from
Argentina, which, the export and i'm
port figures show, spends here only about
20 per cent. of the money she receives from
us. The same is true of hides. Argentina
buys of us only what she needs and can
not produce at home, and that she will
probably continue to do, whether we buy
her wool and hides or not. 1t should be
the policy of the United States to be self
supporting, and to this end every home
industry should be encouraged, protected
and developed until it is fully able to sup.
ply the home demand, and that without
regard to the effect, injurious or other
wise, on the industries of other countries
Our motto should be our own country first