New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-11-12

THE QUESTION or FOREIGN BlLlN'h".
To-day and every day there are assertions
thai the Republican policy thus far has pro
duccd nothing but Treasury deficit ana an
cxtravagant advance of prices TO the disadVan-
,ooe of consumers These are assertions lard
10 answer within the limit Of profitable discus
sion The Treasury shows IA deficit only be-
cause the war makes a difference, and there
has been no advance in prices of protected OF
other manufactured goods, as men commonly
assert. TO put the thing plainly. both stale
nicntS are made by men who tell un,ruthS OF
take great pains not to ascertain the truth.
The daily Treasury reports are published WITH
regularity, and while they show smaller re-
ceipts for customs in October than usual, for
reasons not hard to find, it Is easy TO under
stand Tat the undecided condition Of trade ana
of the industries has curfailcd receipts, With
out reference to the present tariff. The aSser-
ton as to the effect Of the existing tarlh upon
prices has nothing whatever 10 support II. Inc
level Of prices reached after the collapse of the
Letter speculation has been lower because OF
the exceptional and disappointing influence on
the market for wheat, and also of all grain
The range for all other than farm products IS,
on thc whole. lower since last May, the season
considered than ii has been in any previous
year
Sometimes one is discouraged in the attempt
10 submit facts in response 10 such bald I'M
truths Any statement of prices III general or
in detail is comfortably ignored by the people
whose theories it does not fit. and their false
hood, 20 on all the same. But il is the fact
that the general average OF all nonfarm prices
IS lower than It was IT any other time since
any economist has supposed that prices were at
q fair level and lower than ut any time when
the industries Of the country were fairly pros
porous.
The depression in ;he cotton industry. due to a
production materially in excess of demand, has
made it beyond the power Of anybody 10 dis
cuss intelligently the situation in that branch.
The iron industry is not only producing more
than at any previous time in the history Of the
country but according To the latest returns Is
actually consuming in manufacture more than
ever before, and there are also export demands,
including 10000 tons of steel rails for Northern
Europe ana 100000 tons of steel plates for for
eign ports besides many orders for all sorts Of
finished products, including 400 tons of billets
from Ptsburg.
What are the DIRECTORS principally troubled
about? If they know anything. they know
that this country is sending nearly 100000 tons
of It's products abroad IN the iron and steel in
dustry alone in spite Of al! foreign competition
The country does not do 80 well In Its exports
of products of some other industries, and yet
has gained 50 greatly in manufactured products,
compared with Great Britain, our chief com
pctitor in the foreign markets, that It's latest
statement indicates a condition of things in the
last degree discOuraging for British manufacture
ers One has only TO read the statements of the
leading men at the last meeting of manufact-
urcrs In that country to realize how distressing
the American competition has become. What
IS to be done to satisfy the incurablc devotees
of foreign industry here? Are we to let every
thing foreign come into this country without re-
gard for American production: No one Of them
dares to ask this openly, and yet what can we
do better than to pile up an Indebtedness of
| $J0,000,O00 a month against foreign countries,
/ In excess Of merchandise exports over imports,
upon which we can draw AT pleasure?