The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-07-22
Paving the Way.

Ine coming meeting at quebec
of commissioners representing Great
Britain and the Dominion of Canada
en- one side and the United States on
the other is another of those epoch
marking events with which this year
is being plentifully supplied. Larger
results lie behind the avowed purposes
of this International convention. 1t Is
not only questions of catching fish on
Newfoundland banks, or getting bait
in Canadian ports, or catching seals
in Bering sea, or Alaskan boundaries,
or the migration of people that will find
their answer in the deliberations of this
meeting. Shall that attitude of COM
mercial hostility held by this country
towards its northern neighbor for over
thirty years be maintained? Shall that
commercial isolation of which this at
titude was the northern trocka be con-
tinued? Shall policies which have
stirred enmity between kindred peo-
pies be discarded? These we believe
are the larger questions masked be-
hind the ostensible purposes of this
meeting of the representatives Of three
great kindred nations. For Canada, at
the jubilee last year, served notice that
she is 4 nation
Whatever may be the sentiments en-
tertained by the farmers fringing the
border of New England, we here in the
Northwest have TO interest in main
tanning the row of painted white posts
that are the pickets on the outpoStS of
contending commercial armies. Time
was when our farmers were beguiled
to believe that only those posts kept
them from being invaded and destroy
ed by the products of their Canadian
fellows, but they have learned how
shallow was that delusion. They have
seen ManitCba's wheat come across
the border, paying it's tax, go to our
mills, be ground into flour for export
and all but one -hundredth of that
protecting tax rebated to the exporters.
Our merchants and manufacturers, on
the other hand, have felt severely the
restrictions upon their enterprise caus-
ed by the row Of white posts mark
ing the line across which their wares
could not go free Of a retaliatory tax
that lessened the demand for them
over the border because it increased
their cost.
Back of our merchants and manu-
facturers are those in our cities en-
ployed by them who have felt the re-
action of restrictions upon trade ex-
tensions which these hostile tariffs
caused. Employment has been dimin-
ished and idleness enforced because
two governments were building bar
riers between their peoples. To the ex-
tent that trade between the two regions
has been hindered TO that extent the
opportunities for growth Of the two
great distributing cities of the North
west have been denied, for the number
Of persons who can live in town is alb
solutely limited by the numbers living
in the territory whose wants are sup
piled by the traders and artisans Of
the town. The meeting marks a re-
versal OF the attitude Of the party in
this country whose representatives pro-
vided for it. Under the pretext of war
necessities that party revoked the
reciprocity treaty of 1854, under which
both countries prospered. When it
made its first tacit admission of the
failure of its policy Of commercial isc,
lation in accepting the idea of COM
merclal reciprocity it turned its back
on the advances of Canada and a smil-
Ing face to the Latins of the Southern
continent. Even so recently as last
year the offer of the Dominion to nego-
tate a settlement of our differences
was haughtily rejected by the admins
tration. which insisted that the seal
dispute only would be considered. That
this attitude should be so suddenly
changed to one of friendlinesss is an
event marked with great and far
reaching significance. War sometimes
breaks the crust that binds nations and
makes new and larger growths pos
sible. This one promises to be no ex
ceptiOn.