Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1901-02-27
TRADE AND PROFIT.
DISTINCTIONS WHICH SOME PEG.
PIE DON'T GRASP.
Namely, that a Country May Have a
Vast Volume of Traffic of Charac-
ter Which Carries with 1t No Gain
in Wealth.

point Of view is certainly ingenious if
not ingenious. 1t will bear perusal:
The foreign trade of the United States
merits the careful attention of the people
of this country and of the United States.
From the United States we secure nearly
80 per cent Of all the foreign produce we
need for food and for manufacture and
the United States finds in Great Britain
n market for nearly one-half of the pro-
duets they send abroad. Now let us look
Mt the other side of the picture The
United States purchases from this eoun-
try less than one-fourth of their fetal inn
ports OF foreign produce and we sell to
the United States not much more than 10
per cent of the produce We send abroad.
In other words, England buys from the
United States nearly four times more
produce than she sells to that country,
and ii is mainly in consequence of our
huge purchases that the United States
is able TO buy from other countries silk,
coffee, tea, etc, are able to provide the
interest upon their foreign debt, 10 pro-
vide for freight and insurance charges,
to meet the very large expenditures in
Europe of Amer, TN tourists, and TO ac-
cumulate capital ont of their foreign
trade.
1t will be noted that in the ten years
from 1850 TO 1890, when our imports
from the United States declined, the to-
tai exports from that country also fell
off, and that in the ten years from 1890
to 1900, when our purchases of American
products greatly increased by reason of
our great prosperity, the total exports
nF ho MI shn i'm
mense expansion. 1t will thus be evident
! that the further growth in American ex-
ports III a large measure depends upon
the capacity of this country to buy more
largely.
The growth Of the import trade of the
United States and of our exports to that
country presents a very different picture
Compared with the total expan
sion in Americas imports, the increase in
imports from this country has been in
significant. Compared with the enormous
expansion ia our purchases from the
United States. the slight growth in their
purchases from us is q matter which re-
quires very serious attention at the pres
ent time, when our trade with America
is checked by the prohbitiv. tariff now
in force.
The question now has to be put. Has
not the object of imposing prohibitive
customs duties by the United States been
fulfilled. and will not their retention have
very adverse effect upon American
trade in the future? In 1886 it was es
sential for America to bring ABOUT bal
ance of trade which would enable the
country to meet all its fore gr obligations
nd IN inf iya, r,lI o,sI D,,+
the decision of the American people in
1896 and in 1900, together Wit the laws
which have been passed and the probable
further amendments in the next session
Of Congress, have insured the mainte-
nance of the gold standard, and the ne
eessity for restricting imports for this
purpose has passed away. Moreover, i'll
view of the great strides, made by the
manufacturing industries of America in
the past ten years, there is now no doubt
chat American manufacturers are well
able to meet any possible competition, not
only in the home but in foreign markets.
Hence America no longer has reason for
imposing either arprohibitiye or n protec-
tive tariff. America has. indeed now to
face the question of how she may in
crease the prosperity of other countries.
and in view of that prosperity sell still
larger quantities of her produce abroad.
To do this it is evident that that she
must be willing to purchase che products
Of other countries in return fer the pro-
duce she sells.
There is one idea that our free trade
contemporaries across the water SO not
seem TO grasp. and that is that our for
eign trade is incidental, ncf our whole
existence. We have a. ht,me market
that is almost immeasurab,.. Ii is from
forty to a hundred times greater than
our foreign markets And Is is as valu-
able to us. as producers. IS all the for
aign markets of the world would be If
we possessed them exclusively. When
we abandon our protective tariff we
abandon our home market. 1t is a
lozen years since Tom Reed told us the
modern Aesop fable, and it will bear
telling right here IN case the youth of
the London Statist never read il:
Once there was dog IIe was nice
little dog. Nothing the matter with him
except a few foolish free trade ideas in
his head. He was tfottirf along happy
as tn, day. for he had lie his mouth
nice shoulder of succulent mutton. BY
and by he came to n stream bridged by
plank He trotted along, and, looking
over the side of the plank. he saw the
markets of the world and dyed for them
A minute after he was crawling up the
bank the wettest. the sickeNT. the nasti-
est, the most muttonlcss cog that eve,
swan ashore.
As for increasing the prosperity of
other countries so as TO enable them to
buy more Of us, that reminds us of an
other little story. ii IVES very dull
times with Jonathan Plumb. So he
toca dollar in pennies ont of the tin
and gave them TO the pressing school
children, some of whom came in and
spent their pennies at PluE'b's candy
counter. After they were gone Plumb
So Us to himself; Well. that was a live
~ bit Of trade. Tomorrow I'll scatter
two dollars" But at night as he cast
up his accounts = NIL dawned on him
that summed 1T makes lot of trade
bat little profit"
Dinghy Tariff Results for 1900.
The preliminary figures of the Treas
ury Department in regard 10 the ex-
port and import trade Of the United
States for the year 1900. show some
interesting facts in regard TO the work
ings of the protective tariff system