Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1901-02-28
TRADE AND PROFIT.
DISTINCTIONS WHICH SOME PEO-
PIE DON'T GRASP,

Namely Cn0C q AOuMtry May nave
Vast Volume of Traffic of Charac-
ter Which Carries with It No Gain
in Wealth.
The following from the London Stat
LIST is very interesting reading, and the
conclusion from our English cousins
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
30 per cent Of all the foreign produce we
need for food and for manufacture, and
| the United States finds in Great Britain
| a market for nearly one-half Of the pro-
| ducts they send abroad. Now let us look
at the other side Of the picture. The
| United States purchases from this coun-
| try less than one-fourth Of their total inn
! ports Of foreign produce, and I'VE 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 it 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, to pro-
| vide for freight and insurance charges,
to meet the very large expenditures in
| Europe Of American tourists, and to ac-
| cumulate capital out Of their foreign
! trade.
1t will be noted that in the ten years
| from 1880 to $780, 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 1880
| to 1900, when our purchases Of American
products greatly increased by reason Of
/ our great prosperity, the total exports
of the United States also showed i'm
mense expansion. 1t will thus be evident
| that the further growth in American ex-
| ports in 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 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 in our purchases from the
United States, the slight growth in their
purchases from us is matter which re-
Quires very serious attention at the pres
ent time, when our trade with America
is checked by the prohbitiye 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
| q very adverse effect upon American
trade in the future? In 1896 it was es-
| sential for America to bring about bal
ance of trade which would enable the
| country to meet all its foreign obligations
and to maintain it's gold standard. But
the decision of the American people In
1896 and in 1900, together with 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
! cessity for restricting imports for this
| purpose has passed away. Moreover, In
| view Of the great strides made by the
| manufacturing industries Of America in
| the past ten years, there is now no doubt
| that American manufacturers are we'll
| able to meet any possible competition, not
| only in the home. but in foreign markets.
Hence America no longer has reason for
imposing either prohibitive or 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 the products
of other countries in return for the pro-
duce she sells.
There is one idea that our free-tr trade
contemporaries across the water do not
seem to grasp, and that is that our for
eign trade is incidental, not our whole
existence. We have a home market
that is almost Unreasonable. 1t is from
forty to hundred times greater than
our foreign markets. And it is as valu-
able to us, as producers, as all the for
eign markets of the world would be if
we possessed them exclusively. When
we abandon our protective tariff we
abandon our home market. 1t is
dozen 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 it:
Once there was dog. He was a nice
little dog. Nothing the matter with him
except few foolish free trade IDEAS in
his head. He was trotting along happy
as the day, for he had in his mouth
nice shoulder Of succulent mutton. By
and by he came to stream bridged by
plank He trotted along, and, looking
over the side of the plank, he saw the
markets of the world and dived for them |
A minute after he was crawling up the
bank the wettest, the sickest, the nasti-
est, the most muttonless dog that ever