The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1901-05-03
WHAT'S FAIR TRADE?
SCHEME TO CUT DOWN OUR
BIG TRADE BALANCES.
Economic Theorists Urge Increased Pur-
chases of Foreign Goods In Order That
Our Exports and imports May Counter
buIance Each Other.

Free trade newspapers are quoting
with emphatic approval the views ex-
pressed in the speech Of the Hon.
George E. Roberts, director OF the
mint. delivered recently before the
Bankers Club, Of Chicago. Their fer
vent admiration of Mr.. Roberts I'M
doubtedly springs from the belief on
their part that he is al ex-protection-
ist who has seen the error of his ways
and is now anxious to be enrolled as
an ardent advocate Of freer trade, II
not OF absolute free trade. The fact
that in his Chicago speech Mr.. Roberts
said not one word which directly or by
implication could be construed as IN
any manner recognizing the part
played by protection in bringing
a return of prosperity seems to have
been accepted by the free trade and
semi-protectionist press as sure proof
of his altered economic opinions. In
this II is possible that too much is
taken for granted. 1t should not be
forgotten that Mr.. Roberts was talk
ing to an assemblage Of fnanciers
and men who make money by dealing
in money. It was pleasant for the
bankers to be told by the director OF
the mint that "our success has been
obtained by the superior use or capl-
tai bv the massing of capital, by the
substitution of invested capital for Ia
Dor wherever an economic gain could
be made"
If Mr.. Roberts did not think it nee
essary to add that the reclamation or
the home market to the control OF the
domestic producer had been a factor
of some potency in the problem OF
building up the greatest prosperity the
world has ever known, it was, perhaps,
because he thought that it was not
worth while to state a thing so OBJ
viously and Enthusiastically true. Still,
when we are engaged in writing his
tory it is sometimes thought desirable
to make mention of facts and events or
even so trivial inconsequenceas thepart
PLAYED in our economic transformation
by the election in 1896 of a protection
list president and the swift enactment
of a protective tariff law. Although
speaking to financial men only, Mr..
Roberts might have been p%ardoned had
he permitted himself to allude to these
immaterial details. But he did not take
the risk.
The portion of Mr.. Roberts Chicago
address which has set the nerves OF
free traders tingling with agreeable
excitation is that in which he said:
Our exports last year exceeded
those of the United Kingdom, and no
other country approached either. Our
trade balances are so great that to at
temptto collectthem in cash would ruin
our customers and involve the world,
including ourselves, in disaster. In the
last three years their. aggregate has
euualed the sum of all the gold in all
the banks and treasures Of Europe,
including the British Isles. No wonder
foreign governments have come here to
place their loans. A nation with the
power to amass such credits as these
becomes Of necessity a trader and in
weston in all parts of the world. We
are out to say, for we never can bring
our belongings home. This is an ex-
pansive and cheerful outlook. 1t is
assuring and inspiring. 1t means a
broader footing under our industries
and security from the reactions of a
restricted market. It means more in
innate relations abroad and a larger
part in all the affairs of the world.
Such a development of national i'm
portance has moral and intellectual
benefits as we'll; it will enlarge the
rational view; it will broaden the ma
tional character; it will dignity the
national life. AS we strive to extend
our trade we shall meet prejudices, and
in overcoming them surrender some Of
our own. We shall rouse antago-
nisms and have to conciliate them; en-
counter stubborn foes and have to
placate or retaliate, as the occasion
seems to require. In the long run, the
policy of a great commercial and ex-
porting people must be fair trade and
reciprocity"
Fair trade and reciprocity! That is
the doctrine, is it? Truly it has a
pleasing sound and may be spoken
trippingly OF the tongue. Quite capti-
waiting as an idea it is, too, on the face
of it. Fair trade has been a phrase to
conjure with. Sir Robert Peel used it
fetchingly, and so did Richard Golden.
Does the director of the mint, a former
adherent of the school which believes
that free trade is the farthest possible
thing from fairness, accept fair trade
in the British sense: Buy in the
cheapest and sell in the dearest mar
ket." Mr.. Roberts did not stop to
explain what he meant by fair trade
and reciprocity. Another unimportant
detail not thought to be worthy of
attention, presumably. If fair trade
and reciprocity mean anything in a
country situated as the United States
is, it means that we must buy from
foreign countries as much as we sell
to them. 1t means free interchange of