The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-19
PLEA FOR OPEN DOOR
RECIPROCAL TRADE RELATIONS
WITH CANADA EL0aUENTLY
URGED
BOSTON MAN TALKS IN ST. PAUL
Says Canadians Are Uncle Sans
Best Customers, but Won't BE
So Long Unless Treated in
Fairer Manner.

The Chamber of Commerce yesterday
listened to an interesting address by
Osborne Howes, chairman of the rec
iprocity committee of the Boston Cham
Der OF Commerce, on Reciprocal Trade
Relations With Canada" Many repre-
sentative business men of the city were
present and displayed great interest in
the speakers remarks. He said in part;
The Industrial condition of the United
States has undergone in the last few
years an almost revolutionary change.
Not only in almost all classes of produc
tor, but we have found by the
prompt and efficient utilization of
our resources, that there are rela-
lively few commodities that we cannot
produce and sell in the markets of for-
eign countries. This has led to an
enormous expansion of our foreign trade
We are more than the peers of all the
nations in productive ability, and are
destined, if our onward career is not
checked, to become the workshop of the
world
This discovery has caused genuine and
widespread peril in quite number of
the foreign countries. The American
Peril" so-cal1ed, is felt to be a real one,
and one which should be guarded against
by copying in more or less comDre-
hensive manner the policy of trade ex-
clrsion which for many years we have
followed ~. saa
II 1885 our export trade was $500, 090,609
in 1901 it was s1,500,00O,00o. This enor-
nous gain has been eontemporaneouS
with our wonderful industrial prosperity
Mr.. HoWeS4 quoted from Mr.. President
McKinley's last address the lattar's
views fayorins a change of trade pol
icy
Mr.. Howes said that the Canadians
were the. best customers Uncle Sam mad
on manufactured goods, Canada'S pur-
chases of the United States amounting
to $40 per capita. I'm seeking to slfe-
guard our foreign trade the Canadians
are a people whose equitable claims to
consideration We cannot afford to jig
nore." Speaking of the possible future
annexation of Canada to the United
States, the speaker said This union
can never be brought about by force.
II it is to come, as 1T should come, it
must be by binding the Canadians to us
by bands of trade that their interests
and ours shall be as nearly as pos
sible Identical. At the present time the
Canadians are justly dissatisfied with
have increased their purchases of us
fCUrfold within the last twenty years,
while, barring gold, silver and copper
ores, we buy from them but little more
,lnon their free list about half of whdt
they import from the United States, and
tax the remainder about % per cent ad
yalorem. We tax nearly all Canadian
products, except those just mentioned,
and our average tax rate is in the
neighborhood of so rer cent"
THIS, he said, had changed the sensi-
ment of the Canadians. and the ten
dency now was toward high tariff, which
would have the effect of barring Amer
leans from Canadian markets, and cut
ting down trade with England. Ihe
United States, he urged, must use dipia-
macy to prevent this He urged the
Chamber of Commerce TO give its most
active support to making possible the
closer union of the two countries in or
der that American business interests
might not forfeit the trade of their best
customers.