Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1901-06-29
RECIPROCITY PERILS.
LIKELY TO LEAD TO INTERNA-
TIoNAL CONTROVERSY.
Patching Up the Tariff by Special Trade
Treaties Gives to Favored Nations AID
vantages Which Other Nations Are
Certain to Claim Themselves.

The Philadelphia Record. an ardent
advocate of free trade, has something
really sensible to say on the subject
of tinkering with tariffs by the ne
gotiation of special trade treaties. 1t
does not believe in this method of
whipping the devil round a stump"
and its reasons for opposing that
scheme of altering duty schedules are
worthy of the thoughtful consideration
of that class of protectionists who are
shouting for reciprocity on general
principles and without thought what
may be involved in the seductive pro-
gram of buying more from, in order
that we may sell more to, foreign coun-
tries. Speaking of the French and Ar
gentine treaties, which failed of rati-
fication by the Forty-sixth congress.
the Record says:
I'm these treaties the protectionists
clearly saw an opening for the adj
mission of the knit goods of England
and Germany and of the wool of Aus
tralia on the same terms. At the same
time they could not discern much COM
pensation il the proposed reductions
of the tariffs of France and Argentina
on American imports, the reductions
being of much more concern to the
consumers in those countries than to
American producers.
Such is, in fact, the case with all
tariffs on reciprocity arrangements. To
the American people, consumers and
producers alike, fair and square re-
duction of excessive rates of duty is
infinitely preferable to bargaining for
privileges and preferences in reciproc-
ity treaties. Nearly every one of these
treaties contained the germ of inter
national controversy. If reductions of
duty had been made on French knit
goods in a reciprocity treaty, how could
the same reduction have been reason
ably refused upon the same classes of
goods from England and Germany?
The duties on the wool of Argentina
could not be reduced without making
a like reduction on the woods of all
other Andean countries, or without in
viting reprisals upon American trade
OF the two propositions-who
tariff reduction and free trade in spots
by means of special trade treaties
the plan of tariff reduction is by far the
fairer. Under that plan the producing
interests of the United States at least
know where they are at; they have
ample notice of the proposed tariff
nifty of being heard before final action
is taken Under the plan of reciproc-
ity treaties secretly negotiated, secret
ly considered and secretly ratified by
a single branch of the law-making
power, the domestic producer discov-
ers too late for effective protest that
a game of selfish advantages has been
secretly played to his injury and very
n
force, other special treaties with other
countries anxious to break into the
great American market, and by the
time we have run the whole gamut of
reciprocity it will be found that we
have played such fantastic tricks with
our protective duties as to make our
tariff system unacceptable for the
purposes of a coroner's inquest. We
have parted with the control of the
home market and taken bread from the
mouths of domestic wage earners and
their families, for there can be no in
crease importation of foreign manu-
featured commodities without CORE
spondingly decreased use and con-
sumption of domestic manufactured
commodities.
For once a free trade argument is
sound. If we are going into the bust
ness of tariff revision, by all means let
it be done openly and above board, and
not in dark corners and by the round
about, uncertain, unfair, and most like
ly futile device of so-called "reciproc-
ity'; or, if we are to have a try at
reciprocal trade treaties, let it be on
sound, safe and strictly orthodox lines
laid down in the Republican national
platform of 19O0-namely, by tariff
concessions on articles which 1--WE do
not ourselves produce" In any case.
let the issue be presented fairly and
squarely. If the country is tired of
protection and is ready for another ex-
pertinent of tariff reform it will have
the opportunity of saying so next year
at the congressional elections. Then,
If the voters SO elect, the way will be
opened for the installation of a free
trade congress and free trade admin
istration on the 4th of March, 1905.
The American Economist does not
think that the voters of the country
will so elect if the issue of protection
or free trade is submitted to them on
its merits and stripped of the delusive
sham of reciprocity which is not recip-
rocal.