Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1901-12-03
FIVE-CENTs.

FINE-CENIS.
evitably springs Finally all persons
should be excluded who are below a Ger
tain standard Of economic ftness to enter
our industrial field as competitors with al
American labor. There should be proper
proof OF personal capacity to earn an IS
American living and enough money to in +.
sure a decent start under American condi- s
tions. This would stop the influx OF cheap
labor and the resulting competition which
gives rise to SO much Of bitterness in 4
American Industrial life. and 1t would dry i
up the springs Of the pestilential social
conditions in our great cities where an.
archistic organizations have their g-eat-
est possibility of growth. s$, q fi@ s2:
Both the eduea tipnai and economic tests
| in wise immigration law should be de-
signed to protect and elevate the general
! body, polite and social. "A very close 81
| pervision sho'ild be exercised over the y
| steamship companies which mainly bring
| over the immigrants, and they should be
| held TO strict accounta bility for any in
! fraction of the law. -|. :,
-. The Tariff. . u &=..-..
| There is general acauiescence in our
| present tariff system as a national policy.
| The first requisite to our prosperity is the
| continuity and stability Of this economic
| policy. Nothing could be more unwise
| than to disturb the business interests OF
the country by any general tariff change
| at this time. Doubt. apprehension. un-
! certainty, are exactly what we most wish
| to avoid in the interest of our commercial
! and material we'll being. Our experience
| in the past has shown that sweeping revl-
| sions Of the tariff are apt to produce con-
| ditions closely approaching panic in the
| business world. Yet 1t is not only possi-
| BILE, but eminently desirable, to combine
| with the stability of our economic sys-
tenn supplementary system Of reciprocal
benefit and obligation with other nations.
| Such reciprocity Is an incident and result
of the firm establishment and preservation
| Of our present economic policy. 1t was
specially provided for In the present tariff
law. - p <1'
Reciprocity must be treated as the hand
maiden of protection. Our first duty is to
see that the protection granted by the tar
| iH in every case where it is needed is
maintained and that reciprocity be sought
for so far as it can safely be done without
| injury to our home industries Just how
far this is must be determined according
to the individual case. remembering al
ways that every application of our tariff
policy to meet our shifting national needs
| must be conditioned upon the cardinal
fact that the duties must never be re-
duced below the point that will cover the
difference between the labor cost here and
abroad. The well being of the wageworF-
| er is prime consideration Of our entire
policy Of economic legislation. - !..
Subject to this proviso of the proper
! protection necessary to our Industrial
| we'll being at home the principle OF reci-
; procity must command our hearty sup
port The phenomenal growth of our
| export trade emphasizes the urgency of
the, need for wider markets and for a lib
eral policy in dealing with foreign ma
| tions. Whatever is merely petty and vex-
J T aticus in the way of trade restrictions
| oh ha 1n1 Nlna
whom we dispose of our surplus products
) in the long run directly or Indirectly pur-
chase those surplus products by givingfus
something in return Their ability to pur-
{ chase our products should far as pos
! sible be secured by so arranging our tar
if as to enable us to take from them
those products which we can use without
| harm to our own industries and labor or
the use of which will be of marked bene-
fit to us.
maintain the high level of our present
3 prosperity. We have now reached the
. | point in the development of our interests
where we are not only able to supply our
t own markets, but to produce constantly
| growing surplus for which we must find
markets abroad. To secure these markets
we can utilize existing duties in any case
r where they are no longer needed for the
t purpose of protection. or in any case
where the article is not produced here
revenue as giving something to offer
, In exchange for what we ask. The cor
: dial relations with other nations which
are so desirable will naturally be pro-
NOTED by the course thus required by our
own interests.
The natural line of DEVELOPMENT for a
, policy Of reciprocity will be in connection
+ with those of our productions which no
2 longer require all Of the support once
needed to establish them upon a sound
hos Cic !, $lare .xryt>o 15tS
, because of natural or of economic causes
We are beyond the reach of successful
! competition.
, ask the attention of the senate to the
, reciprocity treaties laid before it by my
, predecessor.
2 Merchant Marine.
The condition of the American merchant
marine is such as to call for immediate
remedial action by the congress. It is dis
, creditable to us as a nation that our
merchant marine should be utterly insig-
1 nificant in comparison with that of other
, nations which We overtop in other forms
t of business. We should not longer submit
5 to conditions under which only trifiing
e portion Of our great commerce is carried
in our own ships. To remedy this state Of
e things would not merely serve to build
r up our shipping interests. but it would
g also result in benefit to all who are inter-
D ested in the permanent establishment of q
3 wider market for American products and
? | would provide an auxiliary force for the
: navy. Ships work for their own countries
Just railroads work for their terminal
points Shipping lines. If established to
the principal. countries with which we
| have dealings, would be Of political as
| well as commercial benefit From every
4 | standpoint il is unwise for the United
= | States to continue to rely upon the ships
y of competing nations for the distribution
!. !. OF our goods. 1t should be made adran-
i i tageous to carry American goods in
4 American built ships.
: At present American shipping is under
$ certain greet disadvantages when put in
n competition. with the shipping of foreign
| countries Many of the fast foreign
l steamships. at speed of fourteen knots
or above, are subsidized. and all our
: ships, sailing vessels and steamers alike,
: cargo carriers of slow~spaed and mail
: carriers of high speed have to meet the
o fact that the original cost of building
= American ships Is greater than is the
e case abroad. that the wages paid Ameri-
Il can officers and seamen are very much
- | higher than those paid the officers and
n seaman Of forefpa cornnptjnsr tnf,nfyiar