The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1903-12-14
A phrase once the especial property Of

| a phrase once the especial property ol
Free-Traders. but recently appropriated
by the advocates OF what are called ie
ciprocity treaties. Is frequently heard
nowadays. II runs something like this
''You must buy in order 10 sell"
| AZ frst blush this assertion sounds al
right II will doubtless appeal to tho
young voter until he puts on his thinking
cap and asks what the assertion means
| AS soon as he does this he has forced
upon his attention the fact that In tha,
moves there is no attempt to live up to
such rule On the contrary. no on.
asks the question when making a pur.
chase whether the person he buys from
ever bought anything from him or is like
ly TO do so In the future
Men buy az their convenience dictates
or because they believe that the places
they patronize sell the things they desire
cheaply.
Reciprocal buying and selling only sur
wives in primitive communities II may
be possible to hnd some places in the
United States where the shoemaker pa
tronizes the tailor because the latter buys
his footwear from him, but they must be
very small villages and of the beaten
line OF travel. In cities absolutely no re-
gard IL paid 10 reciprocal assumptions
When the urban shoemaker desires a suit
OF clothes the chances are ninety-nine IN
q hundred that he will seek them in the
shop OF q man he has no direct business
relations with 9th than that In voived I'm
the purchase.
IL is the same in international CONNER
cial relations. In the stage OF barter when
ships sailed TO the coasts Of countries
Inhabited by barbarous peoples they car
ried cargoes Of goods with which they ef-
fected direct exchanges. That sort OF
trade necessitated buying in order 70 sell
But there is little of that kind OF trad
Ing done in these days. In some parts OF
the world the reciprocity idea is acted
upon. and IL Is true In such cases that men
buy In order to sell. The adventurers who
penetrate Africa In quest OF ivory still
act UP to the theory. They know they
must buy elephant tusks from the natives
In order to sell them Brummagen ware.
But In the highly complex development
known as commerce things are managed
differently. Not one In a thousand OF
the vast number OF transactions that 60
TO make up the volume OF exchanges be-
tween different countries even remotely
resembles direct barter. In the aggregate
and in detail this trade is precisely like
that which you see carried on in our
cities The buyers In every instance are
men who want things and the sellers are
those who have things for sale. In no
case DO the dealings between these classes
have sentiment obtruded into them. Buy
ers and sellers alike would laugh at the
suggestion that such a consideration
should or does govern.
The combined external trade Of the
world in ls0l-o2 amounted to nearly thir-
teen billions OF dollars. In a table pre-
pared by the treasury bureau OF statistics
this trade-the imports and exports OF
merchandise Of the principal countries
did not balance. The exports In rounS
figures amounted 10 500 600. 900. and the
Imports TO S. s64 600 900. n the figures
are at all dependable this would indicate
that through some means or other some
countries sell TO foreigners more than
they buy from them. or to put Il in a
more ineligible way there are nations
able to buy more merchandise than they
sell
So viewing the trade of the world as
a whole. we see that there is no foun-
dation for the assumption OF those who
contend that reciprocity in commercial
nations 10 ,bs
sity for balancing imports and exports
existed IL would have manifested itself
long ago. II ought TO be accepted as proof
conclusive that there is no such necessity
when we find that year after year the
total OF the worlds exchanges OF mer-
chandise DO not balance by hundreds OF
millions OF dollars.
When we look into the details OF the
worlds trade We find still more signlf-
cant evidence that no such consideration
ae that urged by reciprocity mongers In
on examining the tables OF imports ana
exports OF the list of 80 nations. embrace
Ing the principal countries OF the globe.
that I'm not single instance Is there an
There are countries which like England
have adverse balances against them. and
there are others. like the United States.
with favorable balances In 1912 the
the value OF s7e4 OH more than she ex
ported In the same year the United
State exported .624 more than she
India had favorable balance
norts over IMPORTS amounting 70 Sl.-
'e7 psS and Canada Is credited with
s2o. o.5ss,e5l more exports than imports. Ger
nsny and the Netherlands are conspic-
lous. like the United Kinedom. as ex-
cess importers. the FORMER having an ad-
verse balance OF siS7 .s7e. ono and the latter
~ silssTaisa
A moments reflection will suffice TO as
sure any one that these enormous disnari-
les could he avoided only by i-'itsting
The simple process OF barter. These hg-
nres testify to th~ cor,rlexity Of trade.
and demonstrate that the latter Is not
hs sed on cornity. hut Ia essentially sell
fish IL dsregards courtesy. friendship
snd everything OF that kind and seeks
nothing hut profit.
N this were not true is n conceivable
Tor single moment that Great Pritain
would continue 90 buy hundreds 81 mil
ions Of dollers worth wore ~ rnerchan-
nf
United states than the iat'ar buy from
he~7 In 1901 the United EinRdo--, ~.
,orted rnerchardise frn-, the Uri'ed !
states 10 the value 81 ei4i. o1S aes. and We
n return took from that country Els
'es ssS worth.
Although the British purchases froru !
he United States eVreeded the A~eri- /
AN purchases OF British products nearly I