The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-01-21

| as "OutlaWS'' and nuisance to the
free to use our transportation routes and
storage facilities, and to avail itself of
our milling demand, which will be the
case in the event Of the realization OF
reciprocity = ,.-.sz~.-f ,,r..-
The Item of Lumber.
| A direct and very substantial benefit to
You farmers from free trade in natural
products would be that resulting from the
free importation Of Canadian lumber Last
year we imported SIG, 0OO,O 900 worth Of Ca
madam lumber and wood products, and the
duty On IT, was about 100000, collected
| by the government without any needed
protection to anyone and without yielding
necessary revenue. Besides that it en-
abled American lumbermen to charge
American consumers considerably more
for their domestic lumber than thew would
nave paid if there had been free trade
The great danger of Canadian COMPETE
tlon 1nJurlng the American farmer pro-
ceeds from something over which he has
no control, and the danger would not now
exist if we had had reciprocity with Can
ada all of these years. refer to tho pro-
posal of Joseph Chamberlain, until re-
Gently British secretary for the colonies,
to turn England back to protectionism as
against the non-British world, giving free
access to the British markets to all of the
colonies. Mr. Chamberlain proposes to tax
foreign wheat at the rate of about cents
bushel. That would mean that the Ca
madam farmer would eventually get s
cents more bushel for his wheat than
the American. This discrimination in the
British markets would apply not only to
wheat but to other agricultural products
The result of the adoption Of this policy
would be extremely injurious to our farm
ers. L do not know that there is any way
IN which we can do anything to prevent
this disaster from overtaking us, except
by means of the carly negotia ton of A.
reciprocity treaty with Canada - : ,.:s
= A Great Benefit. : :,
Let me mention one way in which reci-
procfty with Canada would be of very
great benefit to you. 1t is the great home
market that has been built up by our.
manufacturing and commerce that makes
|, II profitable to raise so many things On
the FARM and that gives value to farm
land. If all the people of the United
States were farmers, the price of farm
products would be- slow. indeed and the
value OF land not&gfeat Every time a
city adds single person to it's popula-
ton the farmer is benefited, for there is
one more person who smustsssoensume the
products of the soil but does not produce
them. The nearer land is to- great cities.
other things beingsequal, the more lu-
able it is and also the larger t IS city
the more valuable thes1arld; i1r itsTtributar4;
| territory Now the future az 3 ). YOUR great
market towns" Of Minneapolis, Paul
and Duluth depends Very largely on
| whether they shall have freedoms of ac.-
| cess to the Canadian west. >s.;s.y q
| Wealth arises not only from production,
| but also from exchange. i The more ol,-
| portunities you, have to dispose +of what
you produce, the greater the demand for
| 1t, the more rapidly you will $becone
wealthy. It is for that reason that; rec-
procity with Canada appeals with special
force to the inhabitants Of border, states,
such as Minnesota and North Dakota
A Great Mistakes: s@.
One of the greatest mistakes ever made
by American diplomacy was in it's neglect,
and l might almost say contempt for
questions relating to Canada which has
| characterized it ever since the civil war.
firmly believe that an amicable and con-
ciliatory policy during the last thirty-five
or forty years would have SO united Cana
dian and American business interests and
| so blended the two peoples into one that
| Canada and the United States would to-
Cay be. for all practical purposes, even
| if not politically, one nation, and that
from their union in this manner would
have flowed an increase Of trade and a
stimulation CT development that would
| have put Canada and our northwest bor-
| der states far ahead of where they are
now. If our policy has been wrong, the
I time to change it is now. The longer we
delay the more difficult it will become
to repair the consequences flowing from
our mistakes IL the past.
i In the foregoing I have endeavored to
| prove to yOll---.
First-That reciprocity with Canada
! will have certain direct benefits in it for
the farmers of the northwest
| &Second-That it will neither directly or
indirectly injure them.
| Third-That it will benefit the manu-
featuring and mercantile interests of our
distributing, and industrial centers.
| Fourth-That the resultant growth in
population, trade and wealth that would
| follow in these centers would be of great
| benefit to the farmers.
| Fifth-That your future development
and enrichment very largely depend upon
the freedom Of trade you enjoy with your
4 neighbors, who on one side are the Cana
1 dams. -.
Sixth-That reciprocity with Canada
may be the means of preventing disas-
trous discrimination against your products
in British markets.
/ Seventh That freer trade between these
| two countries will insure a future peace
! and good will between them and greater
prosperity and contentment for both than
could exist without intimate or CONNER
cial relations