Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-01-28

= A-A-Aa " 4 i " III w Ia y
terms that cannot be wisely conceded.
Republicans are heartily in favor of
reciprocity, but they want 1t of the
kind that will reciprocate.
1t might be possible to draw treaty
with our neighbor, the Dominion of
Canada, which would be beneficial to
both nations, but 1t has never yet been
possible to do SO upon terms which
would be just to ourselves. The diff
ficulty about reciprocity with the peo-
pie OF the Dominion of Canada Is that
they are producers of the same things
that we are. They are our rivals and
competitors.
The. Old Treaty.
From 1855 to 1866 we had treaty
providing for free trade between the
United States and Canada in the natu-
raj resources of both countries.
This treaty was ratified with much
qualification and in the hopes that it
would be of great mutual advantage.
When we consider the schedule of
natural products" we can readily see
the inequality of such bargain. The
articles admitted free were 'bread-
stuffs, meats. fish, raw cotton, veget-
ables, fruits, poultry, eggs, hides, furs,
skins, stone, dairy products, ores, fer
tilizers, lumber, wood, flax, hemp, tow,
and manufactured tobacco.
AS Canada could neither raise cotton
nor tobacco, the raw material necessa-
ry to her cotton and tobacco factories
was a matter of necessity to her, and
the other articles were competing
products In which she had the adyan-
tage.
United States Trade Shows Loss.
The civil war interviewed and made
it somewhat difficult to determine the
merits of the agreement, but in the
last year and nine months of that
treaty, in 1865 and 1866, we RENTED
duties to Canada amounting to $7O,-
152, 163, and the balance Of the trade
was against us in the same year and
nine months in the sum Of s2S,134,749.
Pelagic Sealing.
The Canadians are thrifty people
and in possession Of vast domain.
They have by pelagic sealing killed off
nearly all the great seal herd which
we supposed we had obtained by our
purchase Of Alaska. They ruthlessly
slaughtered the mothers of this herd
out at sea, allowing their helpless off
spring to starve in the rookeries on
the American islands.
Any treaty that we make with them
hereafter should provide means to
save the remaining seals from utter
determination.
The Boundary Dispute.
Their preposterous claims to the
ownership of Skagway, Dyea, and the
Lynn canal in Alaska were asserted
with such apparent earnestness that
an arbitration was required to clear up
a title which had never been disputed
as against either Russia or the United
States until the discovery Of the Klon-
dixie gold caused the necessity for an
elastic boundary sufficient to include
a Canadian seaport. Some i'll feeling
is manifested by our neighbors over
the defeat Of this wholly unfounded
claim by the high court Of arbitration.
Flimsy as their claims were, the Ca
madam arbitrators insisted upon their
pretensions to the last.
Reasonable Treaty Doubtful.
> f. ~ .
This proceeding is SO recent as to
make it doubtfula about obtaining any
reasonable treaty of reciprocity with
Canada in the present state Of mind
Of the Dominion government.
At this juncture it is proposed to
sale by all druggists at so cents box.
solve the question by the simple meth
cd Of free and unrestricted trade with
Canada. We have about S0,00O,0O0 of
people, she has about 100000. 1t is
proposed to. furnish Canada 80,000,000
of the best customers in the world in
free and equal exchange for the trade
of 100000 OF people.
Fifteen to One.
There are fifteen persons in the
United States to one in Canada. The
people want the markets.
Therefore, the reciprocal treaty we
are asked to undertake is not exactly
ration of 16 to 1, but Is to 1. We are
asked to trade the certainty of fifteen
good customers for the chances Of one
One certainly no better, if as good
Besides that one customer produces
nothing that we can not produce our.
selves. Such an agreement would
no doubt put our neighbors in bet.
ter humor than they are at present
The Wilson law was popular in Can
ada.
Comparison OF Trade.
In the last Canadian fiscal year end
ing August 81, 1903 Canada sold us
goods to the amount of $71,209,969
During the same period we sold Cana
da, including raw materials for manu-
facture, to the amount of s144,764,S75
Under reciprocity in natural pro
ducts the balance Of trade was against
us over $20,0OO,00O year at the close
of the period when that treaty was in
operation. Under present conditions
with tariff in both countries, ou1
balance of trade Is more than $4,000,
900 in our favor. To renew the old ar
rangement of free trade in natural
products, we would again give our
neighbor our vast market in equal ex
change for much smaller one at the
expense of the American farmers.
The Iowa Farmers View.
It is assumed that Iowa farmers
would grow enthusiastic over the prop
osition to turn over to Canada the
market that American farmers now oc
cupy and in exchange for the same tc
i III Il 4 - a