The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1905-08-25
The Reciprocity Farce.


Probably the press of the country is
giving more space to the reciprocity
convention which has just been held in
Chicago than it deserves. 1t is we'll
enough, however, to give some attention
to one or two points in that gatherings
programme. One of the resolutions
which it adopted said that "the export
trade has become vital support to
many of our industries, and added that
"the present commercial attitude of the
United States, largely owing to our
failure to carry into effect the recipro-
cal trade provisions of section 4 of the
Dingley law, is antagonizing foreign
'tnations whose good will we desire, and
ON whom we have hitherto depended as
purchasers of our surplus products.
If the reciprocity convention were an
assemblage of professional humorists
that expression about the world turning
against us would be all right, but as
most Of its members want themselves
to be taken with seriousness it may be
pertinent right here to cite few facts.
For the fiscal year 1905 the United
States sold 81, 51S, 00o, 900 worth of mer-
chandise to the rest of the world. This
left all records far behind. 1t was $751;
600, 600 higher than the exports of 1904.
1t was very nearly double the exports
of 1895, just before the Dingley law was
enacted. 1t is in the face of this big
expansion in ten years that the reci-
procity advocates claim that we are
"antagonising foreign nations" More
over, our exports of manufactures,
which is an even better test Of our in
dustrial ability and of the worlds at
Ntitude toward us, also broke all former
records. We sold to the rest of the
world in the fiscal year 1905, S543,-
OO0, 600 of manufacturers This was $91,-
DOC, 600 more manufactures than we ex-
ported in 1904 1t was triple the amount
of the manufactures which we exported
in 1896. Our exports of manufactures
in 1905 exceeded our exports OF all sorts
of merchandise in 1876. Our exports of
manufactures in 1905 exceeded by $685.
600, 600 our entire exports and imports
in 1865, at the close of the rebellion.
Does this show that the present COM
mercial attitude of the United States
is "antagonizing foreign nations?"
In 1905 we sold 1923, 900, 900 of mer-
chandise to the United Kingdom, 1884,
100000 to Germany, $4,000, 900 to
Canada, and smaller amounts to the
other countries. The $1,51S, 900, 600 OF
our exports to the outside world in 1905
went to all continents and countries.
The reciprocity people appear not to
have keard of these things. They do
not seem to know that our sales to the
rest of the world are growing by leaps
and bounds. England Germany and
the rest of the world talk about the
American invasion" All those coun-
tries except England are planning how
to resist the invasion, and to keep
the Americans from conquering the
worlds markets. None of these things,
however, seem to have come to the
knowledge of the reciprocity advocates.
At the time when the amiable gentle
men in Chicago were telling us that
foreign nations were turning against us
on account of our commercial atti-
Jude, we were making vast conquests
in the worlds markets. In the present
fiscal year our conquests are likely to
he still greater than they were in the
year which ended six weeks ago. 1t
was noticed that nobody representing
the Roosevelt administration appeared
at the reciprocity conference, or took
any notice of it. The figures which we
have Just cited showing the great in
crease in the country's exports under
the present tariff, especially the exports
of manufactures, will explain why it is
that neither the President nor any other
republican leader who leads anything
paid any attention to the reciprocity
round up.-St. Louis Globe-Democrat
Milwaukee papers state that the