The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-03-30

 WITH CANADA

(Conhnued From Page Four1
 market for her goods and will pos sibly retaliate by. discriminating against American products.
 "In accordance with the policy of the liberals, overtures were made by Can ada, looking to a reciprocity arrange ment; but they met with no encour- agement- Early in February Sir Richard Cartwright, minister of Trade and Commerce, and Hon. L. H. Davies, minister of Marine and Fisheries, vis- ited Washington to confer with the Republican leaders on the matter. They had been preceded in January by Messrs. Charlton and Farrar in an unofficial capacity
 It is interesting to notice that the repulse which the overtures from Can- ada received from the United States induced the Dominion government to retaliate by discriminating against American products through the enact ment of the Preferential British Tariff of 1897. Under this tariff duties on imports from the United Kingdom and not few of it's colonies were reduced 12 per cent. In 1898 this reduction was increased to 20 per cent. and in continued at the latter rate to the present day. Nevertheless, in spite of the handicap of this preferential tariff, the exports of the United States to Canada have steadily and gratifyingly grown as can be learned from the sta- tfstfcs that appear in a statement sent out from Washington, D. C., in De- cember, 1904, by the Department of reau Of Statistics. The figures are impressive. They show the size, inn porstance and great increase in the trade between the two countries, the significant balance of trade in favor of the United States, and the very note worthy fact that during the operation of sthe preferential tariff the share which the United States supplies of inn fS iy,f0 grown more rapidly than that of the United Kingdom, favored though it has been by a special and considerable protection.
 It is natural that contiguous coun- tries should trade with each other more than they do with distant coun- tries and the strength and per'sistency If this natural tendency are strfkingly seeen In the commercial relations of Canada and the United States. Not withstandfng high protective and pref erential . tariffs, 1ealousies, narrow mindedness, selfishness, stupidity, in a word,, various kinds of discourage ments and drawbacks, the natural ten- dencfeS of trade have moved forward in their indomita.ble. inevitable course. The goal is freedom from tariff and all other artificial shack1es which pre- vent men and nations from dealing in the manner which, broadly considered, is the most advantageous to them all. The. student of history, of government, u, deed, be discouraged, did he not reach the cheerful conclusion that through the toll, the misery, the injustice, the mistakes, the reactions, the painfully slow progress of the ages, the power of natural and moral law is never overcome and ever works unconquered toward what Is better.
 The attitude of Canada during the period of which I have written was one which an unprejudiced spectator would praise. She excelled the United States in efforts to bring about reel procity and she did not wish the treaty of 1854 to be abrogated. After it's abrogation she favored the estab- liShment of closer and broader rela- tions withthi country until her over lures in 1897 were opposed by our government in such a manner that she became offended, if not disgust ed, and soon after retaliated by adopting the preferential duties which discriminated against the United States. We cannot particularly blame her, seemingly we cannot blame her at all; and now we should pause be- fore seeking to provoke her further and consider that she has it in her power to do us yet more injury. In the Review of Reviews, October num- Der, 1903, Eugene Hay says:
 "Our average tariff on dutiable goods coming from Canada to the United States is 49.S3 per cent, and the Canadian average tariff on dutia- Dle SoooS SolnS rum lne On1teQ States into Canada is 24.S3 per cent. Unless commercial reciprocity is soon obtained Canadian tariffs will un- doubtedly be raised to approximately the level of our own, which will prac- tically destroy commerce between the countries
 It is time when we should exer- eise calm judgment, for the condi- tions are now so rapidly changing that far-seeing men recognize that we shall nsoon need more liberal trada arran ora
 ents with Canada more than she will
 ed them with us
 Mindful of the rebuffs she has re-