Republican farmer., 1909-04-02

| erwards to become stronger, that the | markets of Canada were not equiv | alent to those of the United States l and also demanded certain concessions from Canada, particularly that Amer | ican vessels should be allowed to nav 1Sate the St. Lawrence river and the Canadian canals as freely as British i subjects were permitted to do. Cues ttons connected with the fisheries on ! the coasts of British North America could not be ignored These ques- tions, of course. involved the interests of the maritime provinces much more thon those of Canada proper. and arose 1 from several different ways of inter- prettng the treaty of 1S1S. The evil that the United States wanteds various concessions to be granted in return
 for yielding to Canada's urgent desire
 for the free admission of certain artf-
 cles reciprocally. The two countries approached the question of reciprocity from different standpoints, the United States not expecting to gain much from the free exchange of products, certainly not nearly as much as Can ada would.
 Various reasons can be cited to show why the people of this country were not eager or anxious for a free eX-
 change of raw materials with Canada at the time when there was agitation for the reciprocity treaty which was
 finally agreed upon in 1854. Prices to
 the domestic consumer were not then,
 as in these days of outrageously pro-
 tected trusts, raised to an abnormal
 height, or. at least. to a height that could be burdensomely felt. Indeed,
 high protective duties were not en- forced in the existing tariff. Not only
 were the tariff duties low, from 1S46 to the opening of the Civil War, but
 the commerce of the country was also a great deal smaller in volume, and the need for it's extension was much less imperative than at present. Our uo0 ca6 varied natural resources. and to use them there were, according to the cen sus figures. only 23.1S1 .s76 persons in 1850 as against 76, 304, ,7S9, or more than three times as many in 1900. The people felt that they were independent and self-sufficing At the same time there was little active objection to a free exchange of raw materials under reciprocity because the general ten dency of the time was toward lessen ing restrictions on international trade; as shown in the United States by the adoption of the Walker tariff, which was rather a revenue than a protec- tive tariff; in England by the repeal of the corn laws about 1S46; at an earlier period by the organization of the German Zollverein which by means of reciprocal concessions greatly aug rnented the trade between the German States. The liberal trend notably widened in 1860 when was negotiated an Anglo-French treaty which by HledIS Ol TSCIpTOcIly, IIlo TeIIlOVdl OI not a few duties on exports and inn
 ports and of all absolute prohibitions cleared away to a very marked extent commercial barriers standing between treaty was followed by twenty-seven similar treaties in which all of the States of Europe, except Greece, were interested. Even backward Russia caught the spirit of progress and join ed in the movement.
 Tt needs hardly to be said" say Professors Laughlin and Willis in their recently published book, entitled Reciprocity, that under these con- ditions, the prosperity of European trade increased enormously. The commerce of Austria, Belgium France, Holland, Italy and Great Britain grew between 1860 and 1873 more than 100 per cent, while the trade of the same countries with nations not having reciprocity treaties with them in creased, according to MT. David A. Wells. only about 66 per cent.''
 The outlook of the world was wid- trading with each other in the natural manner, removing from commerce those shackles on liberty which In many different and unjust ways have ever tended to retard the progress of true civilization. Great, indeed, had been the advance from the ignorant, narrow policy of the middle ages when restrictions on the freedom of trade were even 6lu1OTC0u, 'DeLWG0u Cuc ulS- tricts of the same country; from the early period when in France and in other northern countries of Europe the levying of the OdiouS -Octroi was prev alent, it being toll or tax upon artf- cles that passed the entrance of a town; from the English tariffs which were prohibitory before the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Nothing promotes better conditions between countries than mutually beneficial and friendly conditions long continued.
 But, alas, the barbaric and selfish impulses of mankind were destined to be aroused from slumber' The un- fortunate frictions which caused the Civil War in the United States and the war in Europe brought about great and adverse changes. Herbert Spencer has clear ly shown in his Principles of Socio- l logy'' that "the governmental-militar Organization of a society is initiated by, and evolves along with. the war fare between societies" Under such conditions aggressionS and infliction of injuries are not alone felt by the outward enemy. The effect is reac- | tive. Within the society defended by large armies the militant tendency grows, although in a milder form. | placed upon the personal liberty of the 1 citizen than when there is no war. For instance, he must express opinions and guide his actions in conformity |
 
 pie or he will meet with the fate of the Tories during the Revolutionary War or endure indignities and losses | as did the loyal Unionists who lived in our Southern States at the time of the | rebellion. He. will have to pay high 1 er taxes for the sake of carrying on a | war that he may believe to be unjust. | Extra revenues must be raised to meet | heavy expenses of feeding, clothing l and equipping large bodies of soldiers in the field. Abnormal duties will be | placed on imports. Internal revenue l taxes may likewise be levied on bank | checks, matches and other things suit l ed to the purpose Then, after the l fighting is over and the need for rais- l Ing large sums of money Is greatly l changes like those which | were made after our Civil War may be expected. The burdens on excises | will be to a great extent removed but 1 the high tariff on imports will be re- tained or only a little lessened through | the infleunce of manufacturers who | by means of this tariff have been en- abled to raise prices to domestic con sumers to an abnormal extent and who l