St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1911-02-22
Vermont and Reciprocity.

It is inevitable that when any
radical departure from the settled
order is proposed, each individual
will first ask, tHow will this affect
me?" The question widens to the
community, the state and the nation,
in diminishing Importance as the
distance increases. It is idle to de-
cry self-interest. 1t is the first law
of nature. Nor is it unworthy, or
incompatible, with our form of gov
eminent, when rightly exerted. With
each electoral unit having a voice
and vote, and each representative
acting purely for the interest of his
own constituency, we should get in
the result what the majority of the
constituencies wanted This may not
be ideal, but it is, in nine cases out
of ten, what happens, and by it's ex-
ercise do we advance or retrograde.
Now in this matter of Canadian
reciprocity, it is the most natural
thing in the world for the individual
to ask, Glow will it affect me?"
And as in this country our Individual
and. local interests are pretty nearly
uniform when merged into what we
call states, it is very natural, for in
stance, that throughout this section
we should ask, "How will it affect
Vermont?"
First, let us determine what lit
is. Canadian reciprocity, as termed
on this side of the border, is en-
bodied in an agreement drawn up
between the administration at Wash
ington and the administration at
Ottawa providing for a new system
of tariff duties on goods passing
both ways, between the United States
and Canada. This agreement is call
ed treaty, though not properly
such. 1t has been submitted by
President Taft to our Congress and
by the Canadian government to it's
Parliament. When ratified, without
change, by both legislative bodies, it
will have the force of law in each,
and go into full effect.
AS to the nature of the treaty, it
reduces very materially or abolishes
altogether the duties on substantial
ly all the commodities that pass in
trade between the countries. It's
avowed purpose is to stimulate the
exchange of products between them
Ito widen the markets Of producers;
! to. increase water and rail transport
| tatiOn; to add to the volume of trade
| interchanged. A secondary benefit
claimed is that it will tend to lower
the cost of living by cheapening
| prices to the consumer. Looking over
! the list of articles in which = the
| United States and Canada trade, we
| find that Canada has to sell mostly,
and that we take from her, farming
and forest products, soft coal and
| fish, while we sell to her mostly ma
| chinery, manufactured articles and
| the products of our lower ATTITUDES
| which she cannot raise. 1t is I'M
necessary to specify, but commodities
ri
| on which it is proposed to reduce or
| abolish duties in the hope and expec-
tation of encouraging trade in them.
| Now how would such an arrange
ment affect Vermont? Would it aid
or injure us, in net result? YER
mont is essentially an agricultural
state. 1t raises and sends to the
southern New England and New York
markets such products as butter,
cheese, milk, cream, maple sugar,
poultry, eggs, horses, cattle, hogs,
sides lumber and pulp from the
woodlands. These and not our
mineral products like marble and
granite on which no change is made
will be the articles affected by reci-
procity. And for this reason, Canada
or the part of the Dominion lying
near us, raises the same products,
which, if admitted free to our mark
cts, will enter into competition with
ours from Vermont And because
Canada has been and is able to raise
them somewhat cheaper than We, the
inevitable tendency will be to force
down their prices, SO that our YER
mont farmers will realize less for
them than now, under the protection
they get by reason of the existing
duties, which tend to, and unques-
tionably do, keep out this competi-
ton. That's the whole story in a nut
| shell. Canadian reciprocity means
the inflow of an enlarged volume of
Canadian products, and since it hap
pens that what Canada produces is
largely what Vermont produces, Yer
mont will be hard hit. Indeed, it will