Daily Kennebec journal., 1911-03-08
! ionr,,s \ ,na tScp congress adj.a,rns

Y
ljourI,s. a and Ahen Congress adjsa'rnS
Witliputs passing il hc inauguratrs by
la special message Il special session of
lCungress to crowd this treaty down
the throats of the people of this nH-
ttion. You cannot amend il. YOU have
got to take it as it comes, make all the
flight YOU please it must ne taken as Il
whole or defeated. | say, MIR. ~, aker.
that is discrimination against tn"
farmers of tins country ana III favor Of
Canada and not ono whit in favor OF
the United states.
Nov. in order that We may make n"
mistake about this matter. when Eng
land saw that there was lrce trade by
this treaty with her colony, Canada. in
agricultural products sh" SAN that 1t
that thing became effective il meant
annexation and she would lose her
colonies because there was nothing
then between them and everything
would be in common. and the ,.0uh.oUo
would take the blessings of the 9l,-
0o0.on0 in the market. and she could
not hold her colonies. and SO England
says to her minister there What about
this" and Fielding sends Il cablcSram
To England, and what does he say?
He says:
Canada is seeking markets every
where for her surplus products. sub
.;idjZiug steamship lines, and sending
ont commercial agents. Would it not
he ridiculous in The pursuit Of such Il
policy To refuse to avail herself of the
markets OF the great nation lying
alongside? The expressed fear that
i, will seriously affect imports from
Great britain is groundlcSs. The great
cr part of the agreement deals with
natural products Great Britain does
not send out. The range of manufac-
lures affected is small and in most
cases tn" reductions are small.
1T appears tn be assumed in some
quarters that the tariff rates agreed
upon discriminate in favor OF the
United States and against Great
Britain. There is no foundation for
this. In every case Great Britain viii
| still have the same rate. or a lower
| one Canada's right to deal with the
British preference as she rleaseS re-
mains untouched by the agreement.
The adoption Of the agreement will
probably lead to som" further revision
of the Canadian tariff. in which the
Canadian Parliament viii be entirely
fl,c to fin the British preferential tar
If at any rates that should be deemed
proper
Now. what is reciprocity" 1t is
popular word. but what is it. | will
give You definition OF it, the best
definition which | could find in the
dictionary.
Reciprocity is an arrangement OF
agreement between our own Nation
and another nation by which We agree
to admit. free of duty. certain articles
which we need. but which we can not
raise or produce here: and in return
the other nation admits to its ports
free Of duty. certain articles which we
produce and which they need. but can
not produce in their own land"
Take that definition. Does that de-
fine the treaty proposed to be in augu
rated in this nation? Not at all. IT is
not reciprocity. There are Il lot of us
here who are in favor of reciprocity,
but this is nothing but a discrimina
ton against the farmers of the United
States. Now. in order that YOU may
understand it still further. what does
the Canadian press think of this thing?
Are they getting good thing? The
Manitoba Free Press in that great
agricultural country of Manitoba, the
richest land upon the face of the earth
what do they say:
The outstanding feature of the tar
iff is the complete reciprocity in farm
products. This Will undoubtedly be
popular with the farmers both OF the
East and of the West. The good times
in the eastern Provinces during the
life of the Elgin treaty are matter
of tradition, and there is no doubt that
the opening of the markets of the great
American cities to the products of the
Eastern farms will be acceptable and
profitable to the Eastern farmer. In
the West free wheat and free access
to the Chicago market for his cattle
will undoubtedly appeal very strongly
to the cultivator of the SOIL
The Ontario Advertiser has not been
altogether satisfied with us in the past.
but after characterizing the treaty as
the Canadian farmers triumph" it
authorizes us to congratulate ourselves
that all is now forgiven. 1t says:
The treaty agreement is a complete
reversal of the normal attitude Of the
United States for nearly half a CEN
,hiN. Lh'cpt uirlnS tHe DTlt1 peIlOuS
of Clevclands ascendancy. the policy
of the country since the Civil War has
been one of stiff-necked protectionisin,
With particularly forbidding front
toward Canada Probably no persons
nave been more surprised at the
change than the Canadian negotiators.
They could scarcely have expected
such liherality when they set out for
Washington"
But somebody says in giving the
market for Canadian farm products
in competition to our own will lower
the price of food products and there
by help your labor but that is the
greatest blow there could be to labor
in this land. In the United States.
in the State of Maine, the laborer is
the best paid Of any laborer on the
face of the earth. and you and 1 know
it. Yes. he is the best paid. and why?
Because on this great border between
us and Canada stands the immigrant
inspection officer as well as the GUS
tom house. We keep out the cheap
t,a l..h Of En