The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1911-09-28
The Defeat OF Reciprocity.

W.
several reasons, this is to be deplored
In the first place, the partial free-trade
which the treaty proposed to inaugurate,
would have been the entering wedge which
would have naturally tended toward the des-
tructlon of the internal tariff system. The
standpatters realized this, and they fought the
measure desperately. They feared to let the
people. get q taste Of free trade. They knew
that 1t the consumers should be able to buv
Lumber, &c, at natural prices, all the unnatur-
al, tar1tf-made prices would be endangered.
Hence the Trusts rushed men and money into
Canada, and we will never know how many
votes were controlled in this way.
In the second place, free trade means Peace
While tariff duties mean war Every Ameri-
can who is capable of taking broad view of
such matters would much prefer to see Can
ada and our Union behaving toward each 9th
er like good neighbors, instead of trying to cut
each others throat with hostile tariffs There
IS no more sense In barring out Canadian
commodities, than there would be in saying
that the farmers of Minnesota and Wisconsin
shall not enter the Southern markets without
paying high license fee for the privilege
Our country is not cut off from Canada by any
natural barrier. We join along an extensive
frontier. For each country to put burden
some conditions upon their mutual inter
change of products, is as senseless as it would
be to make tarif-wall along the Mississippi
separating the East from the West and col
Letting duties on goods crossing the river
Perhaps Mr.. Taft did more harm to the
treaty, in Canada, than all other Americans
combined. It was fatal bluder for him to
describe the treaty as jug handled affair,
a0eth alt the advantages coming to our side.
The simple truth would have been the wis
or ord II t.
explained to the farmers of the Northwest
that while they mi ght have to sell wheat pork
and beef for less money, they would save so
much more on cheap lumber that the net re-
suits would be immensely beneficial to the Uni
ted States. without being detrimental to Can
ada. Mr.. Taft should have been as careful to
demonstrate how the Canadians would be
benefited by Reciprocity as he was to convince
the North western farmers that the treaty
would help our own people.
Another thing: He ought to. have shown
to our people and to the Canadians, that,
q0hile climatic conditions fac the limit of Con-
ad0's a0heat belt, there is almost no limit to
her supply of timber. Consequently, Canada
would have got into the American market
with a small amount of wheat, meats and hay,
while she would have found a magnificent,
and perpetual market for her boundless prod
ucts of the forest Her lumber, shingles,
square timber, round timber, naval stores, &C.,
would have brought her, year after year, i'm
mense sums of American dollars while the
Americans would have been blessed with the
competition of Canadian saw-mills with the
American Lumber Trust.
AS it is, Mr.. Taft has nothing whatever to
show for the great expense of the extra SEES
sion of Congress. Had he not perfdiously
vetoed the Farmers Free List bill and the
Underwood-La Toilette wool bill, he qoou1d