El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-09-13

~ONTREAL. Canada. Sept. a.
Nh Our trade Is S97 per capita;
lV1 that of the United States is s3S.
In other words. the water in
our mill pond stands at 81; theirs al
80, and they want US to take away
the dam. Shall we not say: Not by q
dam sight?" In these words, and with
this question, Sir William c. Van
Canada and former president of the
Canadian Pacific railway, in a speech
few days since, put in nutshell the
favorite argument Of the anti-reci-
prOclty forces of Canada.
The Favorite Argument.
That argument is, in substance, that
to let down the tariff barriers between
Canada and the United States by a re-
ciprocal trade agreement would be to
bring the industrial and commercial
donal boundary line to the same level
This being granted, the Canadians are
asked If they are willing, by their
votes, to bring about this calamity
which would reduce prosperous Can
ada to the sad condition of the bank
rupt and hungry United States.
1t is a mere detail that there are
some 90,000,000 people living in the
United States who are not aware of the
fact that their country is bankrupt
and that they are hungry. The stupid
ignorance of the Americans on this
point has nothing to do with the mat
ter. The facts are, as set forth In the
antf-reciprocity arguments in the Cana
dian campaign. that American industry
is at a standstilI OF the great lake
cities of the United States those near
est TO Canada, such as Buffalo, Cleve-
land, Detroit and Chicago, it is said
that they ARE ON the verge of starva-
ton, are suffering from a .heartrending
depression and are unable to provide
work for their men," 1t is further set
forth by the veracious enemies of the
I.1T1 he -
can cities of the lake region are fret
ting like hounds on 1eashes. eagerly
awaiting the signal when they may
spring forward to capture Canada's
What Ants Believe.
Those persons who credit the state
ments Of the anti-reciprocity publ
cists believe that to let down the tariff
barriers between Canada and the Unit
ed States would undermine Canadian
prosperity by cutting the wages to the
low American standard by dumping
into Canadian markets the cheaply pro-
duced and inferior products of the
United States and, in some mysterious
fashion, by extending the prevailing
American financial depression across
the line into Canada.
Sir William Van Horne's remarka.
Bile figure Of the mill ponds. in which
he compared Canadian prosperity and
american prosperity as In the ratio
of 81 to 80, was delivered in a speech
In the province of New Brunswick in
the extreme western part OF the Do
minion. William Van Horne was born
in Illinois, and learned to be a great
railroad man under Yankee tutelage.
He went over to Canada as railroad
man, became the head of the great Ca
madam & Pacific railway system, and
now, in his retirement, writes himself
down 'Sir William Van Horne, K c. NJ
G." It was he, more perhaps than any
other man, who managed so to extend
the Canadian Pacific railway system
that it's lines now reach across the In
ternational boundary down into the
United States at every available point.
The Liberal orators, in combating Sir
Williams arguments, never neglect to
point out that the railroads oppose
the United States for ordinary folks,
but are very careful to foster. it for
the railroads.
Effect on Provinces.
In the extreme western part Of the
dominion, at Victoria, British Column
bia, the argument Is advanced that the
reciprocity agreement will injure the
prosperity Of the province by letting
from the United States, where. it is ar
gued. the. prices of farm produce and
food stuffs is on a much lower scale
than in Canada, since the people in
Washington and Oregon are not able.
prosperity, to pay the high prices
which are quite within the means of
their more fortunate neighbers of
British Columbia The leading anti
reciprocity authority In the politics of
British Columbia sets forth this view
in the following language:
AT the first glance the average man
Is all but certain to conclude that that
which reduces for him the cost of liv-
ing must necessarily be worthy Of his
approval. And yet the mere reduction
of the prices OF certain commodities in
demand may prove disas-
trously expensive to the consumer and
also to the nation-if the price paid for
the alluring reduction is a curtailment
Of the ability to buy, restriction OF
home production, a checking of indus
trial activity, and business depression
in all that term applies.
British Columbia PrOspers.
"a minimum cost of living is not In
evitably an unmixed blessing. Here in
British Columbia the situation as 1t
affects the people and the province is
a different one. No section of the do
minion or of all America is today more
prosperous or developing with greater
rapidity. Possibly 1t is quite true that
the Seattle householder can buy his
mutton chops at IL to Is cents per
pound. while the Victorian pays Is to
20. that poultry Is purchasable in Seat
tie at 20 to % cents per pound, which
here commands 20 to 80 cents; that