New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-09-08
FREE TRADE AND THE BLACKLIST
Dangers of a Commercial War with Great
Britain.
0 tho Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: In The Tribune issue of September l
there appears an article headed united
state, Hits Back at Blacklist" marking the
lbeginning OF q commercial war so far ss
American and the Allies are concerned.
suppose you will have heard Of the goose
and the golden egg Well, sir, in my opin-
ion, if a country on the face OF the eartn
is making preparations for wfinging the
neck of that bird that coutry IS the
limited States of America Among the many
tariff reformers over in Britain there is not
one who can fail 20 be delighted at the
retaliatory measures that America is pre-
raring to adopt, and to them 1t VIII mean
the beginning of the end Of state oil com,
mercia affairs that should have been ended
long ago.
You yourself, sir, in a recent editorial on
British blacklsting, stated that II Great
Britain provoked America into a commercial
war she would do it to her sorrow II
would be very interesting to know by what
manner of reasoning you make that out, as
and thousands of other British tarlf
reformers have long been under the impress
sion that commercial war between Great
Britain and America would spell commercial
ruin for America and prosperity for the
people of the British Empire But whether
Great Britain provokes America to a com
mercia war or not, you, sir, and all others
whom il may concern may rest assured that
never again will the same freedom Of trade
be permitted by the British people.
The abuse that has been heaped on the
British by a certain section of the American
press over the blacklisting OF number OF
German firms located in America will, be-
leve, do more TO end the disgraceful system
Of free trade that has oppressed the British
workman than an army OF tariff re4ormers
could have accomplished in lifetime. For
years credulous British public have been
deluded into the belief that their whole
existence depended on the cheap products
Of foreign nations being let into Britain
duty free-a delusion that has been fostered
and dinned into their ears by British capt.
taists with hundreds of millions of dollars
invested in American industries and to whom
the prosperity of America is Of far more
importance than the prosperity Of the Brit
ish workngman.
The best customers that ever America had
or is ever likely to have have been the people
of the British Empire. In normal times
Great Britain alone takes over 100000 900
worth of American goods and merchandise.
while her colonies take more than any other
country in the world. The late Joseph Cham
bcrlain contended, and rightly so, that the
British Empire can be made entirely self
sustaining. No country in the world ever
possessed such vast and wealthy colonies
az those which go to make up the compost
tion of the British Empire, and no country
in the world except Great Britain would
ever have thrown those colonies open to
Tom, Dick and Harry to trade on equal
terms with themselves Not only have the
British colonies been thrown open to the
trade Of the whole universe, but Britain her
self has been allowed to be the dumping
ground of every nation the face of the
earth with surplus products to dispose of,
including If my information is correct)
some OF the products of American hired con-
Wet labor. Does any one imagine for a
moment that when this war is over the
same old state Of affairs will be allowed
TO continue? II any one does | am afraid
he is in for rude awakening. Both polti-I
caly and commercially Great Britain and her
colonies will be drawn into a closer bond
OF union than ever before. In the meantime
all that Britain claims in the way Of black
listing is the right TO control its own trade
affairs 1t claims the right TO cease trad
ing with German firms located in America
right it will enforce-and the snarlng Of
all the pro-Germans in America will be
powerless to prevent it. PROB.
Firthclif, n. Y, Sept >. 1916