Year: 1862

THE ERECxPR0cITT TREATY.


By reference to our dispatches it will be
seen that Gen. Eijah Il ard, Of New York,
from the House Committee OIL Commerce,
Las made report upon The petitions ask
ing for the abrogation Of the Canadian
Reciprocity treaty. He urges that instead
<'of granting the prayerof the petitioners,
that our commercial union with Canada be
more, rather than less, intimate" We also
publish IN another column the action Of
the Chamber Of Commerce Of St. Paul, on
the 18th, upon the same subject, giving the
most conclusive arguments suggested at
that standpoint why the treaty, instead Of
being abrogated: should be rendered more
comprehensive and effective. The appoint
ment Of q committee By the Chicago Board
Of Trade to prepare memorial to Con
gross, yesterday, will be found upon the
fourth page Of this paper. This subject
embraces matters Of vital Importance to
the growth and the prosperity Of the West,
and our citizens should strengthen the
hands Of our representatives to resist the
pressure to repeal the treaty. by every
means in their power.


Tie facts and arguments adduced BY the
Chamber Of Commerce Of st. Paul have
special reference to the interest which that
city and Minnesota hare in the vast and
rapidly developing regions around Lake
Winnepeg and the rivers which flow into
1t, But they are in some sense applicable
to the entire States Of the Northwest, and
especially to the interests Of our own city.
The valleys Of the Red River Of the North,
the Assiniboin and the Saskatchewan are
among the finest upon the North American
continent. They are capable Of sustaining
a vast population, and the tide Of euigra-
ton which has for the last few years been
settling moderately in that direction, with
in the next quarter Of a century is destined
to become mighty stream Of human cner
81 and intelligence. Under the Reel
procity Treaty the trade Of the Selkiirk
settlement has been concentrating at st.
Paul. and If not disturbed by the selfish
stupidity Of our own or English legisla-
Tors. it will increase rapidly, to the mutual
advantage Of all the parties in interest.
For two or three years past the goods Of
the Hudson Bay Company have been ship
ped By St. Paul to the Conpany's trading
posts III the far North West, and such is
the character Of the country north Of Lake
Superior that this business has now found,
and If let alone will remain in this
natural channel for all time to come.
The trains to and from the Red
River Of the North have become a
most important feature in the business of
st, Paul, and her Chamber Of Commerce
have therefore done wisely in protesting
against the abrogation Of a treaty from
which her people and the entire Northwest
obtain now so many advantages, and from
which so many benefcent results can be
derived in tie future.


But it is only when the domestic and the
commercial necessities Of the millions of
people who now live upon the vast fertile
rrairies Of Illinois. Wisconsin, Iowa, Min
ucsota, and the States and Territories i'm
mediately west Of tho Missouri, and the
tens Of millions who are soon to inlabit
them, are considered, that the Reciprocity
Treaty can be regarded in al its magnitude
and far reaching importance The mag
nifccnt forests in western Canada are all
wanted to build houses, barns, stores and
manufactures for our people It is the in
terest Of every farmer and Of all the people
in cur towns and cities to hare lumber
cheap, and it is equally for the advantage
Of our Canadian ncighbors to sell it to US
for the West affords them the best market
Tor the products Of their almost endless
forests Millions Of homes are yet 10 he
built and adorned at tie West, and the cost
OF them Will be largely increased if our
people are not allowed to draw at will upon
tue Canadian forests


But what the West most needs are MIR
chasers for her vast and rapidly increasing
agricultural products, with every possible
avenue Of transit for those products to the
ocean, Since the Reciprocity Treaty in
vited Canadian capital and merchants
here, everybody knows that they have
BEEN large purchasers in this market. In
fact, at times they were our main Gus
toners, and without them business would
have been at stand still. Their purchases
OF wheat, corn, beef, pork, lard and pro-
visions, are in the aggregate immense, and
they thereby contribute largely to the
value Of every mans farm in tic West
Without the competition and the facilities
afforded by the St. Lawrence route, ou1
people would be at the mercy Of the Eric
Canal and our Eastern railways, and in the
Matter Of fteights alone, the West would
he taxed from one to five cents per bushel
on its grain, and from ten to a
hundred cents on every barrel Of
fcur, beef, pork and lard for their bene~
fit, Parties arc NOW in this city preparing
to pack bacon expressly for the English
market, and generally the amount Of ou1
products that find their way down the St.
Lawrence and over the Grand Trunk Rail.
way, destined for Europe, is already i'm,
mensc, and will increase rapidly year by
year. Any man who understands tho sub
jcct knows that large as it now is, this trad1
is only in its infancy. 1t will grow in Ia
ito commensurate with the development 0:
1Ae West.


When refecting on this subject we often
rccur 10 the expressive remark Of our old
friend Capt Robert Hugunin II tell you. =
said he, his keen eye flushing with the mag:
nitude Of Ills theme, *'thc great God, when
11c made the vast, fertile West, made
the great lakes and the mighty St. Lawrence
to carry its commerce 10 the ocean, and il
is only since the passage Of the Reciprocity
Treaty that the designs Of Omnipotence il
this regard hare in some measure been real
lied. Now that the benefits Of this
great national thoroughfare, both to the
people Of the West and the people Of Can
ada, are beginning to be felt, let the states
men Of both countries, rising above all
low, selfish considerations, direct thei1
efforts only to enlarge and increase them.
The opposite policy belongs to the dark
ages, and ought to be banished from the na-
tional intercourse Of the nineteenth century,
It is to be hoped the members Of Congress
will vigorously sustain the report Of Gen
Wor1 and thot nJ1 dScrr,aesor i. ~.~.,