Year: 1877

There is no public functionary Of the


United States who serves his country at SC


great pecuniary ldss as the Secretary Of


State. His salary is bagatelle, barely suf-
fcient to pay the rent for such house as


BELTS the dignity of the Office, and the So


cial duties of the position require him to


give expensive entertainments. Nothing


but laudable ambition to serve his country


and belief that he can serve it with credit


could reconcile a statesman to the unre-


warded labor and pecuniary losses incl


dent to that office. Both OF Mr. Evarts'


two immediate predecessors, Mr.. Seward
and Mr. Fish, reaped large reward in hon.
orable distinction and connected their names


indissolubly with the history of the coun-
try--Mr Seward by maintaining peace with
foreign nations during the difficult compli-
cations of our civil war and by the acquisi-
ton of Alaska, and Mr. Fish by his success
full settlement of the Alabama claims dispute.
Mr.. Evarts' opportunities are of different
kind. We have no important contro-
versies with foreign governments to be
settled, and further acquisitions OF ter
ritory are neither desired by our people
nor possible without embroiling us with
foreign Powers. But Mr.. Evarts is not
the type of man to accept high Office
for its mere empty dignity and to be con-
tent with discharging its routine functions.
Unless he saw, or thought he saw, an oppor-
tunity to make his mark and emulate the
distinction of his predecessors he would not
have sacrificed the largest professional in
come in the country He saw what he
could do, or at least what he could at
tempt, and if he succeeds his administra-
ton of the State Department will be one Of
the most fruitful and beneficial in our
history.


1t required no great sagacity on the part
of Mr.. Evarts to see that the chief want OF
this country is large extension OF its
foreign markets Any Of the eminent mer-
chants with whom he has had business as
sociations and social intercourse could have
told him this, however unprepared they
may have been to point out methods OF ex-
tending our trade. We are suffering froIl
excess of production. Our mining indus
tries are interrupted, our mills are running
on short time hundreds of thousands Of
discontented laborers are without employ
ment, because we are unable to sell the
commodities which we have the ia
cilities for producing If capacious
foreign markets were opened for TAX
ing off the surplus products of our
industry all the nerves of our stagnant
trade would be touched and business would
start into vigorous life. 1t was said Of
Hamilton that he struck the rock of the
public credit and abundant waters gushed
out but it is possible that Mr.. Evarts may
perform a greater miracle. He may SO
strike the rock of foreign markets that
abundant streams of trade will gush forth
in all directions. What we need above all
things to give employment to our laborers
and life to our trade is the certainty that
we can sell what the skill and industry Of
our people are capable of producing and do
not produce for want Of sufficient markets.


But how are foreign markets to be opened?
What is the key that is to unlock them ?
NOt. CcICdluly, ICNlNuA VI Viz otst1C CcACIO-
yersy between free trade and protection.
The country was long ago surfeited with
that barren dispute. 1t regards the cham
pions on both sides as intolerable bores and
q set Of bigoted impracti-
cables, who insist on sailing by straight
line through crooked channel, beset
with sunken rocks. The extension
of our markets requires the hand of
a pilot who can turn the vessel
around the rocks and follow the windings
of the channel New markets are to be
acquired, not in the gross, but in detail, by
arrangements made one by one with the
countries whose wants would be best sup
piled by our products. The true way is to
worth cultivating and get advantages in
their markets by giving them equivalent
advantages in ours. Instead of opening our
markets freely to all comers and taking our
chances of receiving anything in return the
true way is to get a fair equivalent for
all we give and leave nothing to the
caprice or narrowness of other nations.
Instead of free trade we want an exchange
of markets, and this not in gross, but in
particular selected articles which the stipu-
lating countries con supply to each
other with mutual advantage 1t
would, for example. equally benefit
Cuba and the United States to admit
her sugar free on condition that she
admit our flour free, which would give
cheap sugar to one country and cheap -four


to the other, and benefit each to greater


extent than the loss of duties. If Spain


would make u reciprocal treaty with us to this


effect, even if it included but these two arti-


cles, it would do more to insure the LOYALTY Of


the island than anything in her past policy.


We mention this merely to illustrate the diff


ference between the sweeping free trade of


the doctrinaires and the mutual opening Of
markets in certain selected articles, while