Britain's Selfishness!

Correspondent of the Courier. Copyriqhledjjy the Autlwr, 1888. LondON, Aug. 30, 1888.- The American who would be cordially welcomed in Englund just now must be a Simon-pure disciple of democraey, or at least must religiously refralu from a parade of bis political preferences as a republlcan. Bejond tbi, there 8 no effort upon the part of the EiigHsh press in the metropolis, or in fact in any of the industrial centres of the United Kingdoin, to conceal Engllsh interestg In the HnpentHtid politieel contest in the United States, and the most casual observer cannot mistake the side to which England lends her sympathy, not to mention more aubstnn tial contiibutions, in t'urtherance of Ihe result de8ired. The London Traiefc, the mouthpiece of the government, specially ili-liyhtM in its efforte to belittle UUine and throw discredit upon bis Btatements iis the apostle of protection. It fiud equal pleasure in dieparaging Gen. Harrison, while te custom of couimendinf President Cleveland for his stnyulur courage in BttacMitg American interests in the Engllsh intere-ta provokeg the apology for his retallatory message on the fihcry que9tion, tlmt it was acluatpil by the present polilical situ.ition in the United States, which requin-d the President to neutralizo Mie eñect of liis frfe trade messajie or Ktand agaitist the charge ,.f beins the English iiaodMate. The republican party lias decUnnl for continued protection to American indiis tries, M a uarantee of the Amwlein markct for American pniducis, while the democratie party, led by the President, has diíclared for a stiniulntion of foiei)fn impoitations into the United States tliroujíh a rediict'on of Uie larifl' borne faets and figures :i ro the diff.-iing conditlon wliich jrovern the intere-ts of the two ccnintries In quPStiiMl are pertinent in au explanation of the litunlion. The United Kiriiidmn, by (lie l:ile-t i.ffl cial census, has apopulaUoo of 3750,000 the employed ponion ol whicli is enifaged in the thlée ínáin braliche "f in diistrlal activity as followr.: Agiictilture 5,989,000, shlppnift and mcicliamlise. 1 o:58O0O, and in tlie mHiiufactwrlng of textiles iiid iroti, With its products, C 241,000. Of the latler nuniber, 1.034,201 a're conwwted with textile numufKCturlng Induitrie. By the gure 't win be seen that quite two-thirds of the employed popululion of the Unittd Kingdoni, aiv Interoited in maiafaeturlBjr, merchandising and liiiinir. It la patent without argument Unit the inanuractured producU of the country must larxel.v exceeil the deinand 6r home consumnllon, and the nccessity for foreijtn .niirketsisequallyapparent. The jfreater the volume of manufactures and that ot incidental trude the {reuter are the opportunities for prolit to tinne enguged In merchandising. The samo degree of I miinufacturing activity that benefits the inerchant acting as the miildleman in the inarket of toreisn buyers, is telt bv the shippiiiK interest. Thee fact considered and it is plaln that while those empliryed in agrlculture In the United Kinjdom may deplore the policy wliich has ile prived their occupallon of profil, they are powerless to asrt their interest againRt more thtin doublé tlieir niimher and billions of capital oommltted to Mie P'liey of eheap tooi as an excuse or apology for cheaper labor. The preponderant oceupatiou of tlic people in pursuits, other tban agrlcultural, provokcd tlie Importation of foreign food products into Enaliiiul in 1H86 to the nnvmut of $504,596,435, while the United States in the same year provided her home market and exported agricultura! producto to the amount of $484,954.59") - a Hm equal to almost 73 per cent. of Um whole of the doinestic exportó from the United States, ofiVred for export the same year ammmting to $180,509,934, while the liritish "Blue Rook" quotes total of nmmifactured products pxported from the United Kinsdxm at the inagnitieent snni of $1,002,008,780. Perusal of these üg ures and attendant (acts muy inake olear to the reader, as they have to me, the reason, in gome measiire, for Kngtandi sacrifice of her f irmers to her mammon, free trade, and lier patronizing interest in any foreign power thut would stitnn late her manufactures by invitiní lier products Into a favored market, such :ts the United States afl'irds. It Is wortliy of note tliat next to BritUh India, the United Bratcs even under the existing system of tariff protection, is the greatest. consuiner of EngMsh products In the world; but it is also a tact thiit the American rnarket bas been oiie of the material variatiou in lts demands. Tiie Brltish importations into the United States in 188(5 were valued at f 154,144,380. The fluctuation is seen in the faet that in 1S72 they amounted to $203.682,985, and in 1878 dropped to $72,7(50.380. The important place that the Unitfd States has held among the patrons of Great Britain for a fcore of years, eoupled with the fact that the past four years have marked n era of wonderful adv.meement in the iniportnnce of American manufactures, has led the mother country to view the chaiiginjr conditton with serious solicitude. The increased production ot' the Americm milis and faetones, under a policy of protection, lias intervened to bar her way to any growth in American patronage, and besides, has threatened to dispute her claim to so much of it as she bas in the past controlled. The Mills bill, as endorsed by the President and passed by the lower house of Congress, in whieh democracy is dominant, has been interpreted by the leading Eoglish journal, to be a step, at leunt, In the line of free trade with K.nglant], and is cominended by the saine autlmritv up. on tlie gronnil that the policy involvad would open the door to be American market, towurd wliicli the lïritisli hive long looked with covetous ej'es. This view of the mitter has reappearcd in the li-adintr Biitish publications in the plainest Anglo Saxon. The conclusions of the Eiijflinh in relation to maiters that concern their material interests are frequently right, and when they Interpret the operation of taritF reform a la Mills to promise an incre.ised consumption of Brit!sh {foods in the American markets, it may be wise to give due (relght to the conclusión in question, and consider with gravity the consequent decrease in the demand for American product thnt must result as a natural sequence. England alone bas $1,000,000,000 in, vested in iron and steel man of acturin g and employs no less thnn 1,200,000 men in the various branches of the indu-ti y, and the immensity of the Interest, as iudicated by the figures, lends importance to the status of her trade in a cominodity so important in lts multifarious uses as iron and its klndred product, steel. The flgures citinz the value of British Iron of various kind, expoited in recent years in the line of a coniparison betray a condi tion of thinfrs thal caimot fall to fill the Rritish mind with appreht-nsion. Of iron, plg and puddled, the exportation of the United Klngdom in the years 1880, 1883 and 1880 was as follows, expressed in pounds sterling: 5,218,660, 4,077,456 and 2,264,497; of bar Iron the Ügures for a corresponding perlod as foüo'.vs : 2,:7G, 379, 2,034,0(57 and 1,373,071. The flgurei covering the value of manufactures of steel, or of steel and iron combined lor the years in question are as follows: 826,819, 580,644 and 403,452 pounds stelling, respectivuly. These figure, likc thoue connected with the doreaslng volume of texlile manufactures exported by Greal Britaiu to fjreijf" markets, teil their own story, uid explain the Kntrlish ground forcoinniendation of the reductlon ín the iron i-c'e luie conteinpliitcd in tlio t i 1 1 Of Mr. MillH. It is notable in eonneotion with the (orefohif 'acu that und.r a system of proiiition, '111011 has fostercd diverïlty of Industry 'i the L'nited Srates, tlie oillput oT niüiiufictured prodUCtS hassteadily iiu'reased, and eacli BUOOBeding yi-ar bas shown a material advam-e in the volume ot export.itions in the identicil articles that the pnopwed Uriff reductlon would invite trom En'gT&ud to tlie Amerlcin market. The bleS8ing of America is diverslty of industry, while tire lack ot it is tlte United Kiugdom's curse. The (ui bit ion of the laiter to manirfactiire for the world, fostered by the notion that 11 the woild wnt willing, and follow her free trade lead. has placed her tñechánlca In coinpetttlön with the cheaiest labor in eveiy line In all the world uoide. Her food piodnc ,.,s - The farmers- have heen eonipcllcl to bow in coinniou with the others to the yoke of universal cbupneM. U'th artlsans and farnn have been degradad, and such 11 the iublished state of tilines that the reward of industry is slmply an existeuce foi the DMUe. To teil the Brititb meclianic of the homos in whU'li the pruvident mombers of hia cralt ib America are domiciled, and teil dim that mauy ot them own Wie home' ihey occiipy, is lo bc doubted, il' ncit enlirely discredited. Xor shonli! their skepticisui be ¦ souiec of wonder, when one refleCM upon the fact ihat tbe average meclianic here Ifl prond to have two rooms, or three at most, for which hls slendcr wages will afl'ord the rent, while a home wherein he coul.i say hw right to both house and land thiro was none to dispute execeds his most MiigulDe dre uns- t is itüpossible. Worthy of mention is the fact, attcsted by official fiifiires. that tbc saviugs buik deposits in New Vork 8tte alone exceed the aggregate deposita in the savin;,'x banksof the llnited Klhgdotn, while the number of paupers In the British Isles reported to Parliament in rtceipt ot relict in 1887 was distributed as lollows: Kngland and Walen, 817,289; Scotland (report of 1888)i 92,813; and Ireland, 113,211,mHking tbe appalling aggregate f I023 3Í3. a number almost equal to the li'opuliition of tlie state of Minnesota. Many causes contribute to this deplorable condition but chlef among them Is the abnoriusl distribution of the country 8 industries and the blightlug, ambitioukJIMns eurse of cheapnets, tostered by Ihe free trade folly by whlch Eügland wnuld reserve tlie riglit, to manufacture tor all otbcr nations, whlle they HBMtad the alternación of pastoral pursuita. Engl;uid wants freetnule in America for her own advantage. The oppo9ite of Knjjhiiul's iiclviiiiiiii'-e is Ainerlc:i's prosperity.