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Brittain's Waning Trades

Brittain's Waning Trades image
Parent Issue
Day
31
Month
March
Year
1897
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Free traders are fond of pointing to the commercial prosperity of England as a vindication of their theory of economie legislation. But on examination of the facts of trade do not bear out their contention, and the course of events in recent years has tended to shake the faith of some of them. It is only last year that at the semicentennial jubilee of the adoption of free trade in Bngland, the presiding oiïïeer deplöred the decline of England's commercial prestige. He declaretl that if tlns continued it would be in spite of the free trade principie, and not as a result of it. In this opinión Engiishmen do not all agree with him, as the growth of protection sentiment there iudicates. But he was right in reference to the fact. English trade is certainly declining as compared with either Germany or the United States, both of which conduct their business under protective tariff laws. The eomparison with our own country is of chief interest to us. In 1870 England had been long enough under free trade laws to expeirence all the beneflts that could be dcrived from that policy in building up her commerce, and this country had, for the most part, recovered from the injury which the war of the rebellion had inflicted upon its industries. That year furnishes a good starting point for the comparison. The following table shows the exports, exclusive of gold and silver, from Great Britain for the years named. The figures are taken from Whittaker's Almanac, a standard British publlcation, the pounds sterling being reduced to dollars at the uniform rate of $4.806 per pound. Year. Exports. 1870 - $1,187,096,1 87 1S71 1.379,874,490 1880 1,432,072,330 1890 1,597,274,806 1891 1,504,147,359 1892 1.419,121.047 1893 1,348,554,822 1894 1,332,242,028 1895 1,390,860,492 The exports from this country for the correspondáis years. as shown by the Statlstica] Abstract of the United States, werè as follows: 1870 $ 392,771,768 1S71 442,820,178 18S0 835,638,658 1890 8Ö7,828,6S4 1891 8S4,480,810 1892 1,030,278,148 1893 847,665,194 1894 892,140,572 1895 807,538,165 It will be seen from these tables that both in 1S70 and 1871 the British exports were something more than three times as great as the exports from the United States. In 1S80 they were considerably loss than twice as great; and in 1892 theirs exeeeded ours by less than 38 per cent. During this whole period England was under free trade laws, and the United States, till 1S04, was under protection. In 1892 our trade reached high-water marie, under the benign influences (if good crops, Che McKinley tariff and the reciprocity Ireatles, and without the dlaturbing influence caused by the apprehension of the abandonment of that policy. In 1895, under the low tariff poiicy of the Wilson law, our exports had reeeded to a point lower than any reached before sinco isso, and the exporta from Great Britain were 72 ut larger than ours. Or taki' another basis of comparison. From 1870 to 1.S92 our export trade increased ahnost threefold, while Great Britain's export trade increased only 11 per cent. At that rate it would not require many years for us to overtake her. This ratio, of course, cannot be maintained, for the world's markets would not long absorb our producís at such a rate of Increase, but our galn upon England's trade -an be kept up uiiiil we reach tlie preeminence to which our natural resources, our inventive genius and our gèographical position entitle us. But the experience of the past shows in eonnection with the figures ixiven above that it is not free trade that will accomplish this. In this eonnection our direct trade with Great Britain is full of si.enificance. A theory of the free traders is that protection raises priees here to so high a figure that we cannot sell our goods abroad. Our exports to Great Britain in 1SS9 amounted to $3S2.9S1,G74. In 1890 the MeKinley tariff increased the average rate ot duty. Yet under it, in 1S92, our exports to the same country amounted to $499,315,332. The Wilson tariff redlced duties again, and yet, with it in force, our exports to Great Britain feil to $3S7.123,45S in 1895. Our imports from the same country in 1S89 were S177.897.975. In 1S92. under the McKinley tariff, they feil to $156,300,881. In 1S96. under the lower duties of the Wilson tariff, they had risen again to $169.963,434. In other words. under the protective tariff, vt not only exported more products than we did under the lower ratos of duty. bnt we manufacturad a larger proportion of the soods which we consumed at home. The currenta of trade in both directions are a vindication of the American against tbc English system. The rapid Increase of Mr. Lawtorï's vote for the regeney nomination in the State convention makes a good showi-:s for the appreciatlon of his merits after they were once presented. The following was the vote on the three uallots. the last ballot showing the total on the roll-call before any changes were made: lst Bal. 2d Bal. 3d Bal. Levi L. Barbour :!7l" 362 131 Jos. I!. ilcLaughlin. 247 303 334 Chas. l. Nelson 189 301 011 Edwin D. Nelson. ... 154 70 3 John M. ynikinson.. 132 40 Total 1,094 1,076 1,079 Neeessary to choice. 54S 539 540 After the roll-call the changes of votes to Mr. LawtOO were numerous and the nomination was ünally made by acclamation.

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Subjects
Old News
Ann Arbor Courier