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18 MARINE REVIEW. THOUGHTFUL ADDRESS ON RECIPROCITY. At the recent convention of the Southern Hardware Jobbers' Associ- ation, held at Atlantic City, Mr. John C. Schmidt, president of the Stand- ard Chain Co. of Pittsburgh, delivered a thoughtful address on the subject of "Reciprocity" which is bound to occupy the attention of the general government. Mr. Schmidt is an advocate of the intelligent administra- tion of the principle of reciprocity. In part he said: oe "Reciprocity is an interesting study. It is not a new principle, although, as applied to our national affairs, it has comparatively recently become very prominent. The more one studies the question the deeper and more intricate does it seem, and the more difficult the problem that confronts the national government to determine what action should be taken that would benefit the country at large without injury to any indus- try. One hundred years ago Napoleon contemptuously referred to England as a 'nation of tradesmen,' but times have changed in the last century, and France now glories in the fact that she is a great manufacturing country and proud of her large trade, and is even now knocking at our doors requesting the enactment of a reciproc- ity treaty, which, however, is not likely to pass the senate. Webster defines reciprocity as 'mutual action and reaction,' and in the history of our government as early as 1793 Thomas Jefferson made a report to con- gress in Washington's administration, recommending reciprocity as bet- ter than retaliation. The national government, of course, requires revenue for ifs operation, and the tariff is so regulated as not only to produce the necessary revenue to carry the government, but to protect and encourage manufacturers. The United States has come to take a foremost rank among the manufacturing nations, and is each year extending its export [July 3 under the Dingley bill than under the Wilson bill for the very reason that part of this advance could be taken off without injury to any indus- try; and in consideration of this reduction in our tariff substantial con- cessions could be won from other countries. I am a protectionist, have always believed in this principle, but we must have reason in all things, and be reasonable with other nations. In trying to secure something from them we must, of course, expect to give something in return. Every one knows that it is a surplus of products which causes the lowering of prices, and their scarcity the advance. If we can build up a large export trade, we will not find a market for our surplus, but add to the stability of our prices by utilizing a demand which is not affected by local conditions in this country. Nor is the export trade affected as much by the seasons as is our home business. This is caused by the fact that their seasons are different from ours, and their purchases, on account of the long time in transit, must be made much earlier than those made by jobbers at home. "Our first experience with reciprocity was the most natural one, with our near neighbor, Canada. This treaty went into effect on March 16, 1855, and lasted eleven years. It has been frequently pointed out that this was unsatisfactory, as during the life of this treaty our imports grew more rapidly than our exports. This, however, is hardly a fair comparison, as during the latter half of the life of the treaty we were torn up by the great civil war, and consequently did not have the commodities to ex- change. This 'Canadian treaty differed very much from treaties as now drafted, because it provided for the free admission of a list of articles mainly limited to the products of the mine, the farm, the forest and the sea. There, however, were no stipulations limiting duties on manufac- (Photograph by. J: D. Giv ens, San Francisco, Cal.) UNITED STATES TRANSPORT SHERIDAN. In the San Francisco-Manila Service. trade. All goods exported bring to this country increased wealth, and the hope of our future greatness is based largely upon the anticipated in- crease in our export trade. To operate one portion of a factory exclu- sively upon export trade simply means a reduced cost for the entire product; and export trade should be looked upon by the nation at large with the same interest as the establishment of a new factory is locally regarded. "The advocates of reciprocity are divided into two classes--the masked free trader, who seizes upon reciprocity as a club wherewith to beat down the present tariff, and the protectionist, who is willing to make concessions in our present tariff rates to such other nations as will do the same, thereby allowing each to export such articles which it is best able to furnish to the other. In 1890 Mr. Blaine, who was one of the foremost champions of reciprocity, stated that he objected to 'giving something for nothing,' and this is to my mind the keynote of reciprocity, This, any of us traders will clearly understand, is good business. The ex- periments, however, which were then made with reciprocity hardly had an opportunity to be fairly tested before the Wilson bill went into effect in 1894 and destroyed reciprocity by a voluntary reduction of the duties. The ordinary business principles which goyern the administration of any large organization could and should be applied to commercial treaties. We now have a tariff which was purposely made higher on certain items tures, the importance of which was not then realized. The exchange of products for twenty years, from 1850 to 1870, amounted to nearly $1,000,- 000,000, and the excess of our exports was $22,000,000, a nearly equal ex- change. In the six years from 1864 to 1870 our Canadian imports ex- ceeded our exports by $60,000,000, and this unquestionably changed our policy. To my mind this Canadian treaty should never have been abro- gated, but amended. Canada is a growing nation of intelligent, active business men, who are learning the lesson of protection by studying our experience and applying to her own commerce the principles we have tested and proved. The party in power in Canada today is a protective tariff party, and by this protection they are rapidly building up their manufactures; in many instances taking factories from the United States bodily, and not only our factories, but our people. Only last week I noticed in the public press, in glaring head lines, 'Americans Invade Canadian West,' and that 200,000 Americans will this year cross the Canadian border. This movement is urged by strong economic reasons-- that is, the farmers of Iowa, Kansas, Indiana, Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska can sell their land at from $25 to $60 per acre and buy land that will produce better and more aboundant crops in the Canadian North- oe per peta He: nis means that Canadian commerce will expand ith i demand for manufactured product, and the Armenia reac duis