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Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc. ■-':^\' be filmed at different reduction ratios. \hi:.it .00 large to be entirely included in one exposi.:*. dre filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top 1.0 bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est film6 d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d dr( ite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 I TH PI INIIiUENi ] AMEEICAN THE DECLINE OF THE UNITED STATES '^Ifi'' ^'is?. AS A MARrriME POWEK. ^n ^titnxjtiEr Dblivebed bbfoee thb Botai, Coloniai. Institute, Junb 26, 1872, BY K. GRANT HALIBURTON, M.A. Fellow of the Royal SocUty of Northern Antiquaries of Copenhagen Ac. ; Secretary of Nova Scotian Coaloumers' Auociatien ; Author of 'Review of British Diplomacy and its FruOs,' ' Jnteic«lonial Tradt, . c. PRINTED OPEAN MAIL, 44a cannon street, B.C. 1872. /J I &• . //Ag ROOMS: IS STRAND, W.C. *' PBESIDENT. HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF MANCHESTER. HIS ROYAL HIS GRACE HIS GRACE The RIGHT The right The right The right The right C.B., M.P. The right The right VICE-PRESIDENTS. HIGHNESS THE PRINCE CHRISTIAN, K.G. THE DUKE OF ARGYLL, K.T. THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM & CHANDOS. HON. THE EARL OF CARNARVON. HON. THE EARL OF GRANVILLE, K.G. HON. VISCOUNT BURT, K.C.M.G., M.P. HON. CHICHESTER S. FORTESCUE, M.P. HON. SIR STAFFORD H. NORTHCOTE, Bart., HON. GATHORNE HARDY, M.P. HON. STEPHEN CAVE, M.P. COUNCILLORS. HENRY BLA.INE, Esq. Thk right HON. LORD A. S. CHURCHILL. RICHARD DAINTREE, Esq. HUMPHRY W. FREELAND, Esq. ARCHIBALD HAMILTON, Esq. ALEXANDER MacARTHUR, Esq. ROBERT A. MACFIE, Esq., M.r. GEORGE MACLEAY, Esq., C.M.G. WILLIAM MAITLAND, Esq. ARTHUR MILLS, Esq. GISBORNE MOLINEUX, Esq. HUGH E. MONTGOMERIE, Esq. F. J. MOUAT, Esq., M.D, SIR CHARLES NICHOLSON, Bart. ARTHUR J. OTWAY, Esq., M.P. A. R. ROCHE, Esq. SIR JOHN ROSE, Baut., K.C.M.G. COL. MILLINGTON SYNGB, R.E. SIR R. R. TORRENS, li.P. K.C.M.G. WILLIAM WALKER, Esq. EDWARD WILSON, Esq. LEONARD WRAY, Esq. JAMES A. YOUL, Esq. FREDERICK YOUNG, Esq. < TRUSTEES. THOMAS BARING, Esq., M.P. HON. GEORGE GRENFELL GLYN, M.P. HON. ARTHUR KINNAIRD, M.P. JAMES SEARIQHT, Esq. HON. TREASURER. W. C. SARGEAUNT, Esq. HON. SEC. C. W. EDDY, Esq. *'^» / *|N' \ \, /•. SR. ON THE !f, K.G. ANDOS. .G. > E, Bart., DsTLUEXCE OF AMEEICAN LEGISLATION oir THE DECLINE OF THE UNITED STATES AS A IiCARITIME POWER. LSON, Bart. Esq., M.P. '., K.C.M.G. NGB, R.E. ENS, a..P. Esq. i NAIRD, ISQ. AN Extraordinarj' Meeting of the Royal Colonial Institute was re- cently held at the theatre of the Society of Arts, when an A(Jdre38 was delivered by Mr. R. Grant Haliburton, of Nova Scotia, on " The Influence of American Legislation on the Decline of the United States as a Maritime Power." Mr. Humphry W. Freelaad took the chair in. the unavoidable absence of the President, and in a few words reminded the meeting of the extreme anportance of the subject upon which Mr. Haliburton had consented to address them in its bearing on the Atubunia controversy. Mr. R, G. Haliburton then spoke extempore as follows : — There is a grave question now pending between two of the foremost nations of civilisation, and between kindred races, which may be got rid of by technical objections or diplomatic Bkill, but which must for many years remain a source of heartburning and misunderstanding. The •* Indirect Claims " are regarded by many of ua as an unconscionable de:nand, that says more for American ingenuity than for the honour of that nation. Very recently one of our Commissioners implied that the love of " the almighty dollar," a term which he considerately invested in a Greek phrase, were at the bottom o f the difficulty. Never was a charge more inopportune or uncalled for. In . the United States, among private persons, wealth may to some extent have taken the rank that is here assigned to the accident of birth ; but there is no nation more reckless of pecuniary conc>ideration3 than the Americaa people, where their national honour or their amour propre ia at stake. ,A A 2 §dlfi'^ -* > ' » *'• I 4 _ T/te Itijlucnce of American Legislation on the As matters now stand, even if the indirect daima are excluded from the consideration of the CominisaioD, tbey are sure to indirectlj influence the decision of the Commissioners in favour of the reception of anything h,y- proaching a direct claim. The ingenuity of American diplomacy was never more apparent than on their iusistir^g that if the indirect claims mnst be excluded, the Commissioners must incur the responsibility of excluding them. Having been forced apparently to give an adverse decision against claims to an enormous amount that were set up by the American Govern- ment, the Commissioners will have to show a generous spirit in dealing with the direct claims, which are likely to come before them ere long. The »* in- direct claims" will never be fully discussed ; and it is, therefore, desirable to show that in reality American commerce has been swept from the seas by the depredations, not of rebel cruisers, but of American statesmen ; and that if the rebel flag had never been seen upon the Atlantic, American shipping must have nevertheless inevitably suffered a decline. It would, however, be a grave error to suppose that the Americans do not deeply and sincerely resent the ruin which has befallen their foreign trade, and which they firmly believe has been brought about by ourselves. A year ago an opportunity was afforded me of ascertaining how moderate thinking men of the United States regard this matter. A preliminary International Convention of all the principal Boards of Trade in North America was held at Boston in June, 1871, which had been organised by the secretary of the National Board of the United States and by myself as a lever to influence legislation in favour of free trade, it was evident that a very sincere and a very deep feeling of indignation had been excited, even among the most moderate men, by the firm conviction that we hud, by our culpable, if not crimina), negligence, allowed rebel cruisers to escape from our ports and to sweep American commerce from the ocean. It therefore became a matter of th^ utmost importance to point out to them that the disastrous decline of the commercial marine of the United States had been caused, nut by rebel cruisers, but by the depredations of American states- men on American commerce. This view had never been brought so prominently before them before ; and the arguments in support of it, made in a friendly and candid spirit, were most favourably received by the large assemblage of the commercial men of the United States, from Maine to San Francisco, there met together. Subsequently these arguments were embodied in a letter which was pub- lished in the Baton Post, and was not only endorsed by a leader in that paper, bat also by a notice of it from the secretary of the National Board of the T^aited States. The views, therefore, that will now be advanced are not suggested by any desire to meet the grave emergency that has arisen, but are those that have invited and have passed through the ordeal of com- mercial criticism in the United States. That the decline of American commerce and shipping has been most striking and disastrous no one can doubt. Oa this point I cannot do better than quote the words of an eminent American statesman, the Hon. David E. Wells, late Special Commissioner of Revenue of the United States, which occur in a very able paper on " Th6 Great Financial and Commercial the Decline of tJu United States as a Maritime Power. ided from the influence the anything a)>- acy nas never kirns moflt be of excluding :iaion against ican Govern- i dealing with g. The'*in- bre, dtisirable rroin the seas ktestnea ; and ic, Americau Americans do their fwreign by oureelvea. tow moderate L preliminary ade in North organised by by myself as J evident that excited, even hud, \>y our > escape from It therefore hem that the ites had been jrican states- brought so rt of it, made by the large Dm Maine to icb was pub- eader in that >nal Board of advanced are has arisen, deal of com- 3 been most I cannot do n, the Hon. nited States, Commercial 2,r,57,292 2,0^5,326 127,310 82,612 Ezperieaccs of the United States," in the publications of the Cobden Club, " The most terrible blow which the pvents of the last ten years in the United States have inflicted upon any interest have fallen upon the business of shipbuilding and the American Commercial Marine — both foreign and Uoraestic. In proof of this, the following comparison of the official ru turns int the years 18G0 and 1870 is submitted, attention being at the same time called to the circumstance that during the period under consideration the population of t>)e United States had increased at least 23 per cent. Total registered and licenped tonnage :— I8f)0-6l , .... 5,530,81.1 l«ti9-7t'i.628 tons to 1,492,926 tons, a loss of 1,149,902 tons, or more than 43 per cent., while Great Britain in the same time gained 980,715 tons j or more than 30 per cent." ** Our exports have doubled since 1853, while the percentage carried on American vessels has fallen from 67 per cent, to 34 per cent." The Com- mittee also point out the fact that nearly 70 per cent, of the imports into New York are in foreign vessels. In dealing with the " causes of decline," the Committee refer to one or two points that may be of service to us in considering this question. '• It has been urged that this depression of our navigation interests is the result of general causes, such as an over-production of tonnage and a depression in the business of the world, but such causes would be temporary in their operation. The period of prosperity would, as it always has, speedily follow that of depression. The facts stated show a decline running through a decade, a period too long to be affected by a mere de);>res3ion of business or any over-production of tonnage. ** Moreover, the decline has been wholly in the shipping of the United States. While that of other nations has been depressed from tlie causes alluded to there has not only been no al>solute decline, but, as has been shown, a constant increase in tonnage and in the efficiency of their vessels." I am perfectly willing to adopt this view, and shall test the conclusions of the Committee by the statistics given by them in their report. If the de- cline of American commerce was caused by hostile cruisers, and by the transfer of American vessels to British owners or registers, it is clear that as the Alabatua was destroyed in June, 1864, this decline must have taken place in the years 1863 and 1864, and that as this was a temporary cause of decline, from that date an increase in American shipping must have fol- lowed the large demand for American ships, to replace those that had dis- appeared from their marine. I shall show by the figures given by the Committee that the decline in American shipping continued after every rebel cruiser bad disappeai-ed from the ocean. We must, therefore, look to some other causes, for what, in the words of the Committee, is called *'a decline running throvgik a decade, a period too long to be affected by a mere depression of business," and, we may add, too continuous to have been caused by the temporary ravages of rebel cruisers. "According to the best available data, 919,466 tons of American shipping disappeared from our lists during the rebellion. Of this amount 110,163 tons were destroyed by Anglo-Confederate pirates, while 803,303 tons were either sold to foreigners or passed nominally into their hands and obtained the protection of their flags. Here was an actual loss to the private owners of less than 5 per cent., and a loss to the nation of about 37 per cent, of the total American tonnage engaged in the foreign carrying trade." But it has been already stated by the Comnuttee that the decrease from 1860 to 1866 was 1,149,002 tons, and, as I shall show, the decrease subsequently continued, and is still continuing. Let us, then, turn to the tables givan r the Decline of the United States as a Maritime Power. ion for whose H to I86G our J,628 tons to r cent., while e than 30 per iffe carriwJ on ." The Com- t imports into ifer to one or »estion. *• It 4 is the result I a (Jepressjon >rary in their has, speediiy ning through II of husiness if the Uniteil Dusea alludetl een shown, a lels." onclusioDS of If the de- and by the is clear that ; have taken ^ary cause of St have fol- lat had dis- ven by the after every , therefore, )mmittee, is > be affected lous to have »an shipping 10,163 tons tons were id obtained i^^ate owners ;ent. of the ," But it -om 1860 to kbsequently ibks givao by the Committee, and let us see whether this diminution of over 1,000,000 tons took place in 1863 and 1864. The following is a statement exhibiting the amount of registered tonnage of the United States, steam and sail, employed in navigation annually from 1860 to 1869, and its annual increase and decrease of each cla s ; also of tonnage built : — Year ending June 30. Annnal Increase Annnal Increase Total Tonnage. or Decrease of or Decrease of Tonnage Built. Sail Tonnage.* Steam Tonnage.* 1860 2,546,237 •34,287 •4,548 21i>,892-45 1861 2,642,0 18 ♦91,079 ♦5,312 2;i;>, 194-35 1862 2,291,251 t302,707 •11,390 175,075-84 1863 2,026,114 t284,354 •19,217 310.884,34 1864 1,581,895 t4 17,523 t26,696 514,740-64 1865 1.002,583 *29.199 18,511 383,805-60 1860 1,492,920 t209,938 •100,281 330,140-56 1867 1,508,032 • ♦75,280 tl74 303,528-66 •1868 1,565,732 t26,124 •23,824 285,304-73 I86y 1,566,421 ♦42,825 t8,687 275,230-05 • Increase marked by ♦, and decrease by \. This table is a very suggestive one, and we shall find it hard to reconcile with it the assertion that the decline of American commerce in the last decade of over 1,149,902 tons must be attributed to the ravages of cruisers m 1863 and 1864. It will be noticed that the decline in 1862 was greater than that in 1863, more nearly approaching that of 1864 ; and that American tonnage has decreased since 1865. It will also be observed that shipbuilding has steadily decreased since 1865 from 514,740-64 tons to 275,230*05 tons in 18C9. This remarkable decline of American shipping and shipbuilding after the destruction of the rebel cruisers is best illustrated by the following table, giving a comparison of American and foreign tonnage entered at porta of the United States from foreign countries : — Excess of American Excess of Foreign over over Foreign Tonnage. American Tonnage. 1860 3,567,374 _ 1861 2,806,303 mm. 1862 2,872,407 .. 1863 1,974,326 1864 — w 404,785 1865 ^— 273,306 1866 mm. 1,038,364 1807 w 863,621 1868 mm- 944,915 1869 ■"" 1,945,026 8 The Influence of American Legislation on the (i It is impossible to assign all thfl striking features of this comparison io the effects of the rebel cruisers. In 1865, American and foreign tonnage, it will be seen, were very nearly equal, but since that year foreign tonnage increased until, in 1809 it was nearly two millions of tons in excess of American. In case ingenuity may suggest some connection between this very remote cause and this most disastrous state of things, I may give some figures which are not liable to bo connected with rebel cruisers. I'he coastinc trade of the United States is carefully preserved for the benefit of American shipowners, and is therefore alike safe from cruisers and from competition. Yet what do we find? That the same decline observable in the foreign trade is equally palpable in the coasting trade of the United States, and that there has been a steady and uniform decrease since 1865, Estimated value of American coastwise and inland carrying trade — the estimated specie value of gross yearly earnings being 33^ per cent, ot vaJue: — i 1860 . . $38,370,957 1865 . . $52,412,970 1861 . . 39,594,861 1866 . . 42,267,780 1862 . . 42,313,710 1867 . . 41,046,810 1863 . . 46,499,505 1868 . . 41,790 390 1864 . . 51,067,590 1869 . . 38,673,285 It will be noticed that the gross earnings steadily increased from over $38,000,000 in 1860 to over $52,000,000 in 1865, from which date there has been a steady decline until in 1869 the figures stand again at over $38,000,000. It is probable that since 1868 the Pacific railway may have diverted a portion of the carrying trade, but it could not possibly have caused so great a decline, and one, too, which began to show itself before the construction of that line. From 1866 to 1869 the exports and imports in American vessels decreased from $325,711,861 to $289,950,272, and the foreign commerce of the country decreased during the same years from $1,010,938,552 to $876,442,284. Mr. Secretary BoutWell's report for 1871 shows that the decline is still progressing. "Returns for the fiscal year 18/0-71 show that the ocean commerce of the United States is rapidly passing into the hands of foreign merchants and shipbuilders. In the year 1860 nearly 71 per cent, of the foreign commerce of the United States was in American ships ; in 1864 it had fallen to 46 per cent. ; in 1868 to 44 per cent. ; and in 1871 it is reported at less than 38 per cent." — i.e. that in the last three years the**e has been a far greater decline than in the four years after the destruction of the Alabama. It was a great convenience to them to have a scapegoat, especially when a rich nation is to be held responsible for the blunders and the sins of American statesmen. Mr. Boutwell, therefore, very naturally, in trying to explain this singular decline of American shipping, gives the Alabama a prorainen t place. " The loss of the shipping of the United States is due chiefly to two causes ; first, the destruction of American vessels by rebel cruisers during the war ; and secondly, the substitution of iron steamships for the trans- ■k the Decline of the United States as a Maritime Power. >mpari3on to n tonnage, it liga tonnage in uxceaa ot s '^ny remote some figures L'be coasting of American competition. 1 the foreign 1 States, and ig trade — the per cent, ot 2,412,970 2,267,780 1,046,810 1,790 390 ;8,673,285 led from over late there has gain at over ay may hav e possibly have iclf before the sels decreased ■ the country 42,284. ecline is still at the ocean is of foreign r cent, of the in 1864 it it is reported »*e has been a iction of the jially when a > of American Ig to explain a prorainen t thiefly to two tisers during )r the trans- portation of freight and passengers upon the ocean in place of sailing vessels and steamships built of wood." The best answers to the latter solution for the dilFioulty is the fact that Canadian shipping has not only held its own, but has even increased, although iron shipbuilding has not yet been introduced into the Dominion ; and as to the Alabama, it is clear that even if she and her sister cruisers had never left port, American commerce must have declined. This disastrous change may have been slightly accelerated by these cruisers, but it was inevitable. American shipowners sold their ships because they could not alTi»rd to sail them. American commerce has been driven from i,no ocean by the evil genius of protection, that has piTessed like a nightmare upon American industry, and rendered competition with foreign nations a hopeless task. It would almost seem us if some deadly foe to the Republic had inspired her councils, and had left no device untried by which the nation might be deprived of its proud position as a maritime and commercial power. 1 shall endeavour to sketch the etfoctual course which seems to have been suggested. In 1860 the United States occupied a most enviable position. Emigra- tion was in every decade adding nearly twenty-five per cent, to their population. Their foreign trade was rivalling that of England. They Iiad, in a large variety of articles, almost a monopoly of the West Indian and of some South American markets. A Reciprocity Treaty threw open a country larger than the United States, extending trom the Atlantic to the Pacific, to American manufactures and products, while American enter- priie drew the raw products of that vast country across the frontier, and exported them to foreign ports in American shipping. Practically they were the commercial owners of nearly the whole North American Continent. Want of enterprise left the Canadian at the mercy of his more ener- getic neighbour. The low rate of wages in the United States enableil them to manufacture for the Continent. Boots, woodenware, farming implements, castings — almost everything needed by the Canadian, were sent to him in ships or on railways that brought back raw mate- rials that only needed to be sent abroad to realise a large profit. The manufacturer of the Eastern States got cheap coal from Nova Scotia and from lirituin, and not only had the benefit of cheap fuel, but also of low rates of freight for the export of the production of his industry. Einglish manufacturers and shippers utilise the export of coal, salt, pottery, and other bulky articles, and thereby save the outward freight. The United States enjoyed the very same privilege, except that with them their return cargoes were inward, instead of outward. When we remember that in one year the shipping interests of England realised six millions on the export of coal by way of freights, and that the coal-owners only realised four millions, we can understand the benoJt, in point of return freights alone that the im- portation of coal, gypsum, salt, pottery, &c., brought to American shipping and to American merchants. Every one of these advantages was most blindly and deliberately sacri- ficed. A great war broke out, which was in itself a sore strain upon the United States, and endangered its future as a maritime and commercial ^ ro The Influence of American Legislation on the J 'I' Tower. The utmost caution was needed to lighten the burden of war-taxes as much as possible, and to make them press lightly on American industry. Instead of this wise course, tae very opposite was adopted. To make the taxation as heavy as possible it was necessary to pay off the huge debt without delay, although delay was sure to greatly increase the population and wealth of the Republic, and its consequent ability to pay. But even this was not enough ; the people must also bear not only the war debt, but also the grievous burden of building up rich monopolies. The tariff was not a revenue, but a protective one. Prohibitive duties were put on that excluded many articles needed by the labourer and artisan, and cut off a source of revenue, while the price was enormously enhanced to the con- sumer. What the consumer lost in one way he equally lost in another. The revenue that was indirectly diverted into the pockets of monopolists had to be made up in some vay, and fresh taxes and duties were needed to supply the deficiency. Agricultural produce and coal were almost excluded, and every con- sumer and manufacturer felt the consequence in the increased cost of fuel and wages. The United States had become the factors of British America, and colonists were content to let Americans reap the harvests while they themselves had all the toil. In 1863 over $30,000,000 worth of products, which Canadians could have more cheaply shipped abroad in their own ship!), was carried over American railways, and sent abroad in American ships. The wonderful discovery has recently been made that there was a balance of trade of $30,000,000 against the United States under the Reciprocity Treaty, because while we imported only from them what we consumed, they not only imported articles for consumption, but also in addition an enormous amount of our raw materials, in order to export them abroad. In fact, this thirty millions of our raw material — i.e., of our capital on which we were stupidly allowing them to trade — we are told, was a balance of trade against them i The fact that this absurdity has been within the past six months urged in the United States against any renewal of reciprocity proves how little the Americans understand the suicidal policy which they have adopted. The American shipowner and manufacturer soon learned it to their cost. The American shipper found that a barrier of not less than 25 per cent, was put up to cut off his supplies of timber, agricultural produce, &c., which he had been used to carry to foreign ports. The manufacturer, oppressed by direct and indirect taxes and by enormously enhanced wages, found it hard enough to manufacture, except at a loss ; but freights were also enhanced. If he sent his manufactures to Canadian or English ports there was no back freight. Coal was almost excluded by a prohibitory tariff, and salt, " the blood of the poor," was kept out by an increase of 150 per cent, in the burdens upon it, in order that a few hundred workmen might find employ- ment, and that a score or two of capitalists might become millionaires. In the meantime labour of all kinds was heavily burdened by all sorts of direct and indirect taxes. Renti rose to an inordinate price. Agricul- tural produce became almost a luxury. Fuel was a dearly bought comfort, and the very matches with which the labourer kindled his fire, was com- 4. i I the a of war-taxes ■ican industry, ed. To make the huge debt the population y. But even war debt, but The tariff was re put on that and cut off a id to the con- )8t in another. )f monopolists vere needed to d every con- ed cost of fuel itish America, tts while they \i of products, la their own I in American at there was a 33 under the 1 them what n, but also in > export them I — i.e., of our —we are told, months urged 83 how little adopted, to their cost, per cent, was ijc, which he oppressed by bund it hard so enhanced, was no back d salt, " the cent, in the find employ- onaires. )' all sorts of !e. Agricul- ght comfort, re, was com- DecUne of the United States as a Maritime Powei'. 1 1 pelled to contribute to the Treasury of the State and to the coffers of capi- talists. As a matter of course building ships became a profitless task. Universal protection took out of one procket as much, and even more, than it put into the other. To encourage shipbuilding was a first duty to the State. Admiral Porter says that a few efficient ships would have stopped blockade running ; but the State could not protect its commen.-e, and unhappy shipowners, who sold unprofitable ships, which were at the mercy of one or two privateers, were denounced as unpatriotic and traitors, and were prevented from restoring to an American register the ships which they had been forced by a high tariff and a useless navy to place under the protection of a foreign flag. Shipbuilding must be encouraged, but so mu8t timber merchants, owners of copper mines, Pennsylvanian coal- 'jwners, and a swarm of vampyres that had fastened on the Republic, and were sucking out the feeble tide of life that survived in American enter- prise. While monopolists have thrived, the labour of the country has fetarved on high wages, like Midas in the midst of his gold. " We cannot hope," said an eminent shipbuilder, in his evidence before the Committee on the decline of the American shipping, "for a reduction in the price of labour, as we find it more difficult for our workmen to sup- port themselves and their families on the present rate of wages with the greatly enhanced cost of everything consumed by them, than it was when their wages ruled at the lowest ; and until the cost of living is greatly re- duced, we cannot hope that the wages of the mechanic and lalH)uring man will rule much below what they are at present; in fact, it canuct be with- out being oppressive upon them." As the Americans are unable to build ships except at a loss, they are imitating the dog in the manger. They cannot build ships themselves, and they will not let any other nation build for them ; in the meantime they are jealously protecting their empty ship-yards. But not satistied with this absurdity, and not content with havingenhnnced the cost of production, they have made the carriage and trunsit of goods, as far as they can, a monopoly. It is needless to say that the two great desiderata in successful competition in maimfactures, &c., are, first, cheap cost of pro- duction, and next, cheap transport to market. Many thousands of tons that go to California by the Pacific liiilway, piss over some hundreds of miles of Canadian railways. The idea of taxing these goods to prevent the encouragement of Canadian lines would be too absurd to be thought of. Yet transit by water is a monopoly ; and though colonial ships could carry American produce more cheaply than their rivals, they are prohibited from doing 80. American commerce must p ty tribute to protection. The policy is as useless as it is unwise, for even the coasting trade, protected as it is, is steadily declining. In the meantime other nations have been reaping the fruits, while the people of the United States have had only the husks left to them. Once the American manufacturer supplied British America and the West Indies with manufactures in wood, leather, iron, &c. The tide has turned at last. Manufacturers have so' ght refuge across the frontier. Canadians are supplying Americans with clothing, whisky, furniture, &c., and have ! ^■nmH 12 The Influence of American Legislation on the become successful competitors in the foreign markets of the United States. How American statesmen got rid of " that balance of trade" of thirty millions of dollars, was discussed a 3'ear ago by myself in the letter to which I have already referred. Lest it may be supposed that I am speaking strongly of the policy of the Americans because I am addressing an English audience, I had better quote the criticisms on the protective tariff of the United States made a year ago by myself in the Benton Poat, and very cordially endorsed by that paper : — " Those who attended the meeting of the Council of the National Board, or who were present at the dinner given by the Boston Board, had an oppor- tunity of knowing the views of our people at the present juncture. But there are many who were not there, whom 1 beg leave to address through the columns of your paper. I shall confine my remarks to the subject of the Reciprocity Treaty, the repeal of which we regard as an injustice not to our country, but to your own. We had been reduced to a state of com- mercial serfdom, but we were willing to serve you. We had made a treaty like that of the Gibeonites ; and had it continued, we should none of us have been free from being ' hewers of wood and drawers of water ' to the Republic. We toiled in the forests, the fields and the seas of the Dominion, and gleaned a meagre profit on our labour. American enterprise, that shamed us, reaped a rich harvest, and shipped abroad our products to foreign ports ; building up your trade, and employing your railways, merchants, and shipping. All this has been changed. You have turned us from your door and forced us to rely on ourselves, and to send our products abroad in our own ships, instead of in those of the Republic. We have profited by the lesson, and have been forced into the position of competitors and rivals, and you are everywhere met in foreign ports by those colonial products of which you once had the monopoly. Commercial pressure on your part has been the hoop that has bound us into a Confederation. Such a step would have been an impossibility but for the repeal of the treaty. You had tapped our trade in the East and West, and had almost made the Canadians strangers and aliens in the eyes of the people of the Maritime Provinces. You forced us to become friends by repealing the treaty. The blow was at first a heavy one, but we have recovered from it, and there is not one interest now in the Dominion that is not prosperou!>, excepting the coal trade, the prosperity of which is a matter of greater moment to your countr}' than it is to ours. Independently of the heavy burdens that have been thrown by the coal-tax on every householder and manufacturer in the Eastern States, ae a mere question of freights, you were even more largely interested in the continuance of our coal trade with you than the owners of Nova Scotian coal-mines. " This point I need not discuss here, as it has been fully argued before the Council of the National Board of Trade as well as referred to at the dinner at Harvard. " If ever a lying spirit was sent to mislead a nation, it was the evil genius that induced your Government to repeal the Reciprocity Treaty. At the 4i n the of the United rade" of thirty 3 letter to which )f the policy of Be, I had better 1 States made a ndoraed by that itional Board, or , had an oppor- jimcture. But iddress through to the subject of an injustice not a state of com- L made a treaty none of us have to the Republic. ion, and gleaned hat shamed us, foreign ports ; merchants, and from your door iroad in our own by the lesson, rivals, and you ucts of which part has been itep would have lad tapped our dians strangera You forced was at first a ne interest now coal trade, the ountrj' than it (re been thrown in the Eastern gely interested wners of Nova gued before the at the dinner i the evil genius •eaty. At the es Decline of the United States as a Maritime Power. 13 outbreak of your war, startling as the fact may appear to you, we were even more unanitnou^ly in favour of the preservation of the Union than you yourselves were. U'e had no political ties or party influeaces to warp our judgments ; and we were to a man on the side of the country with which we were closely connected, a>rain8t a distinct section of your Republic, of which we knew little except through the fugitive slaves that sought a refuge in our country. If we knew little of the South, we certainly cared less for it. When the telegraph announced the biunbardme of Fort Sumpter, our l^egislature adjourned for the day, as if some great calamity had befallen us, and a«iopi€d a strong resolution of sympathy with the Republic. But it was not in words only that this feeling was evinced. Hundreds of our people enlisted in your army, many of whom returned maimed from your battle-fields, or left their bones to whiten in the scenes of your struggles. Hundreds more would have joined your ranks, but they found to their amazement that they must remain at home to fight for the protection of their own country, not for jou, but against you. A question of which we know liothing arose between England and your country, as to whether the struggle on the piirt of the South should bo regarded abroad as a bona fide war. It proved in time to be not only a war, but also one of the greatest wak's of modern times. To our intense indignation and surprise, we heard the proposal made to settle your difticulties by invading us. The Demon of Discord was to be appeased by sacrificing us as victims upon it9 altar. I need not say how we felt. How would you feel in such a case? Having irritated a friendly people, you completed the work by hav- ing fortifications erected aloUj^ our lints, not for defence, but for inva- sion. Then the next step was to sever the commercial ties that bound us to you in willing bondage. We were not cordial sympathisers with you, therefore the treaty must be repealed to punish us ; and a barrier was erected against us. You cut off the sources that fed the va,^»t volume of your foreign trade, and then you wondered why the stream dried up, and why your ships were idle and your trade paralysed. The Alabama was blamed ; but the diminution continued at an increased rate after she was destroyed. " What is now to be done ? To exorcise the Evil Spirit oy invoking the memory of kindred ties, by forgetting and forgiving the faults and the failings of the past, and by renewing those bonds that were severed in passion, and that should l)e restored in calmer and more generous moments of reflection. A time must come when the dead must ' bury their dead.' Surely the time has now come for a general forgetfulness even of wrongs." The following are the comments o: the Boston Post : — " The more obvious disadvantages to which we impulsively subjected ourselves by the abroga- tion of the Reciprocity Treaty with Canada and the Provinces are set forth with much force in a communication from Mr. Haliburton, to be found in another column. He proceeds to show in a few words how, to use a well- known phrase, we bit off our nose to spite our face ; and demonstrates what he asserts so positively, that it was owing to our own commercial pressure on the Provinces that they embarked in Confederation, and that we now find then) rivals in markets which were before wholly our own. It was not necessary to show us that, both by the weight of our coal-tax and the loss i 'i^xp »4 The Influence of American Legislation on the of our remunerative freights, we had needlessly relinquished profits that on one had disputed our rightful possession of till then. Or course the view of Mr. Haliburton concerning the whole matter is from the other side of th« line, but that ought to help us to take the larger and clearer one ourselves." •* The writer presents an impressive sketch of the causes and progress of the alienations that was suffered to interpose between the United States and the Canadas, whose culmination was the annulment of the Reciprocity Treaty and a fanatic proposal to heal our domestic feuds by joining in a crusade to wrest the Provinces from the British Empire. He lays too much fetress, however, on the latter, for it at no time was entertained by any stine miud in the country. We felt certain, on our part, that peace and justice and neighbourly kindness would effect an ultimate union,, through natural economic agencies, such as no measures of violence could accomplish. It is quite enough to know that, in the hour of passion, CJongress snapped the strong commercial bonds that held us together, and would eventually Lave made us one, and that until the present day, under the shelter of the new Treaty of Washington, no opportunity has offered for reversing mistakes and' restoring relations which should never have been allowed to remain so long neglected." Their blundering policy has been due to the fact that the Ameri- can Republic is governed not by the people, but by a monied aristo- cracy, by gigantic coal and railway companies, by wealthy salt specu- lators, and by a powerful ring that can control logislation, even if it cannot influence elections. Much of the strong feeling that has been excited against England and Canada has been stimulated by Protectionists. The plea of starving Canadians into annexation was a plausible excuse for keeping up a heavy duty on coal and timber ; and within the past few days the first rumour of the rejection of the Alabam-i Treaty was followed by a patriotic cry in the United States of " Let us punish them by heavy duties on British products." My friend, Mr. Atkinson, of Boston, one of the ablest advocates of free trade, has in his clear incisive style laid bare the selfishness of American Protectionists ; and only a few weeks ago the ruinous effect of their influence on American shipping was most conclusively demonstrated. A deputation of persons interested in the commerce of the Lakes protested against the coasting trade of the i.akes being thrown open to Canadian ships, because the result would be to drive American shipping from those inland seas. This is a startling assertion, for there are surely no Alabamas there. The solution for this enigma is in the fact that Ame- rican commerce has been so heavily burdened by protection that American vessels cannot sail in the same waters witb British shipping. There is a great truth which Americans seem to have forgotten, that universal protection is but another term for universal burdens. Where every man is protected, every man must contribute to protect liis neigh- bours. He has therefore to pay in taxes, &c., as much out of one pocket as he receives from protection in tbe other. But the process is a losing one. 'I'he taxpayer and consumer have to pay to the uttermost fArtliing, but all they pay does not go ♦o the Treasury, or even to tiie coffers of the rich nioaopolist. The cost of collecting oppressive taxes, and the amount ; I on the Decline of the United States as a Maritime Power. 15 led profits that on course the view of other side of th« ■er one ourselves." es and profjress of he United States f the Reciprocity Is by joining in a He lays too much ined by any siine peace and justice , through natural iccompli.sh. It is ;re83 snapped the 1 eventually Lave shelter of the new eversing mistakes (ved to remain ao that the Ameri- a monied aristo- althy salt specu- even if it cannot las been excited ►tectionists. The aible excuse fur he past few days was followed by by heavy duties iton, one of the yle laid bare the weeks ago the nost conclusively commerce of the ng thrown open lerican shipping there are surely fact that Ame- tbat American forgotten, that urdens. Where otect his neigh- of one pocket as s a losiug one. irthing, but all fers of the rich id the amount fraudulently retained by an army of officials— all make up a grave per- centage of the amount taken from the taxpayer. The American people at the present moment remind me of three Irish- men who, fifteen years ago, were by accident left at Halifax by the English steamer, and were compelled to travel overland minus their luggage. A fellow-passenger of theirs was the late Judge Haliburton, who condoled with one of them on their having no change with them. " Faith, Judge," said one of them, who was a humorist, " we've got a change, such as it is ; but it's no great shakes after all, for sure, the only change we've got is changing with one another." The Americans have fancied that they would grow rich by protection, and are beginniug to find that they have been merely •* changing wUh one another." Captain Bedford Pim said he would like to point out that one of the great reasons why the American shipping bad so materially diminished was the construction of the Pacific Railway' from New York to San Fran- cisco. Since that railway bad been established the falling off in the coasting trade had been something both astonishing and remarkable. With respect to the Washington Treaty, he must say that no nation had been more innocent than had the English. (Hear.) They had, to bis mind, given no offence whatever, either to the Government or to the people of the United States. (Hear, hear.) He must say however, in the lan- guage of another speaker, that " thimblerigging " had been practised to a great extent, and that the Treat}' of Washington had been brought into an unexampled mess. Mr. Leo^iakd Wray said he thought there was one point whiclj the lecturer had overlooked, and it was the enormous change th&t had taken place in the character of shipping. The marine trade was now mostly carried on by iron ships and iron steamers. Now it was well known that the Americans could not afford to build vessels of iron as cheaply as we could in England. Consequently, they had either not to build them at all, or else manufacture them under great disadvantages. To overcome this diffi- culty, however, it had been seriously proposed in the United States that their vessels should be built in England, and afterwards be admitted on the United States Register. One thing was certain— that the Americans could not compete with us in the building of ships suitable for modern times. Mr. Briggs said the whole of the lecturer's address and the re- marks thereon condnced him more and more of the truth of the motto which he had placed upon his note-paper and envelopes— viz., "The right of universal free trade is the first condition of peace." If every Englishman and colonist would have that motto impressed upon each sheet of letter-paper they used, he ventured to say it would do more to benefit: the Empire at large than all the talk of a thousand generations. Our legislators, when they saw that motto continually staring them in the face, would discontinue all their " thimblerigging," and necessarily have to give way to public opinion. He thought it would be a wise policy on the part of the Canadian Government to sweep away the whole of their duties. They would then get their neighbours, the Americans, to do the same. " I' t Jlil I.. ^ i i i 7U The Influence of American Legislation. He would say that the first nation that repealed all duties on every oom-r modity would stand upon a loftier pedestal than any other country in the world. Mr. Freeland then thanked Mr. Haliburton for the interesting address to which the meeting had listened with so much pleasure, and adjourned the discussion in consequence of the lateness of the hour. ...^. ..- . . . .-^.. ^ ^ f^-Mta at tht Ofici Hf tau BcitonAir Mail, 440 Cannon Streri, London. i „, T-,.r MSM n. on every oon-r r country in the- cresting addrees and adjourned U, London.