IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^6 ?'o^ <.^; ^^ (moaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha symbol V (moaning "END"), whichavar applias. Un daa symbolaa suivanta apparattra sur la damlAra imaga da chaqua microflcha, salon la cas: la symbols — »• signifia "A SUIVRE". la symbola ▼ signifia "FIN". IMapa, plataa, charts, ate. may ba fllmad at diffarant reduction ratios. Thosa too iarga to ba entirely Included in one expoeure ere filmed beginning in the upper left hand comer, left to right and top to bottom, ae many frames aa required. The following diagrams lllustrste the method: Lea certes. planches, tabieeux. etc., peuvent Atre filmto i dee taux de rMuction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA. il est fllmA ^ partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite. et de hieut en baa. an prenent le nombre d'Imegee nAceeaaire. Lea diagrammas sulvants illustrent la mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 8 6 mmmm / •^ ^z. .-r-;V. .^V-.-; '/:■ SEVENTH OEDINARY GENERAL MEETING. The Seventh Ordinary Meeting of the members of this Institute was held on Friday evening, April 30th, at the Pall Mall Restaurant, William Humphry Fiieeland, Esq., in the chair. The Hon. Secretary having read the minutes of the previous meeting, the same were confirmed. The Chairman said he was exceedingly sorry that the President of the Institute, tlie Duke of Manchester, was not able to be pre- sent that evening, and that it had not devolved upon someone to take the chair who was more competent than himself to deal with the very important, but at the same time difficult question, which his friend Mr. Haliburton had undertaken to read a paper upon. Mr. HaUburton had favoured them on a former occasion with a paper upon almost the same subject ; and no doubt xipon the present occa- sion they would have the benefit of his reconsideration, and probably enlarged experience, upon the matter. As he occupied the chair more as a learner than one competent to speak, he should not detain them with a speech, but would at once call upon Mr. Haliburton to read his paper, AMERICAN PROTECTION AND CANADIAN RECIPROCITY. By RoBERt Grant Haliburton, M.A. Mr. Hamilton A. Hill, the late Secretary of the National Board of Trade of the United States, in a very sensible letter to the Times^ suggests a striking picture of the present state of political and commercial affairs in tlio United States. It seems that the general commercial sentiment of the \\hole Continent is in favour, if not of /»•(■«■, at lonst ot/iiir trade ; but that the legislature of that country is practically in the hands of monopolists and of political rings. The teachings of expcriouco seem lost upon the advocates of pro- tection. Their empty shipyards suggest no warning to them that fostering ship-building by prohibitory duties is a failure. The falling off in the revenue of tlio United States, which well might cause patriotic Americans to pause and rellect, seems only to con- ! 206 American Protection and Canadian Reciprocity. firm these political economists in their course of treatment of the sick man that has resultea in such depletion and exhaustion. It may he as well, hefore wo discuss the fuilurc of tlie present com- mercial policy of the United States and its effects, to revert to the history of that country during the past few years. In 1859 the United States was the envy of the world. Success such as had rarely fallen to the lot of a nation had not only dazzled themselves, but astonished the rest of the world. Their boundless territories, their myriads of acres of virgin prairie land, their mines of coal, iron, and gold, attracting emigrants from all parts of fcha world, returned a rich harvest to the treasury of the Republic. The nation had adopted a liberal and a prudent policy. It had annexed the whole of North America to the United States, if not OS an integral portion of the Ecpublic, at least as tributaries to its wealth. The Reciprocity Treaty threw open the markets of the United States to the raw products of British America The dis- united and divided provinces of that country were substantially moro closely united with their American customers than with the mother country or with each other. The lumbermen on the Ottawa and the Sagueuay toiled through the long winters only to bring a harvest to American shippers and exporters. The fishermen of the St. Lawrence and of the Northern Atlantic were tributaries to the enterprise of Massachusetts merchants. The orchards of Acadia supplied raw fruit at a nominal price to Boston and New York, to be shipped abroad at a hij,'h price to European and foreign markets as American products. The gypsum deposits of Eastern British America became practically the property of the Americans. All these streams of raw products, pouring from a thousand sources, swelled into an enormous volume, which found its outlet in the foreign trade of the United States. Americans were rapidly com- peting successfully with the Mistress of the Seas for the first rank as a commercial power. Their clipper ships were uurivallod. In China, India, Japan, Australia, all over the globe, the English shipper found a new and formidable competitor in the self-reliant and prosperous American. In most of the South American mar- kets, and in many of the islands of the West Indies, American enterprise secured a monopoly. Not less than sixty-two millions of dollars' worth of products that were peculiarly the growth of British America were shipped to the West Indian markets by tho United States, every penny of which might have beon successfully exported by the people of Canaila, if they hud had the enterprise and tho self-ieliauco to enter tho lists as comprtitors, or had been placed uudcv tho rod of somo storu taskmaster that would have I \ 1 \ American liot^etion and Canadian Reciprocity. 207 forced them to depend upon themselves.* The trade between Canada and the United States also assumed enormous dimensions. From every little harbour and creek along the extended seaboard of British America, small craft, built by farmers and manned by their sons, carried the raw products of British America to American ports, and brought back manufactures for home consumption. Everything that was required for domestic life, for agricultural purposes, or for manufacturers, was imported from the United States. For everything that the Canadians needed, from the very cradle that rocked the infant Bluenose, to the coffin that conveyed him to his grave, they were dependent upon the energy and the enterprise of Americans. To the people of the maritime provinces of British America, Boston was all that it claimed for itself, "the hub of the universe." To Ontario and Quebec, New York was the great emporium and metropolis. Such a trade, while enormously advantageous to the United States, was not without its benefits to the people of British America. Until the passing of the Reciprocity Treaty the latter were practi- cally without any markets, and the rich products of theu* forests, their seas, and their mines wore of little commercial value. It was true that the Americans reaped the harvest, and that the Canadians were merely the gleaners ; but so great was the prosperity of that period that even to bo the " hewers of wood and drawers of water " to the great Republic was sufficient to ensure comfort and prosperity, if not wealth and affluence. It can well be imagined how intimate became the commercial and social relations of the two oomitries. The old jealousies of the " United Empire Loyalists " were rajndly dying out. The memory of the old war of 1812, like that of the still older War of Independence, was becoming a matter of tradi^on which was known only to the survivors of generations that had passed away. The influence, too, of the political as well as com- mercial iJrosperity of the United States dazzled the Canadians, as • In a pamphlet written by the author of this article, at the request of tho Dominion Govoininent, in 18G8, entitled " Intercolonial Trade our only Safe- ffiiai 1 against Disunion," a chapter entitled " An unlimited Market for Canadian If anuf actures and Products in tho West Indies and South America," was devoted to this subject, and ^rave full statistics on this point. It states tlmt, among other exports, tho Americans shipped in 18(il to those markets, 10,764,26(5 dols. worth of flour and bread; 6,063,443 dols. worth of timber, &c.; 2,7-56,301 dolg. worth of manufactures of iron. " Nor is the field of enterprise limited to thoso markets. It extends to every co\intry to which tho Americans are now exporting. Their total exports in tho foUowiuu: items were— Breadstuffs, 38,797,666 dols.; Coal, l,84i),'J28 dols.; inui aiid manufactures of iron, (i,72(i,372 dols,; timber and manufactures of wuud, b"),()3('>, 471 duls.; coal, oil, and petroleum, 21,397,308 dols.; provisions and tallow, 28,ir»(i,.')3!! dols.; distilled s})irits, l,88ii,8S4 dols.; leather and leather goods, 1,040,/') 13 dols.; tobacco and mauufiictures of , 22,071,120 dols." —a total of 140,038,827 dols. i i ntT-n w irj 208 American Protection and Canadian Rcciprocitij. it did the rest of the world. It was supposed, very naturally, that the marvellous extension of American trade, and the extraordinary prosperity of its agricultural, manufacturing, and maritime interests, were due to the vigour of roiiublican institutions ; and had this belief continued undisturbed a few years longer, it is difficult to say what influence these commercial and political sympathies might have had upon the future of the Goutment ; but in an evil hour, in tlic midst of their prosperity, a " lying spirit " was sent to tempt the American nation to do battle with its commercial alUcs, by the assurance that it would surely conquer. This delusion was cultivated by selfish monopolists and by powerful interests, such as the great Pennsylvanian coal-owners and the timber-merchants of Maine, who found that the American consumer could rely upon Canada as well as u^jon the United States for cheap and serviceable articles. The manufactories and the homes of New England were supplied with cheap fuel from the mines of Nova Scotia, which, lying on the very seaboard, near accessible harbours, were enabled to supply American consumers on the Atlantic seaboard at a cost which defied comp "(tition on the part of the owners of Pennsylvanian coal mines, the heavy cost of railway transport to the scaboiird rendering competition with the coal of Nova Scotia unprofitable. It therefore became desirable in their eyes to introduce a system of protection wliicli should cut off the consumer from his cheap supplies of Colonial piohice. To accomplish this, it was necessary to veil their cupidity under the garb of patriotism ; monopolists, ruercforo, preaclied a commercial crusade against the people of Canada. Mr. Potter, the Consul- Oeneral at Montreal, discovered that the commorcial relations between the United States and Canada were so intimate and so prosperous, that oven a temporary suspension of tliem must bring the Canadians to their knees, and starve tlani into annexation. It should r<)t bo supposed for a moment that tliose gentlemen liad any desire to turn their obnoxious competitors into fellow-countrymen. Annexation was the last thing they either hoped for or expected. 13y combining various powerful interests, and buying up the siip- port of unprincipled politicians, a party in favour of protection Bucceedcd in terminating the llecijirocity Treaty, and in cutting oil' the people of Canada from commercial intercourse with the United States. It was a bold step to take, but it was still more danii;crou3 when they were engaged in a struggle the end of which no prudent man could protend to f(u-esee ; but tlio same lying spirit that sent forth the jubilant volunteers for a thri'C months' marcli, wliich was to bring them back victors of tlie South, deluded the people of the f ¥ f' i American Protection and Canadian Reciprocity. 209 United States into commencing a commercial struggle whioli they imagined was to end in six months in uniting the whole continent under American rule. The hopeful volunteeri who went forth joyously on a "holiday excursion," never dreamed of Bull's Eun, Gettysburg, and the score of battle-fields on which the South was destined to make so stout a stand for its independence. Had the North known what was before it, it is possible that it mi^fht have preferred to "let the erring sisters go in peace." There can be still less doubt that, had the Legislature of the United States foreseen the commercial struggle awaiting them, and the present evil hour that was to befall the commerce of their country, they might have hesitated before they passed the Rubicon and threw away the scabbard ; but Avise counsels were in vain ; the step was taken, and the commercial war of annexation commenced. It seems a marvel that a shrewd, sensible people like the Ameri- cans should not have foreseen how suicidal was the policy they were pursuing. They put up a barrier of not less than 25 per cent, against those very products which were necessary for their own export trade. The stream was stopped at its source, and American statesmen marvelled why the volume of theii* foreign trade dwin- dled away, their ships were idle, and their merchants bankrupt. Everything but the right thing was blamed. It was the Alabama and British cruisers that had driven American commerce from the seas ; and yet, strangely enough, from 18G0 to 1870 wo find an almost uniform decline of American comiuerco.'' In 18G5, at the * Tho following' tublc .shows tlio s-teiicly decline of American tonnage from 1860 to 1869 :— ' ,, Excess of Americim over Kxcess of Koreigii over '^*'"' Foreign Tonnage. Amcriciiu Tonnage. 1860 3,067,37-1 1861 2,806,363 1862 2,872,107 1863 1.1171,326 1864 .. 101,78.5 186.> .. 273,306 1866 . . 1,038,'UM 1867 .. 863,621 1868 ,. 944,91 J 1869 ,. 1,940,026 Mr. Hill, in a letter to the writer, stuteH that " the tounago of the United States employed in the foivifi^n trade attained its higliesst point in 1861, when it was 2,642,628. The total tonnage of the Ajuerican flag that year was fi,539,813. The ttjnnago employed in the domcHtio trade of tlio United States, coastwise, and on the lakes and rivers, readied its maximum iii 1863, wlien it Btood at 3,40 l,o06. In 1872 the tonnag-e reu'lstercd for the foreign trade was 1,410,048; the domestic tonnage was 3,027,099 ; total, 4,437,747." Heneo by these figures it appears that the total toiiuaao in 1872 was 1,102,066 tons les.* than in 1861. I' M II 1 mm m imiit m nMmtitf mi mmm 210 American Protection and Canadian lieciimmty. end of the Avar, the tleclino was even greater than in the previous years, though the Alahmna was then at the bottom of the sea ; uor was this clecUno limited to the ocean, Avhero Anglo-Confcdcrato j)U'ates might bo feared if thoy could not be seen. On the vast inland seas of the United States the decline was ccjually striking. Protection was at length accomplishuig its mission. A thousand different selfish interests entered into a conspiracy against the American consumer and the Kepublic. It was not enough that the American nation must bear the heavy burden of war taxes. The additional burden was put upon them of contributing millions to the coffers of privileged interests under the pic. of fostering native industry. As a matter of course, where every interest is protected, all ahke must contribute to the cost of protection. If the coal- owner could raise the price of coal, he was obliged to pay a ruinous price for his timber as a douceur to his protectionist allies of Maine and New Hampshire. What went in at one pocket was by the exciseman taken out of the other. The great mass of the American people, however, only experienced the pleasures of one process — that of paying, and not of receiving. All articles of consumption and the necessaries of life rose to an extravagant price ; ship- builders were protected, but so were the owners of copper miues. The wood that the favoured shipbuilder consumed, all the articles that he needed in his ship-yards, as well as the labour that he employed, were doubled and trebled in value, until at last it wna plain that native industry, in the midst of its good fortune, was starving, like Midas in the midst of his Avealth. The ingenuity of protection, which had accomplished so much, was not yet exhausted. To the many intolerable burthens pressing on American commerce, it added one of a most serious nature, by making even the use of the water highways of the llcpubUc a monopoly, and l)y taxing the transport of the already over-taxed products of American invaa tune, was so much, 3 pressing lature, by lopubUc a over-taxed iplc tliat )ends, not )ut on the u the case ose consi- )ady taxed I'c given it re enjoyed amo lying 10 exclude maritimo m American l*rotcction and Canadian licciprocitjj. 211 enterprise. Whilst their deserted ship-yards, therefore, wevQ jealously protected, American shipping, having secured the mono- poly of the coasting trade, began to dwindle away even on the inland waters of the United States. Up to this hour this uisane policy has been persevered in by tho people of the United States. When tho recent proposal for a renewal of tho Ilcciprocity Treaty was made, a very significant delegation on the part of the shipowners of the Lakes waited upon the President, and urged in their behalf a fact which should mako American statesmen, and above all American consumers, reflect. They urged that if tho coasting trade of tho Lakes were thrown open to competition, American shipping would disappear from those inland waters. They alleged, in i)lain English, that American shipping had been so enfeebled by a vicious system of protection, that it could not exist upon the same waters as British enterprise. This is the more startling, as it cannot be alleged that the Alabama found its way into the Lakes, or that the increased use of iron ships had aftccted the prosperity of the inland commercial marine of tho United States. The Alabama was indeed a godsend. It solved au infinite number of commercial problems. Whenever the sick mau was suffering a fresh spasm from some new attack of protection in some new quarter, there was always the same comforting solution. The Alabama was the root of all evil ; but this refuge for protection came at last to an untimely end, and the truth had to be faced. The time has at last come when not only the commercial men, but the great bulk of the people of the United States, admit the fact that protection has been a mistake, and are prepared if possible to retrace their steps. This change in public sentiment has been gradually brought about. " The starvation policy," as the commercial crusade aguiu.st the people of Canada was aptly termed, is found to l)e not only a commercial but also a political blunder. The Canadians have been taught a sore but a salutary lesson of self-reliance. Tliey .send abroad now their raw products in Canadian ships, manned by Canadian weamcn ; and the American exporter is e\ery\v]icre met by Canadian enterprise, which is enabled successfully to enter tho lists with its former masters. Manufactories ha\e rapidly grown ttp in Canada, and Canadian manufactures are now exported to tho United States. Colonial enterprise, untrammelled by the heavy taxation of the United States, is able to supply many articles at so low a cost that even a tariff of 25 per cent, is an ineffectual barrier to protect American industry. ^Icssis. Cioodorani and "Worts, of Toronto, are enabled to import the raw material for their ^ I III I I .M MIBTi . f H ! 212 American Protection and Canadian Reciprocity. distilleries even from the Soutli-Westeru Statea, to manufacture a superior article, and then to send it back successfully in the face of a heavy tariff, and to supply American consumers with the cheap products of Canadian industry. Canadian cheese, "which formerly fomid its way to Boston and New York, and was ex- ported as the product of American dairies, is now a successful competitor in European markets. Canadian shipping has gradually increased, and Canadian shipyards present a cheerful scene of constant activity, which strangely contrasts with the sickly spas- modic eilbrts whicJi American shipbuilding periodically puts forth for the purpose of resuming its former pre-cmincnco. As a curious illustration of the uselessuess of the bounty s; atem and of the futility of protection, it may bo mentioned that a liberal grant was made for the purpose of estabhshing a line of steamers between Han Francisco and Japan, which were to be constructed in the United States. American statesmen forget, however, that the hull is not the only costly part of a steamboat. A large portion of the grant, v.hich came out of the taxes of the overburdened American consumers for the purpose of fostering native industry, found its way into the pockets of macliinists and mechanics on the Clyde, who supplied the costly engines, machinery, furniture, and fittings for this patriotic lino. Let us hope, however, that there is a new era of wisdom and of prosperity dawning upon the United States. The agricultural interests of the West arc finding that they have been forced to'pay black-mail by the conspiracy of privileged interests, that have been feeding like a vampire upon the life of the public. The enormous products of the AVest depend for their value upon the question of transportation. Yearly as the grain-growing area is being ex- tended, the highways of trade are becoming more and more over- crowded, and the exactions of New York shippers and forwarders more obnoxious ; and there is a growing spirit among the farmers and grain-dealers of the AVest in favour of a closer commercial union with the people of Canada, and against a continuance of their industrial subjection to the capitalists of New York. This natural feeling has found a most able and indefatigable advocate in the National Board of Trade of the United States. In describing the gigantic folly and the ruinous results of American protection, a Canadian linds himself slightly hampered by the fact that Englishmen generally speak with " bated breath " of American aifairs, for the agitated state of public feeling in this country on the Alaham t question, which our Americans would very correc ly de'lne as ■' a scaio," anA vdiicli led to a slight sacrifice I. lufacture ^ in tlio with the le, ■which was ex- iuccessful gradually bCCUG of •lily spas- »ut3 forth a curious id of the jraut was 5 between ;ed in the it the hull ion of the American , found itii the Clyde, ad fittings sdoin and ^ricultural ced to'pay have been enormous uestion of being ex- uore over- i'orwnvdors he furniorrj ommercial inuance of ork. This lo advocate results of y hampered ,cd breath " ling in this would very ht sacrifice American Protection and Canadian Reciprocity. 213 of the rights of our fellow-countrymen in Canada, has not yet subsided. The reports of the National Board, and the press of the West as well as the East, are as outspoken as I am on the subject. Mr. Edward Atkinson, one of the apostles of Free Trade in the United States, has, in ^his pungent, trenchant stylo, denounced the folly and the ruinous results of protection in the United States in terms that, from our morbid dread of wounding the sensibilities of our American cousins, few English would venture to use. In treating of the subject of the burdens upon the transport of grain, the Chicaiji) Trilmnp, quoted by Mr. Hill in his paper read at the meeting of the Social Science Congress at Norwich in 1873, makes some statements that are deserving the serious attention of the people of the West. After alluding to the fact that there were, besides other graius, nearly six millions of bushels of Indian corn in store in Chicago, the Trilmne says : — " This grain lins been put in store hero expressly for Inko transportation. The corn cannot ho moved in any other way. Behind this stock there are millions of biishel.s of com and wheat iu the cribs and station warehouses nil over the West. The rates demanded for lake transportation from Chicago to Buffalo arc 10 cents per bushel for com, and we are informed that it is proposed to advance these on future charters to 18 cents per bushel. Corn can be moved at present only by water, and the lake carriers arc dependent upon the com crop for their profits. Last season, while the rate was lower than now, vessels earned their own cost in three months' time. At the rates now demanded, the profits will, of course, be greater. " Now, while there is in one sense no monopoly in lake navigation, and every man is free to put as many vessels afloat as he thinks proper, and charge what he can got, there is a substantial monopoly iu the fact that no vessel not exclu- sively owned iu the United States can carrj- corn or other freight between any two American ports. Canadian vessels may come to Chicago and carry freight to Montreal, but the law prohibits their taking com from hero to Buffalo. Canada has some seven thousand vessels of all kinds afloat, large numbers of which could be brought into Lake Michigan, and assist in can'ying off the sur- plus crop of the West at reasonable rates. But the law prohibits them from so doing. The result is, that the producers of com in the Western States have to pay monopoly prices on water. Before the opening of the Straits of Mackinaw, and during the whole season, there will be freight offering at Chicago, Mil- waukee, and Toledo suflicient to employ twice the number of vessels that ■nnll be at those ports to carry it, while there are on Lake Ontario and the St. Law- rence a large number of vessels that would gladly como here to do this busi- ness if the law permitted them. Now, let the farmers send up to Congress, in the most emphatic form, their demand that these old prohibitoi-y shipping lawa be repealed, and the navigation of the lakes bo open to anybody who will put ft vessel or a .steamer on them." If the shippers of the West find even nature's water highways have been obstructed by protection, they also discover that the same evil influence meets tliem on the land. The great iron roads of the Republic are in the hands of mono- polists, who in their turn find that they themselves have to suffer m £1 aga a njttumi.'r 'rjtm^mju^tj ts sfi - I I i 1 : ■ ( :.ii 214 American Froti'cfion ftnd Canadian Beciprocity, indirectly from the working of protection. It is estimated that the duty on imported railway iron in 1873 amcinited to au aggregate tax" of 110,000,000 dols., or 4,000 dols. per mile. The Chicago Trilnnir, referring to this fact, makes the following startling state- meuts : — "To this must bo ndilod the iron needed for nnnual repairs. But, taking only the fijrurrs of the tax on the first eost of eonstruetion and equipment, and (ifisnniinjr the whole ei.,-t of eonstruetinj,' a railroad at 24,000 per niih^ this tax alone would have htiilt ri^Hi^ miles of additional railroad, or nearly twice tha l<>ngth of the railroad from Omiiha to t>an I'Vanoisco. This 1JO,0()0,000 dols. ha« to ho collected, with profits and compound interest included, out of the roni and other products carried over these roads. To pay this tax, the distanco in wliich com can ho transported hy rail has l)"n reduced, and the rates for transi)ortatiou hare been advanced. The man who sold his corn for 3o cents has now to l ; and so on, accordiuff to the dis- tanee, the j)rice of com recedes iis obediencf? to tliis well-asec rtair.ed law. The jrross earnin^'s of all (h(> railroads in tlie I'nited States, from all sources, in 1871 were t;') 1,000,000 dols., while the tax on tue iron alone consumed in the con- Btructiou of just one-half of thi^se railways was 110,000,000 dols., exceeding" one-foiu'th of the srross carniii'-rs of jill the railways. Fanm-rs who will atten- tively read these tiL'tires will see how it is that the cost of transportation Juis been made double wlhit it ouirlit to be, and will disroyer why it is that, \vif/i thu increase of railways, tlio cost of transportation has continuall ' depressed the coiiimercial value oi' the products transported." ^Ir. Ki'lly, of rennsylvania, one of the loaders of the Protcc- tioni>^t piu'ty, recently declared that a million of able-hodied, industrious men have been reduced to beggary. At the present time soldiers have to bo employed to proteei tho works ( f Pennsyl- vaiiinn coal owners against tlie crowds of unemployed men that are clamouring for work.' * Tiio serious effect which the rep(>al of tlie Rei-iprocity Treaty at first had on this braii'h of fiiiiadiari industry is descrilied in a letter from the writer to the f './i)»i' ', dati'il January stli, ls7'> : ''Attirst it Imi'i- lieiivily on the ]ieople of ('.•iiiad.i, and was very nearly a suecr^s. It w.is espeei;illy disastrous to the people of N'ova Scotia. The trade ill tisli was larirely diminished, ainl the ex- ports of ((mI were almo>t redneed to a nominal aniomil. I'eeiiliiir local ini'idents conneeti'cl with tlie N'ov.i Si'otiaii coiil tr;id" rendered t!ii-> jioliey nlmost ruinous to it. 'I'lie iiiinieiisc^ di'posits of co:il in tli.it jiiovince had only been ji few yeurs ]irevioii«ly thrown opi n to ]iri\ate enleipri'^e, liy the removal of the mono- poly of these mines wliieli hacl 111 en formerly jrranted to the HuUe of \'ork in oi'dir to wipe out his jeweller's bills. I lis creditors took jwissession ot our blaek diamonds in ]>:iyiiient of hi-> delit>, and au association of Mnu'lish capitalists for years InM a iiiono)ioly of our mines. Tin txp.msioii of the Ainerieaii tra]>ll' ol' rons tit the ml the I'X- il incidents >st, riiitiDUs I few yearn tlie niiiiiii- (if \'i)ik in t iiiir lilark )ntaiists t'lir II trade an. I hajipened, nnfiitunately for )nysilt', to lie lar^'cly interested in Nova Scotian eoal niinoH, and as no one could move, ! look 'the liuU hy the horns' myself, and com- menced almost siiiLrL'-hiinded and at my own expense to a^ritate the Dominion nu'aiiist the Ainiriciin )iolicv. In political niiitters, it is important to \i'\\o a do>f a Imd name if you lliiiil: han^jiny' wouhl iniprovc him. The scheme of American politicians was thercfoi'o ciiristened ' The Starvation Policy.' The name wan univeisally adopteil, and in a year or two it ' stank in the nostrils ' of thepeoplo of (Janada, and the country wtis aroused to a feelinjr of resistance and self* reliance. A series of lectures delivered liefiiie the Hoards of 'I'rade of the differ* etit province!, and a immjihlet written at the reipiest of the Canadian Government, and widely circulateil hy them, met witli a very unanimonn rcspiinse. 'I'he (iovernment was suslained in what was called tlu' 'self-reliant policy ' which they adoiiteil. The proimsal that we sliould tax American in»« ports, that had up till that date heen free, and that we shotdd enter tlie list* with the Ameiicuns, and exiiort our products ourselves to the forci^fn markets of the I'nited Stales, met with a fuvouiahle reception. In a few jenrs thu 'starvation imlicy ' jiroyed a palpnhle failure," KMMNil 216 American Protection and Canadian Reciprocity. on public opinion. At present, however, tlie question does not depend upon the people of the United States, still less upon the commercial class of that country. The public is practically ruled by the great railway and manufacturing interests, who are com- bined together against one common enemy, the free-trader ; and who have united to prey upon one common victim, the American consumer. The question, too, of renewing reciprocal trade, I acknowledge, is involved in some difficulty, and is not likely to be solved without some delay. It must be borne in mind that almost the whole of North America is inhabited by the English race, and is divided into two countries by an imaginary line stretched across the Continent many thousands of miles, from ocaan to ocean. It is self-apparent that to maintain a line of custom-houses, and the host of officials who are necessary in order to sustain opposing tariifs, must be an enormous loss to tlio people of the whole Continent. It is an axiom in trade that the near mr.rlcct is always more profitable than tlio distant ono. The cost of long voyages, and of freights, insurance, connnission, agency, »^c. must be borne by some one, and that some one is ultimately the consumer. The quick returns, thoroforo, of homo trade are in the long run more remunerative and more satisfactory than those of a distant market. Nature has un- doubtedly intended that Canada should be the home market for the products of American industry ; that the United States should in the same way supply an outlet for tbe manufactures and natural products of British America. At the first conference of the Councils of the two Boards of Trade, held in Boston, the idea of a Zollverein, a favourite one with the Hon. John Young, at that time President of the National Do- minion Board, was mooted by tlio President of the National Board of Trade of tlio United States. As a oommorcial suggestion, there can 1)0 little doubt that it was a sensible and a wise one. It is im- possible that in all respects the people of bhigland can bo placed upon the same footing in Caniidian markets as the Americans. Nature has discriminated in favour of American trade by the inter- position of the Atlantic Ocean ; and until we can abolish this ob- Htade to perfect equality and to perfect free-trade, English exporters to Canada must always labour imder a disadvantage in competing with American industry. Mr. Young's idea of a Zollverein was discarded at the Boston conference as impracticable as well as im- prudent. That something of the sort muHt uUimately l)ecomo a necessity there can be but little loubt ; but it belongs to the future, and not to the present. So highly, however, did the commercial Amencan Protection and Canadian Reciprocity. 217 es not lon the f ruled e com- r ; and tierican wledge, solved lost the , and is L across lau. It and the g tariffs, lent. It rofitable froightH, mc one, returns, ,tivc and has un- t for the lioald in natural 5oard» of one with onal Do- inl Board ;on, there It is ira- )0 pliicod inoricans. tlie inter- I this ob- cxporters :-onipeting croiii wiiH ell as iui- l)ecome a the future, ommercial men of Canada resent this proposition of a ZoUverein by the Presi- dent of the Dominion Board, that, although its commercial merits could not be denied, they removed him from his position, and ultimately from his seat in the Council of that body, because he had suggested a scheme which, while advantageous to the com- mercial interests of Canada, trenched upon those of British mer- chants. It must be remembered, in justice to Mr. Young, that at the time when this discussion took place the people of Canada were con- stantly informed, even by officials sent out in Her ^Majesty's name, as well as by the press and the public men of Great Britain, that they were at hberty to go whenever they liked, and that the Colonies were not a paying speculation. Mr. Young, who is one of the most able and far-seeing commercial men of the New World, had as much right to consult the interests of his native country as English pohticians and English commercial men had to discuss the question of dismembering the Empire because they hastily assumed that it did not pay. The conduct of the Dominion Board of Trade is a conclusive proof that Colonial loyalty may yet be found to be of t;ommercial value, and to bo profitable to Ihitisli trade ; and that no class is more deeply interested in preserving the unity of the Empire, and in fostering a national sentiment throughout the Colonies, than tiie commorcial men of Great Britain. The first form of disintegration will bo seen, not in politics, but in trade. It will be the merchants of England Avhom the shoe will first pinch. They will suffer from ZoUvercins long before the statesmen of the Empire will be forced to face the question of political dismember- ment. The contrast presented by the United States and the l«)ew Dominion should teach us a useful lesson. In the one case we have monopolists deluding the people into excluding English products, as a matter of patriotism ; in the other, we hiivo hard-headed com- mercial men slmtting their eyes to pounds, shillings, and pence, and remembering only the fact that even in commerce thoy owe alle- giance to the Empire. DiscrssioN. Mr. ToniN said he had listened with a great deal of attention to what had fallen from the learned leciuror, but he must confess he could nov exactly agree with nil Mr. Haliburton had said, when speakirg of the Americans in contradistinction to their Colonial position to England. It was true Colonists had not advanced in A 218 American Protection and Canadian Heciprocity. Ml the scale of nationality as Americans had ; hut that was altogether the fault and niismanagcmout of England. Everyone agreed that the North American Colonies had taken a new step by Confedera- tion, and as they were now in Confederation, whatever may ho individual objections to its crude powers of constitution, they should do everything to advance their position, for he believed it to be the best and firmest position for thorn under a careful remodel of the hasty Act of Association of 18G7. Many persons had taken credit to themselves, and succeeded in being rewarded, as the originators of the system ; but the question is an old one, and not creditable to the memory of statesmen of tlio early days of the centtiry. In 1783, when Confederation was proposed by the Colonists to the Imperial Ciovornmcnt, in order to enable them to keep pace with the growing prosperity of the American States, who were rapidly realising the advantages of consolidation, the British Government objected to their views ; and among those who sub- sequently impressed the Confederation of North American Provinces on the notice of Earl Bathurst, was Ilis Boyal Highness the ])uko of Kent, the father of her present Majesty, whoso experience and clairvoyance, during years of military service in those possessions of the Crown, convinced His IJoyal Highness of the necessity of a policy by which, if it had been adopted at that time, we should have gi-own ere this into an Atlantic I'mpire of population, power, and position, not inferior to the United States, and worthy the rule of one of the sons of our Sovereign (^ueen. Under these circum- stances we are not to be blamod, ii for the last ninety years of mismanagement we have failed to induce emigration, and fill up our land with those who in seeking homes preferred oentralisntion and fixed nationality to disjointed nondescript territories. Ho was astonished to see geiitlemen desirous of taking from them the right of making treiities and tarilTs, by interfering with the Minister controlling the Colonial Department, so far as to itiduco his Lordship to interpose his authority in the queslion of reoi])ro- city. Their fathers dated far baek in the early annals of Coloniza- tion, and he tlioiight the Imperial (lovernnient did wrong when they interfered with their right of making a iIeeii)rocity Treaty with the United States. They claimed it as their right, otherwise the Act of 1H(17 was a farce and a delusion, and no better than the constitution now on its way to the eaimibals of Fiji, who receive iuKtruetions direct from Do.v .ing-street, and the Dominion expend tlieir ability and experienee in their wants in making suitable Aets, which are dependent on the whim of the Secretary of Slate of tlio Colonies to become law, or consigned to the tomb of tho Capulets. ■ ii . American Protection and Canadian Reciprocity. 219 It' Ads, of tliu ipnU'tn. No Colonial Empire can exist with a check-string on its treaties, tarifif:^, and commorco, to bo at the mercy of tho operator 8,000 miles away. Colonial policy has been hitherto a blunder and a hard struggle with our fathers and ourselves, and we trust in the future at least we may hope to receive some fair play under the trying task of national competition. Mr. Godson said if he had not known Mr. Haliburton as a Canadian, he should have imagined ho was an American coming from the Western United States. If at tho time of the war the question had been properly taken uj), no doubt some of the Western States would have joined the Southern States, so as to have got rid of the present system in the States, which was set on foot in favour of themselves by the Eastern provinces at the expense of the Western. It was said the reason why Canada was so successful, was because she had got rid of the Reciprocity Treaty ; but if that were so, why was she in such a hurry to get it back again ? If it were against her interest before, it would bo against her interest now and hereafter. As far as reciprocity was concerned no doubt it was against the interest of England. Canada has before done many things to affect her interest with England ; the duties were enormously heavy between I'higland and Canada ; in fact, there was very little difference between them and those between the United States and England. The Americans after tho war had to raise money somehow, and tlioy wisely put their hands in other persona' pockets and protected their own trade, as they thought. The reason for the trade going down in tho United States was not so much in consequence of tho system of protection, as from tho fact, among other reasons, that all tlio best lands up West liad been taken possession of. If a man went out there now as a farmer to grow corn, he would soon come back disgusted, for he would find tho only land to be obtained was that of an interior quality, far in tho interior, and some distance from tho railways. The Eastern States were running fur loo fast for the Western States, building extensive factories and so on out of jn-oportion, thinking that was all they liad to do to make tnulc ; and now thoy had to sutlVi- for it. Mr. Haliburton was in error in his statement about the ships on the inland lakes, for the i)ooplo usually found a loophole to get through such regulations when it suited thorn, and as is always done hero i I Acts of Parliament. This is ciVet'ted in the following manner : a Canadian ship loading at Chicago would merely liave to ptit into a Canadian port, and then proceed to Bulliilo to unload. This is done on the upper lakes everyday. The touching at a Canadian port does away with tho original bill of lading, which is drawn out 220 American Protection and Canadian Beciprocity. to that .port, and then a new one is taken out from that port on to the United States one that they originally determined to unload at. He thought Canada was in a better condition than ever it was before, and that it could now go on successfully without any such change as that proposed being requisite for its further welfare. Mr. Beaumont said he felt embarrassed at being called on to speak, as he came to the meeting in a state of ignorance upon the subject, wishful to learn, but not knowing the position of the matter to be put forward to the Society. His remarks must be of a somewhat general character. He had supposed the question would be, What was the policy in connection with Canadian politics ? Was it a policy desirable to be advanced by public opinion, legislation, and national sympathy, so far as these had to do with it ? As they had been told, the question raised was one of great importance, being. What were the true commercial relations between Canada and the United States ? That which in theory might have seemed to be an unfortunate step on the part of those who had abandoned tbe Reciprocity Treaty, had by accident afforded a very useful stimulus to Canadian trade, because it threw upon them the obligation of sclf-dopondence, and proved to thorn, under that stimulus, that they were able to stand, apart from the commercial support of the United Statos, which seemed hardly to bo considered possible before. It had been said, if that v;cre so we should wholly forego any Reciprocity Treaty, Taking that as a question upon which two opinions might bo given, ho did not think it followed that because the interruption of the Reciprocity Treaty had taught Canada a truer measure of licr resoui'ces, its renewal on a satisfac- tory basis might not ])roduce valuablo results. He tliought it con- sistent with the principles of free trade to look the matter fairly in tlie face, seeing that the glory and tlu; ln<^^ic of free trade was, that commerce was not a game of " bou'gar my neighbour," but its object was to enrich one's noi,!j:hbour as one's self. Tliis sliould put an eiul to the jealousies whicli, up totliat mouiont, had too often been the guiding influence of policy and legislntion, and now that Canada had by happy accident of her neighbour's jealousy as to commercial intercourse, been able to extend its commerce and resources so greatly as it has done, let tliose bo I)roiight into the field, and get an extended and extending system of free commerce with the United States, and they would soon soo a greater extension of wealth and commerciiil and friendly intercourse than liad ever hitherto been known. Whether that system would be best advanced by a treaty of reciprocity between Canada and the United States or Ainericaii Protection and Canadian Itcciprocity, 221 not, it appeared clear that the fact of Canada having done well since the system was in abeyance, was no real argument against the application of free trade, and those natural and practical modifica' tions of absolute freedom by which, having regard to their special situations, coimtries might be brought into the most intimate relationship witli one another, to their mutual improvement, emvJa- tion, and increased welfare. The question might arise, how far an organised system of reciprocity might be supposed to affect the interest of the Empire, or of the mother country in connection with its Colonies, and that was a question important to be kept in view, but a far larger question than could be discussed that evening. Fortunately, as Mr. Haliburton had made plain, there was no antagonism to be feared on the part of Canada, nor, we would hope, any tendency to overbearing or encroachment on the jiart of her mother country. Indeed, there is no reason for jealousy iipon the subject of reciprocity between the Dominion of Canada and the United States. lie had expected to hear some details upon the protection duties, which, it had been said, were to be apprehended, to the prejudice of English manufactures and im- porters. But that question had only been glanced at, and as he had not learned how the questions as to protection had in fact arisen and boon dealt with, he would not venture to discuss so serious a question. It was, however, a fallacy to sui)pose that the system of custom duties, or any other duties, were to be regulated for the special advantage of the merchants at home, especially now that we gave no privileges to Colonial merchants. In all such matters the question was one of degree, of practical and fair adjustment, tnking care that your motive was not wrong, and that you had no desire of excluding the just privilege and opportunity of British mercJiants, at least as much as others, havin'; free access to the markets of the country. Equality is indeed equity, but that must not be the equality of Procrustes' bed, and where there are ques- tions of local interest, or considerations of a special nature as to whether articles of Colonial commerce should be dealt with upon one system or another, it would bo out of place on the part of the mother country, and is not to bo expected from her, that she shall assume an air of dog-in-the-manger jealousy upon such a matter. How unbecoming that would be may be made apparent, not only on considering general principles, but the vast revenue which England raises upon imports from her Colonies. AVhen this is borne in mind, tlie fond ideas of those who treat our Colonics as a burden to us. appoiir fairly to rank with that equally unfounded one, that Colonial duties aro unjust to the mother country. Both I i ^papm 1. *! 222 American Protection and Canadian Beciprocitij. arc alike preposterous. Ou this topic lie might advert, before sitting down, to the case, as well illustrated by the Colony where he first learned the pregnant importance of Colonial questions, viz. British Guiana. When it was remembered, and it was the fact (though it might seem hardly credible), that from that Colony, with a population of only about 200,000 souls, we have imported, for a series of years, products of a value exceeding .€2,000,000, and upon these have raised a revenue for the Imperial customs of over hah' a million yearly, it did seem rather too much to say that the Colony might not fairly raise JL'uO,()00, or £00,000, or £1,100,000 for its local interests by way of duties upon its imports from England. Some people said there would be a time when the revenue would not be raised by custom dues, but ho could not see that that day was near at hand. It scorned to him that the true test of free trade was to deal in a liberal spirit, not applying one rule to all varying cases, but always remembering, as he had before said, that trade should not be a game of " beggar your neighbour," but that there should be Cfjuality in spirit, fairness in dealing, consistently applied to the other general principles proper to i)rac- tical subjects. Mr. F. loLwa said ho took it that the principle of free trade was so perfectly admitted in this country, that everyone at the present time considered it as the principle which ought to govern the rela- tions of the whole world. If that was admitted, he presumed they must consider the paper Avhich had been read showed on those principles conclusively that the American system of protection was a mistake and a failure entirely, lie was inclined to think that some of the reasons given l)y Mr. llaliburtou for the apparent failure of the trade of the United States were not necessarily entirely duo to the system of protection which was prevalent in those States. SutUciont weight had hardly been given to the sorious war which took place a few years ai':o between the North and South, which no doubt had had a serious elVecl, in addition to tlie Alalmnia question, upon the Amoriean currying trade ; but at the same time there could be no doubt, according to the principles now received in this country by all classes, that pert'ect freedom of trade was the best possible thing to assume for all countries, and Englishmen were anxious to preach that doctrine to all nations of the world. But if that principle were correct, it was necessary that all nations should follow their example, and as long as they did not, certain results, which otherwise would be successful, could not bo pro- nounced to be BO. In the case of the United States, when England did away Avith the Navigation Laws, one of the great reasons put i American Protection and Canadian Reciprocity. 223 was sent rcla- tliey lioso was tliat lareut lively tliosc rious outli, (liitllHl limo civcil ivrt tliu liuieu tvorlcl. atioub crtaiu |o yro- if^lainl forward by the advocates of those laws iu this country was, that America, which professed to got great advantage from our per- mitting her ships to come into English and Colonial ports, preserved her coasting trade to herself, and that in return for the opening of our trade to her, she should have done the same. In cases of this kind, as iu all others, he considered that the principle should be, give and take, for the only way iu which trade could be thoroughly successful, was by a free exchange of all commodities without any duties whatever. If that principle were carried out to its fullest extent they must occasi lally find them- selves involved iu the necessity of giving uj) something they would rather not ; and in the i)articular case of the proposed reciprocity between Canada and the United States, it was clear if the United States did away with the objectionable duties against Canada, English merchants would suffer from it. If they were true to their principles he thought they were bound to admit that disadvantage, if it were so, because if the trade between Canada and the United States were free, it would afford certain advantages to those two countries, while against those living further off, and having the Atlantic Ocean intervening, it would bo a physical bar. If their principles were worth anything they must be true to them, and admit their apphcation, even when it should appear to be to their disadvantage. He was the sou of Mr. Geo. Fred. Young, who was one of the most ardent protectionists of his day, and who was known as rcpresentiug the principle of protection as ably as it could be done ; but he could not himself concur in the principles which hia father had most ably advocated, for he believed it was now ad- mitted all over England that those principles Avere unsound, and injurious to the development of trade. Mr. Labillieuk Avishcd to say a few words upon the aspect of tho question as bearing upon the Australian Colonics, lie thought those Colonics might learn an exceedingly useful lesson from tho paper which had been read by Mr. llaliburton. Australia stood out in the Pacific Ocean separated from the rest of the world, having a vast extent of seaboard and many valuable harbours, and if she knew how to manage her affairs aright, she might become one of the greatest niavitimo countries of the world. He thought Mr. llali- burton had conclusively proved that protection had been tho de- struction of the mcrcautile marine of tho United States, and that if persisted hi iu the Australian Colonics, it would prevent them from acquiring that mercantile marine which they had such opportuni- ties for doing. Some doubt had been thrown upon Mr. Haliburtou's assertion accounting for the falUng off in the mercantile mariuo of III .1 III- 224 American Protection and Canadian Reciprocity. the United States, but lie thought the cause of decline was mainly the evil policy of i^rotection. He quite agreed with Mr. Young when he said that the Civil War struck a very serious blow at the mercantile marine of the United States, but that war had ceased for a suflBi- cieut time to have enabled the United States to have recovered to a considerable degree, if not entirely, that position which she occupied as a nation with a large commercial navy. There could be no doubt that Mr. Haliburton had hit on the right cause when he said that protection had been the destruction of that navy more than the Alabama and the Shenandoah, which had been at the bottom of the sea for ten years. But how was it that while the mercantile marine of the United States had declined, the mercantile marine of Canada had risen ? The fact that Canada had acquh-ed the third greatest mercantile marine in the world, whilst, with the rise of protection, the mercantile marine had declined in the United States and had risen in the Dominion, was the strongest evidence that protection was the chief cause of the destruction of the commercial navy of the former. The reciprocity question required to be dealt with with a considerable amount of care, for it would bo prepos- tei'ous that Colonies like Australia, with merely imaginary inland boundaries, should not be allowed to enter into reciprocal arrange- ments amongst themselves, but be required to impose taxes upon each other similar to those imposed upon imports introduced into Australia from the seaboard. Ho thought the concession made by the Imperial Government two or three sessions ago a wise one ; but it was different Avhen they proposed to allow a portion of the Empire to eater into reciprocal arrangements with a foreign State, whereby the productions of that State were more liighiy favoured than those of our own fellow-subjects. Whilst they allowed reci- procity for the sake of convenience between communities witlihi the Empire, he did not think they should allow reciprocity between a community within the Empire and a community without the Empire, to the disadvantage of any section of their own people. The true liscul policy was one of simplicity — a policy of taxation, whereby they could raise revenue in the most convenient way possible ; and if that policy were true of old communities, it was mucli more true of new communities, like the Colonies with long frontiers. It was a very unwise thing for them to attempt to raise revenue by a complicated discriminating system, whereby taxes were put on tliis and that commodity imported or produced within the limits of the territory; for the more elaboraio the system of taritl", the more difficult it was to enforce it, especially in a new country. The experience of the United States and Canada showed them that I n American Protection and Canadian Itecii)rocit\j. 225 LlO lid iUo onx tile D of iiird B of lates that srcial dealt •epob- aland range- i upcu \ into ado by one; of the Btate, ,vovu"cd d rcci- liin the tween a tut tlic I people, [vxatiou, out v-'ivy I it was |itli long , to raise Ucb -were litliin tUc . of tariff, J country. Ihem tliat protection was the folly of political economy, and that free trade was the common-sense of political economy. Dr. Cogswell said one matte, had escaped attention that evening, but perhaps the importan ^e he attached to it was rather peculiar. In former times a diffei ential duty was imposed by tho Colonies in favour of the mother country, the effect being that while the mother country enjoyed the trade of the Colonies, the revenue was raised at the expense of foreigners. When free trade was introduced, it was the policy of the day to be very liberal, and one of the ideas was that the differential duty was wrong and selfish, and therefore it was aboUshed. The Colonies were then obhged to impose equal duties on British goods as on foreign goods. Immediately on that being done, an outcry was raised against British productions being taxed as much as foreign goods. His idea with regard to the policy of England towards the Colonies would bo simply this, that the Colonies should give them the advantage of their trade, imposing a differential duty on foreigners in favoiu' of England, and then they would give them the pro- tection of their army and navy. But if the Colony was to raiso its own forces, it could not bo done without taxation, and there- fore EugUsh prepared goods would have to be equally taxed with foreign goods. Mr. Bruce Smith said tliat Mr. Labilliore had given Mr. Hali- burtou credit for having solved the question which was causing so much loss of property to America, and had remarked that it should be a great lesson to the Australian Colonies. Begret had been ex- pressed that the Australian policies were not represented, but he had the honour of coming from that country, and had during the greater part of his life watched the political progress of Victoria. That Colony was now suffering from a heavy protective tariff, but Mr. Haliburtou had not solved the question. He had given the cause and the result, but had altogether failed in tracing the effect from the cause which he gave. He wished to express his dis- appointment that the essay only gave historical facts, and no information as to how they were to get out of the difficulty. He had himself brought forward a plan to introduce a declining taritf, and having spoken to a great many leaduig manufacturers in Victoria, they admitted that the object of protection was to foster manufactures. As they seemed to think it would take ton years to foster them, his plan was to bind them down to ten years, and compel them to submit to it in a state of dechne : ii they manufac- tured at twenty per cent, the first year, it should be eighteen per : cent, the next year, and so on until the tariff' died out altogether. 226 American Protection and Canadian Reciprocity. ! i i Mr. Haliburton said that, in confining his paper to an historical sketch of ten years of protection in tho United States nnd its results, he had selected a wide field, to which justice could hardly be done in the course of one evening. Ho had carefully avoided going beyond oven this wide subject, and speaking not only of what had been the history of that period, but also of what ought, in the future, to be the policy of statesmen in dealing with the ques- tion of protection. Scores of papers might be written on tho subject of protection as respects the commerce and industry of tho United States, Canada, and the mother country, and tho relations of England with her Colonies, and with foreign countries. As re- gards the effects of protection on tho commerce and industry of the United States, he had devoted several years' attention to the subject, not as a theorist, but as a practical advocate of free trade. All the various points touched on by him had been discussed by him in the presence of the Council of the National Board of Trade, and at social meetings of tho commercial men of Boston, to which as a delegate from the maritime provinces ho had been invited in 1871. In order to bring the commercial sentiment of the continent to bear on politicians, he liad been the means of bringing about a series of international conferences of the Boards of Trade of North America, who had almost unanimously recommended to the American Government to abandon the present restrictions on the foreign trade of the Republic. He had also been able to submit this paper to the criticism of the late Secretary of the National Board of Trade, and also of a very leading American authority on commercial subjects. These facts would show that he had had every chance of drawing correct inferences as to the history of the com- mercial policy of tho United States, and would justify him in his be- lief — a belief shared in by a largo majority of tlie merchants and business men of the United States — that the present depressed state of American trade was mainly due to the artificial restraints which had been imposed upon it. The subjects touched upon by him were connected with a most important, as well as a most difiicult question, for the mastery of which very careful study and reflection were absolutely necessary. The Chairsian (Mr. Freeland) said !Mr. Haliburton had mentioned a name which he was sure would be received with honour in their country — he referred to the name of Monsieur Michel Chevalier. He (the Chairman) had had the pleasure of dining next to M. Chevalier at a club close by tlic other day, and although he certainly showed some signs of increasing age, still in spirit and devotion to those great principles of which, in a neighbo uring country, ho had been r American Protection and Canadian Reciinocitij. 227 al ,ti4 of ;lit, les- the tho Lons \ rc- 7 of I tlic rade. 3d by rade, ivliicli led in tiueut jout a Kortli to the on the submit atioual )rity on id every he com- bis be- nts and cprcssed cstraints upon by a most tudy and mentioned r in tbcir alicr. He Cbevalier [ily Kbowed ,n to tbosc bad been so powerful an advocate, there were no traces of declining energy or of decay. Many matters had been alluded to in connection with the principles of free trade, with a great many of which he thought that everyone would cordially agree. Mr. Haliburton had alluded to empty ship-yards, and what he called a starvation policy, as the results of protection ; and he thought that throughout Europe and the world they were progi'essing to a state of things in which the principle of protection would be regarded not only as a great crime, but also as a great economical blunder. If there were one part of the paper more than another with which he agreed, it was the part referring to tho iron roads in America, showing how tho false principle of legislation had affected the gigantic roads which carried food to the people ; for everyone knew it was an advantage for free commercial traffic to flow over good roads. He wished that Mr. Haliburton had told them more, and had given them somo details as to the present state, principles, and results of tho Canadian tariff, as well as the changes, if any, of which it might stand in need, which ho was fully competent to do. He thought they were greatly indebted to Mr. Beaumont for the valuable practical observations whicli he had made, and especially for his remark that the principle of trade should be one of enriching, and not of beggaring your ncighboui. He believed that everyone present would echo that sentiment. As regarded America and Canada, they should view the progress of any principle which led to a more enlightened commercial or other intercourse between Americans and Canadians, with no miserable feelings of insular jealousy, but with a feeling that their great descendants were carrying oxit on the other side of tlic Atlantic those principles of progress, the ultimate triumph of which it would, lie hoped, be their glory and privilege to witness. Ho thought it was not too much to say, that those present were all convinced that tho gospel of protection wa.s the gospel of suicidal scllishness ; that the gospel of free trade was the gospel, not only of material and commercial well-being, but also of Christian civilization as well as of interna- tional peace and goodwill. "With the progress of free trade principles in England were nssociated the names of Huskisson, of Peel, of Cobden, of Charles Villiers, of Jolm Bright, and he hoped tliat if not those present, their descendants, at all events, were destined to witness the entire triumph of those principles throughout the civilised world. In conclusion, he begged to propose that tho best thanks of the meeting be presented to Jlr. Haliburton for his valuable paper. «ii I /■-!