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Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre ffilmis d des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est filmi d partir de Tangle supirieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas. en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 ^ - 4^ 8 6 got I'l ' MEETING OF THE MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO HELD IN ST. LAWRENCE HALL, TORONTO, NOVEMBER 25, 26, 1^75. The Secretary of the Assoolatlon was re- quested to oomraunicate with Mr. William Dewart, of Fenelon Palls, Ontario, and secure, if poss- ible, his consent to publish in connection with the proceedings of this Convention his articles appearing in the "Montreal Illustrated News" on "Protection for Canada. " The Secretary having secured the consent of Mr. Dewart, his letters appear in this pamphlet. \ Property of - Robert Dewart, ^1 Alliance Ave, , Rochester, N. y[ ^X-^- «, IT % n *^ -f I ha i6T the xi r Wii.K. \f, W. BKr • -/ "Eo. y w. •if /" Som( Ontario, the 25tl depressii healthy : parts of assemble Among Wilby, J Wilby, I Cowan, JBenjamii A. K. I Sutherla \ Toronto \ «M ■«M » ^^^rtufacturcrs' (^S50ciation of ©ntart0. "■ Toronto, Ont., Z?ff^w^rr 3rd., 1875. ;*' 7. I have the honour to transmit for your information a Copy 'bf the Preamble and Resolutions passed at a meeting of the M*''ii';facturers' Association of Ontario, held in this City on the ,//w. B,and 26th of November. WlI.R.., ^ I have the honour to be. |r W. BKf - Ant" "* % *r Your obedient servant, W. H. FRAZER, .'»' >i m •iMI Some weeks ago a circular was issued to the manufacturers of Ontario, asking them to meet in St. Lawrence Hall, Toronto, on the 25th of November, to take into consideration the present depression in trade, and the best means necessary to restore it to a healthy state. Accordingly, a large number of gentlemen from all parts of the Province and some from distant parts of the Dominion, assembled at the place named, yesterday morning at eleven o'clock. Among the manufacturers present were : — Messrs. H. T. Smith, E. Wilby, James Morrison, John Cape, John Fensom, F. E. Dixon, O. Wilby, Hugh Bain, Robert Bain, A. Dredge, C. H. Warren, R. L. Cowan, J. S. McMurray, W. L. Matthews, Robert Barber, jr., Benjamin Lyman, VV. H. Howland, William Wrigley. John Turner, A. K. Lauder, Thomas Saunders (of J. and J. Taylor), R. W. Sutherland, John Ritchie, jr., George B. Stock, E. Gurney, jr., of Toronto ; L. H. Brooks, Stephen King, J. H. Davis, H. Burkholder, T«'-\- VVm. Edgar, James IMcArthur, Wm. lUirrows, J. N. Tarbox, S. E, Townscnd, and A. Janiicson. of Hamilton; George Mocehead, London ; John Wardlaw, W'm. Young, J. G. Mowat, Robert Scott, Gait ; Robt. McKechnie, Dundas ; VVm. Jiarber, Robert Barber, senr., J. S. Statten, Streetsville ; William Jiell, Wm. Wilkie, John Jackson, Guelph ; J. Riordon and R. H. Smith, St. Catherines ; S. B. liradshaw, J. McClung, W. U. Horsey, Bowmanville ; John R. Barber, Georgetown ; Thomas YVmbrose, William Craig, J. G. King, Port Hope ; A. S. Whiting, W. T. Cowan, Oshawa ; Young, McNoughton S: Co., and A. T. Higginson, Montreal ; H. Farring- ton, Norwich ; ' 'outh, I'ort Dover ; Geo. Smith, We.ston ; E. R. Shorey, Napar vV. Ramsay, Orillia ; James Smart, Brockville ; B. Rosamond ... Rosamond, Almonte; N. V. Brown, Whitby; John Ross, Norval ; T. Despona, Springfield ; Robert Waugh, Ancaster ; Robinson & Robertson, Harriston ; Waite & Dolan, Merriton. There were also prisent during the day Mr. John Macdonald, iM. P. ; Hon. J. l\. Robinson. M. 1'. ; Mr. Samuel Piatt, M. P. ; Professor Goldwin Smith. Mr. W. A. lH)stcr an^ Mr. 1\ C. Capreol, of Toronto; Mr. /\. T. Wood, M.P. and Mr. Ai. Irving,. M.P., Hamilton ; and Mr. W. A. Thompson, M.V., Welland. ELECTION OV CU. AIRMAN. On motion of Mr. B. Lvman, Mr. W. H. Howland was^e"* j^ed Chairman of the meeting. H The ClIAlRM.VN made a few remarks expressive of his sense of the honour of being elected to so impf)rtant a positicm, and hoped all the proceedings would be conducted without party or political feeling, and without exaggeration, and solely from a business point of view. APrOlNTMKXTS OF CO.VIMIT'IKES. The following standinr^ conimittcvs wcr(^ then appointed : — Rcso/itliotis und Order of J!tis!i:rss — Messrs. Booth, Smart, Staunton. W. Hell, Rosamond, J. R. Barber, T. B. liickle, W. Barber, C. H. Warren, \\. C. Jones, 10. Gurney, Ji. Lyman, Lavignay, and S. R. Michen. Finance and Or,^anhaticn — Wm. Mickers, R IL Smith, John Riorden, S. Jj. l')radshaw, A. POlliott, T. N. Gibbs, W. Craig, Irving, and L. H. Brooks. The meeting then adjourned till the afternoon. AFTERNOON SESSION. Mr. HOWLANI) took the chair at about tlucc o'clock. On doing so, he said he was sure they had all felt, since the last meeting of manufacturers, that there had been a great change of opinion \ arbox, S. E. Moo'-ehcad, obert Scott, Dert Barber, Vilkie, John thcrines ; S. e ; John R. ,J. G. King, /a. ; Young, H. Farring- iston ; E. R. Brockville ; n, Whitby; crt Waugh, e & Dolan, y Mr. John aniuel Piatt, 1^ Mr. F. C. . AL. Irving,. was^e) l^cd his sense of , and hoped or political usiness point • ntcd : — otii. Smart, liickle, W. n, Lavignay, Smith, John raig, Irving, ^ke ^^Irtuufacturcrs' ^ssQciation of (Dntitria. OFFICERS FOR 1875. Jamks Watson, Esri. B. Lyman, E.s(| M. Staitnton, Es(]... John Gciiuion, Rsii... . John Tiunku, Esii W. H. Hdwi.ani), V,Ai\. W. B. Hamu.ton, Ks'|. R. W. Kl.l.ioT, Ks(|. PRESIDENT. Knitted GooiIh Hamilton. 1st VICE-PRESIDENT. .Messrs. LyiiiHU IJros (Jluiiiiicnls Toronto. 2nd VICE-PRESIDENT. .Messrs. M. iiituunton At, Co I'iiper Stninors Toronto. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. .Messrs. (Jonion A: M.'irkay fJolton Mills Toronto. . " .(oliii 'I'linn-r A: Co Uools luiil Shoes " " Howland & Son n.inlware " lioots and Shom " . '• ElliotctfNi Clu'iiiicals " John McI'iikuson, Escj... R. M. Wanzkii, Ks(i W. E. SaNKOIU), Esi| - WlI.KIK, BIsi] W. Bki.i,, FIsii. .folin Mrl'liiTson ife Co. lioots and Slioes Ilaniilton. K. M. Wiiii/.ev dt Co Sewinu' Mai'hines " Saiit'ord, IJicklev itVailClotliiii'.,' Wilkie I't i>er St. OatliarineB }i. H. SMirn, Hsii ManiilV. ofSaws " Ar.K.\. Au.MiTAiii;, Esi] Men'liants' Salt Co Salt .Seal'ortli. W. Cowan, Es(| Wliitiuu' .M.uuiliutiirio'.^ Co Edf?e 'fools Oshawa. W. MAiVlin.i.oi-iJH, Es'\ BnotliitSnh Brass Kounilry " John It. Haimh:!!, Es(|....\V. liavli'C .t Hvo I'ajier Geoi<;etowu. Thos. Mini, \\ CORRESPONDINQ SECRETARY. W. IL FuAZKii Toronto. RECORDING SECRETARY. .John Maclkan Toronto. OFFICE— 37 SCOTT STREET, TORONTO, ONT. ■ym- «tw •••<% Hon, Alexander MacUeuzie was present j at a concert of the ^lontroal Workingnien'ii Mutual Beueftt .Society lost ovculng, ami in an aiMrcns to t}ic audience attributed tlie de]ire88ion to luitural ouucs. IMVOUTINll AMKKK AN < AIJCOKS. jf^'f^ Suinidcs of calicoes woven in America are lieing offered, sayn tiic J.li'eriiool Conrl'-r, *.. largo drajMsry liouseft in fxiudou at rather lower ])rieea 'thtm ' the LuiOMbira uiarkf' can 1)0 l»onght f^r. Tlic <|Ufility ia eou- Hideied geniTally to lie ijiiiti; e(iiuil to'^u lionie-niade calicoes. '^iCc^i^ ^^^ /f / The Orapiiie 'iiyiir— For the 1m* h»W ONttvry »tio cWft ambition of B»v»go nktuns bH beett to obian modtrn wo»poM wad •' fixed »mmiuiltlon," *n\ ohiofa both on tWa oontliient »nd in the E«t h.ve P"*^ *<> ^ Set%;e»pci>« to Blangbter .n EaglUb d^. tMbment, wd the CfiFree drive their Dotob S^qoeroM down the monnUtai with braeoh. JotOer. which those aama Du^oh lp"gM to Af rlo* Mid Bold to them for fiw tipei their the 'J4tli ult. II >ormai ftcnoiu. ^//•/r J- Lomlon Iron of the 'J4tli ult. in an article on the dopreHsion in the iron trade in England saya "oil hope of tliV iron rail trade liaa been given up, " and < "the cast- ing!i trade is no better, light cantinga from tlie United Htates Ijcing imported into Stad'ordHhire in increasing fjuantitica." It adds "local inm nuisteru declare that the local trade of Sheffield has not been in such an unsatisfactory condition as at pres- ent since 1 84r>. Many of the mills arc stand- ing still, and more than half of the blast- fnnuicea are out. " TUo Jirltish MercHutik IJcnrllf of the same date says :— " In Aus- tralia and New Zeftland the United States 1 liouses, we are assured, are carrying all be* fore them, and at the present rate of pro- giesb it will evidently not be many years before these splendid and expanding mar- kets are entirely lost to the maiiufacturera and merchants of the old country." AjuI yet Free Trade builds up while I'roteotion crushes out manufacturing industries I 0, vain and foolish doctrine ! '}t<4J^J^ ^^ , HAMILTON; \ I From Our th»n Correspondent.' TltUOWINC! OKlf THE MASK, Ha.mu.ton, Doc. 14, — For n while th« ' T'uw» professed to be in favour of ft^tec- I tion to home manufactures, though de- nouncing Protection to agi*iculture aa j .something monstrous and impracticable. : This comoromise between Protection and ! the MacKouzie Government was but a hypocritical homage to the farmer, and di«t , not really impose nixart of the Timi^. At last the I mask is thrown off,' however, and the , Hamilton apologist of our " fly-on-the- wheel" GoyemmcHt no .longer makes the pretence, even, of adi^bcating any kind of I'roteotion at sill. Of late it has taken to publishing items calculated to show that (Junadian industries are all so prosperous that not}'.in^ of the kind is needed — that it. would bo, ui fact, entirely sujwrfluouh. To-day it attacks leading Protectionists in Hamilton, Tonong others, Mr. Edward ( Jurney, a life-long Reformer, who it ia suspected has got tired of supporting a Government that refuses to give the coun- try the most ueedful of all reforms, Un. derstunding that Meesrs. Mclnucs and Guruoy have called a meeting of nianufac- tureit» here to choose a delegate to tlm Dominion Board of Trade, the Times tells them that they have no power to send a delegatiJ, and sneeringly.asks whether Mr. Gunicy is an example of a manufactuvei- ruined lor want of Protection. It is well that the pretence so long kept up has been dropped at last, and that the Free Trftd« organ here is now out in its true colouis. . itcutionists in Mr. Kdward ', who it is supporting m. ive the coun- iforras. Tn. Mclnncs uiid ; of nianufae- 3gate to thw i ! Times tells • to send a ; whether Mr. / manufacturer j It is well b up has been Free Trade 'ue colouis. .1 91 LETTE R S Letter 1. FRi:i: TRAUK IX'ONOMY. front the Canadian Ii.i.tsrRAi kd Nksvs, Mny 30, 1S74. Most persons liavc read or beard of Whan;,', the Miller. 'I'lie story of his I adventure and niisforiune will never cease to be interesting;. Were he livini^ now, there is no doiiht he would be a i'ree- Trader. I'roscnl uratilication, inunc- diate and larjjc protit, his ruiin;^ ])assion, is the ruling passion of free-traders •everywhere. ICcononiists of thi-< school are evir dreanun^ of treasures in fri^c- Irade pans, and, like W'hanj;, if alloweil, would keej) on di^'^inj; until home jnanufactures would tunil)le down in ruins. The Southern planters were Whan;; the Miller economists and politirians. They, too, dreamed of treasures in Free- Trade pans. 'Tiiey aimed at securing; immediate and larj;e profits ; they sold in the dearest markets and hou^dit in theu cheapest ; tliey despised the i)roiits and occupations of home manuf.icturers ; thus undermining; their mills and workshops, idl war made their once o|)ulenl country one vast scene of sutVerm^ and desolation. In wars and sie;^es, t.imii\e shoots harder than cannon, Tiut if people see no immediate (lanj;er in a measure, they c.ire little ahout its ef%:ts in the futmv. 'I'his an a;;e of firtSi'iit ^^ratification ; patriotism, economy, and the public safely make important con- cessions the rulin;; passion. Present dan;,'ei- and />r,scnt i^ralilication arc the main motives which move the multitude. The opportunities afforded b\- such measures as Free-'Trade, for present i^^ratification, are seldom resisted by people who have once formed luxurious tastes. It was by protection that ];n>,dand overtook nations that once excelled her in manufactures. She not only levied hii^h ihuics on imported goods, but pro- hibited the export of raw material by severe pen.iltics. .She ;;ave the home manufacturers control of the liome market in the most complete manner, till from this solid basis they line successfuih- in\aded every (ountry in the world. Not only tills, the competition of the home nLinuficturers in the home market, reducetl the price of ;;oods 10 the Ihiiish jieople lower than they could €ver have been procmcd by f.ee-tratle. .So far was the protective system carried that she woukl neither sell lln.L;li-.h wool to foiei:.;ri manufacturers nor buy tlieir cloth, hi the early sta>j;es of Fii-jliih niaiuifaituics the i\poiiation of wool was made a felony b)' the common law. 'Tlie rv.n.T of a slii]), kno\\in;;ly expoilin^ wool, forfeiied '• .'ill his intiMest in tlie ship and iurnitnie." See Ad.im .Smith's Wealth of .Nations, vol. 2 and i):t>,'i's 4ui, 493, and 4()6. Accoidiiig to Free-'J'rade theories, ;hi ; kind of rei^triction, on the export of an article, would cause its prov somewhat resembles our own, we will find it divided into periods of Free-Trade and protection. During a period of protection, the government paid off the debt of the Revolutionary war, .aid built up considerable home manufactures. Then came a period of Free-T/ade, which drained the country of specie, ruined the manufactures, and ended in r. great commercial crisis. Each period of Free-Trade and protection, since that time, has produced a similar result. What is protection doing for the States now ? Last ye?r American manufivcturcrs were sending machinery to Ireland; and English merchants com- plained that Americans were underselling them two dollars per ton on iron. The time is coming when the British Government may have to throw around their manufacturers the shield of protection once more. The present contention between workmen and masters may bring about a crisis in the manufacturing interests of England which will put their Free-Trade principles to the test. Men talk bravely when danger is far off. So it is with British Free-Traders while they know their own manufactures are an overmatch for foreigners. But let the British markets be flooded with foreign goods, let British manufacturers be ruined, let the country be drained of specie, and see how long they will hold to their free-trade principles, This state of things would bring about as vigoroiis protection as ever. Free-Trade is an advantage to England now, but it was not so, or considered so, till it was seen that British manufacturers were an over- match for foreigners. Unnecessary dependence is a bad thing. The individual or nation that is- depending, more than ordinarily, on others for any essential condition or pros- per.'ty, is ever in great danger. Such a condition is not favourable either to- the increase of wealth or to the preservation of liberty. The increase in the tariff, asked of the Government by Canadian manufac- turers, would not be a tax, but an investment in home manufactures by the p-»ople, n-liich would return to them with a large profit in a very short time. Goveriu 1' ':! bonuses to railways correspcmd exactly with the principle of pro- tection io I) ji ■: 'anufactures. Free-Traders say, "Let us do without home manu- l.icturps :b' .1 ,y become sufficiently profitable to exist without protection."' Mo'v w>M !d 11 iuit to say, " Let us do without railways till they become suffi- ricii'iy r^'i.': nble to pay without Government or municipal aid." Trade can be 'd- *Vee !u • .11;,; .ud for the same reason that railways can be built there without •,uc'i 'if' .is is usually required in this countrv. Comparison between England and Canada holds good in very few cases, and least of all in their trade relations. We aid railways by bonuses in order to bring producers and consumers into closer relations with each other ; and protection to home industry has precisely the same effect. \V. DEW ART. Letter 2. FALLACIES OF FREE TRADE. From the Canadian Ili.ustkated News, July 13, 1874. To the unthinking mind there is a charm in the word " free." What is fret in one sense may be very costly and dangerous in other senses. As familiarity is said to beget contempt, so freedom is very liable to degenerate into folly. What is called Free-Trade might be called foolish-trade with a great deal more propriety. It is bad economy. J t looks only to immediate saving or profit ; and nothing is well done in which this is the mam motive. Immediate saving or profit causes the farmer to crop without manuring his land. Immediate saving or profit causes the consumer to buy and use inferior articles. In both cases,. 1 \ ■MM new countr>v lof Free-Trade Tit paid off the I manufactures, [specie, ruined Each period led a similar 'r American lerchants com- Ir ton on iron, throw around ient contention manufacturing the test. Men !ers while they But let the nufacturers be ley will hold to out as vigoroiis , but it was not were an over- nation that is. idition or pros- irable either to idian manufac- actures by the ;ry short time, finciple of pro- mt home manu- ut protection."' f become suffi- Trade can be 't there without tween England tr.ide relations^ :onsumers into f has precisely EWART. B74. What is free As familiarity ■ate into folly, reat deal more or profit ; and iate saving or iiediate saving n both cases,. 23 however, it is well known that the saving, in the first instance, is more than com- pensated by the loss in the end. We spend money to make money. Little is ever made otherwise. When • we increase the duties on imports, to bring about a permanent reduction in the price of home manufactures, this is our motive. It is not partiality to home manufacturers, as a class; but foresight and self interest which cause us to do so. Protection is foresight. It is simply looking ".t the question in all its bear- ings, from beginning to end. Free-trade pnuciples correspond exactly with certain customs of barbarous tribes and nations. Persons who from age or other illness, for the time being, are unable to keep up with the rest of the tribe in their journeys or .'ligrations, are left behind and allowed to perish. So it is with Free-Traders : an industry, however useful, which is temporarily unable to compete with older and stronger industries, is allowed to perish for want of some trifling relief. Each industry or trade for which a nation is adapted should be made to assist all other industries, and they in return should aid in its develop- ment. Trades or industries, like individuals, should conform more to the habits of civilized man than to those of the brute creation, For example, if a human being is about to perish, nothing is more common than for another human being to afford him relief. It is otherwise with the brute creation. One beast may starve in the midst of a numeious flock, without another offering to place a mouthful of food within his reach. Free-Trade is an unnatural doctrine and opposed to the higher order of nature's economy. Free-Trade reminds me of the saying — " root, hog or die." It is well known, however, that this advice very seldom holds good. It would not pay. There are times when it is much wiser to afford certain ones a little extra food and care. Protection shapes the back to the burden. If a man buys a farm, a team, a waggon, a plough, a spade, clears a fallow or drains a field, he increases his immediate liabilities or expenses. This, however, does not increase his poverty, or incapacity for meeting his requirements. With such increased expenses his ways and means for meeting them increase also. Where protection increases the cost of an article to any extent it also increases the purchasing power of consumers to a much greater extent. For example, this country imports thous- ands of tons of iron annually, while it has iron ore in abundance, and wood for fuel for smelting purposes. At present, getting rid of the wood is an expensive operation in farming ; but were the mines being worked it would become a source of profit. Frequent changes in the tariff and the advocacy of Free-Trade prin- ciples are what prevent capitalists from engaging in these enterprises. Till a settled protective policy is adopted, all these enterprises will be neglected. If protection tended to withdraw capital from agriculture or other exiSiing indus- tries it would be different ; but this is not the case. Where capital or labour is thus drawn, it is from the foreign countries which would have supplied the goods in the absence of protective duties and home manufactures. Thus if we exclude any portion of American manufactures and replace them with home manufac- tures, the capital and skilled labour required to do so will come from America directly or indirectly. It is only a question with us where our workshops will be. If work will not go to the workshops the workshops will come to it. When J. & P. Coats were prevented by the duties from sending their thread to the States, they simply established a factory there by exporting capital and skilled labour for the purpose It i'^ the capital and skilled labour of foreign countries we- want, not their manufactured goods. It is only by rendering the latter unprofit- able that we can get the former. Protection, in a country like this, puts every industry into healthy operation. It brings more emigrants than all the agents Government could employ. Better still, it keeps them here when they come. This is not the case under a Free-Trade policy. Emigrants brought here now, at the public expense, are known to go right over to the States for want of the very conditions which home manufactures would supply. With protection we have work for all classes ; with F>ee-Trade we can employ little lore than agricul- L- 'fk ,es alonj^-. L' " dra--ed ■als dictate. ' -^! country, fir example. A single stroke of diplomacy has totally paralyzed it. By one wrong move profits are rendered impracticable. A theory has, however, been tested ; but at an enor- mous cost. This is the application of Free-Trade principles to the lumber business. The present authorities, believing that competition, supply and demand,, are all that is necessary to maintain trade in a wholesome state, offered immense timber limits for sale. This, together with giving settlers power to sell their timber at the time when the market w-as fully supplied, caused a glut resulting in the present crisis. Free-Traders ascribe the depression to the monetary crisis in the States. Now half the truth is usually a lie. This explanation is but part, and a very small part, of the cause. The depression is partly due to that crisis, but principally to bad legislation in this country. Previous to this, while limits were oflered for sale sparingly, the trade flourished and made profits. People, like children, often cry for what would make them sick. The lumbermen demanded limits, and the government, like a foolish parent, gave them an over- dose. Heucr popular demands require to be tempered with prudence. The Reformer ni y be as much too fast as the Conservative is too slow ; and the former failing is fraught with much more danger than the latter. The jThe ca ^umber .|carious : I It does 1 tin highe I and to c [ circulati I both in I lumbere limits, o Hence, went up cause glutting purpose stimula were ol many, c glutting the nev require like tri basis o than hi Tl • arerag legislai produc Such i and be or^ani • A adopte the ru binati owner affect straits will n I tliis, i \ worki , impn and I coun want may loss. It is jiess mer( reco beer mar Rec \ ^im i fm. -^^-*-^ MM derratcd and the in a sense, the It centralization as in the money •ok to Lombard ■ their money n all the banks le bill brokers* k of En>;land. m the Bank of )ublic. Hence, reserve in the on are in Lon- ation of money ■orld. There is. The French so freely as the |en in the most France is littlt e indemnity. )EWART. 1874. 1th exceeds the- eon an average times at which IS the basis of Lifacturer, even ires, tariffs or pie. A single ve profits are It at an enor- ;o the lumber i and demand,, ered immense ' to sell their glut resulting lonetary crisis. >n is but part,, to that crisis, i, while limits fits. People, : lumbermen liem an over- 'ideiice. The :iw ; and the ■■«!'' ■I i a; I The sale of those limits has stimulated production ever since. Worse stilL iThe capital formerly employed in handling and holding the manufactured Jlumber was invested in limits, throwing the manufacturers on the more pre- Icarious and costly aid of banks. Capital is not unlimited or elastic like the air. fit does not move from one trade to another without a pull. The pull consists tin higher interest. There is a certain amount of capital available for each trade, ' and to draw in more than this requires an eftbrt and sacrifice. "Hence, the circulating capital locked up unproductively in those limits had to be replaced,. both in Canada and the States, by drawing capital from other industries. The lumberers could draw capital from other industries, to replace that invested in limits, only by offering the banks higher rates of interest than others were dving. Hence, a ruinous competition for all parties commenced, and the bam rates went up to ten per cent. I will not say that the lumber trade was he sole cause of this ; but I believe it to be the main cause. The other ef ect, the glutting of the market, was caused in this way. It is not necessary for my purpose, to show that the new limits have been yet touched. Their )urchase I stimulated production on the old limits. Firms investing largely in new limits ,)'f were obliged to get some of their money back as soon as possible. This was, in $ many, cases, done by increasing the production of the old limits ; and so far as I glutting the market is concerned, is just as effectual as if the work had been on I the new limits. There is something more than supply, demand, and competition % required to regulate trade. If left to these alone, manufacturers and traders, I like tribes and clans, are liable to exterminate each other. Legislation is the basis of all business success. Business can no more prosper under unwise laws than human life can continue vigorous in a foul atmosphere. There are rich men in the worst governed countries ; but whether the ayerage wealth of people is high or low depends very much on their laws and legislation. Organizations, like that lately formed by the luniDermen, to curtail production, could not be needed under a sound system of commercial legislation. Such a system would lead each individual to pursue the course best for himself and best for society without entering into any organization. Tlie necessity for organizations proves the existence of great abuses or defects in the laiv. Again, such organizations are nearly always inoperative. No rule can be adopted suitable for all interested. Hence, the result is that one or more break the rule and the rest gradually follow. This is the difficulty attending a com- bination. There are, also, difficulties in the absence of organization. No mill- owner likes to set the example of curtailment by closing his works. It might affect his credit. People would be liable to think he is getting into financial straits. Rather than send the impression alaroad he goes on till ruined. He will not halt while strong, and is ashamed to halt when becoming weak. Besides tliis, stop when he will, there is another danger. In all such suspensions the workmen are likely to consider the act a device for lowering wages. .Such an impression as this once created may endanger both the employers' property and life. Much will never be accomplished by organization. In fact weak firms will countenance the attempt least. There arc two causes for this. First they may want to conceal their weakness by assuming a tone of indifference. Second they may have no way of meeting their liabilities but by keeping in motion even at a loss. To stop and let their fixed capital stand idle may in itself be ruinous. It is only strong tirms that are able to do this. Many a man continues a busi- ness, and makes a living by it, long after his capital is gone. Under vicious com- mercial laws such a person cannot recover ; but under good laws he may not only recover but afterwards amass wealth. The lumber trade of this country has been partially ruined by the application of Free-Trade principles ; and all our manufacturers will be ruined also if that principle, as contained in the proposed Reciprocity Treaty, be carried into effect. Mismanagement always leads to increased loss, labour and expense. There jmtm 1 I V 28 is nnthin^' in which t'lis is more apparent than in Icfjishuion. The individua! can 110 more escape thi effects of bad laws than tiie effects of a bad cHniUe. Tiie trouble, loss and expense occasioned by the sale of the limits referred to are incalculable. We may possibly have more legislation on the subject, as it is proposed now by free-traders to put an export duty on lumber to check its manufacture, TJiis would be a step from extreme Free-Trade to extreme pro- lection. Lumber is said to be unprofitable now ; and they propose to make it profitable by putting new taxes on it. W. DEWART. Fenfj.on Fall. Letter S. RECIPROCITY IN HARDWARE. F/v//i the Canadian Illustrated News, Jan. 23, 1875. It is heavy L;oods in which home manufacturers first begin to compete with foreigners. These rec|uiic little skilled labour and a large quantity of raw mater- ial. The raw material and the manufactured work being alike heavy, freight on this class of goods affords home manufactures some protection. They can make ploughs before axes, and axes before pen knives. In the manufactures of boots and shoes, for example, this country ceased to import stogies long before women's calf boots, and women's calf boots long liefore children's boots. It is not long since these latter were imported in large quantities from ATassachusetts ; and, notwithstanding the duties always paid, they would still be imported but for the increased taxes caused by the war in the States. The ostensible argument of Free-Traders is that Canadian manufactures can com- pete with y\mericaii. I admit they can in some kinds of heavy goods ; but the quantity of American manufactures on the shelves of hardware stores in the Dominion show that they cannot do so in light goods. It shows, also, that even English manufacturers cannot stop the importation of American goods into Canada. Notwithstanding this, FrccTiaders tell us that American manufactures are ruined by protection. Take lish hooks, for example. I have been selling fish hooks for thirteen years, and never saw a fish hook made in Canada ; though during that time 1 have seen and sold thousands manufacturnl in New Haven, Conn. Now, I have no doubt there is a larger per centagc on tish hooks than on any ai-ticle of hardware manufactured in this country. The Americans and English have the best share of nur hardware business yet. Most if not all the brass rivets used in Canada are nade in the States. Tire bolts ami carriage boil- are imported in large quantities from l^hiladcl- jiliia. Factories for the manufacture of these have been staited in dift'erent parts of Canada, but as yet, notwitiistnnding freight, duty, and war taxes, the Amcri- hich ga' ,he scrat Ther sed in t! :nows, airbank The Factories formidab ^ruining t y| Stee ;;J Razors o % aware of chusetts, ,, mers is % the Stat I sent tho i our man 'A than coil * business ■ danger 1 t"i Canadia i this desc I Nothing ;' tion cor I their cu % Wi I see, but were so of Can: they w( were so manufii apart Tl to proi erish a dian c: for An the bu. operat or inti T as chf goods culty. offer ! cannc mark Cana^ tmm The iiidividua! >f a bad cliiunte. limits referred to e subject, as it is bcr to check its to extreme pro- pose to make it DEWART. 1S75. o compete with y of raw mater- eavy, freight on They can make ictiircs of boots before women's ^luantities from y would still be [e States. The tiires can com- Soods ; but the re stores in the also, that even :an goods into mufactures are en selling fish ^'lada ; tliough New Haven, ih hooks than mericans and if not all the Vom I'hiladcl- aifferont parts s, the Amcri- bolts used in ?is of ploughs id I. Whon- e\v York are are iinjjorted ',. so far as I are made in ■tioM to their ,^ light goods hiWQ begun 29 compete with the Americans. Messrs. Pillow, Hersey & Co., of Montreal, ve been manufacturing in large quantities for some time. A good deal, hew- er, are still imported from the .States, particularly Abbington, Mass. ^ .Spirit Icvclers-are imported from Philadelphia. I have never seen onemawe Canada, and am not aware of a factory of the kind being in the country. 'hencver I order spirit levelers from a wholesale house I get those of American anufacture. Here, then, are articles in which neither Canadians nor English an drive the American manufacturers from the market; and it is protection ■which gave them the start necessary to attain this position. Most, if not all, of he scratch awls used in the country are made in the States. There is no cartridge factory in Canada of which I know : all the cartridges sed in this country come from Connecticut and New York. Scales, e\eryone nows, are largely imported from St. Johnsbury, Vermont, where the famous airbiinks' factory is. The protection afforded Idj' the American (.unernmcnt has built up splendid actories of this kind all over the Union, and made American manufacturers "ormidable all over the globe. .Still, Free-Traders tell us that protection is ruining the States. I am inclined to think it is ruining somebody else. Steel pens iiianufactured in New Jersey are used extensively in this country. Razors of American manufacture are imported to this country, but I am not aware of any being manufactured here. Shoemaker's awls come from Massa- chusetts, and the handles from Connecticut. Though the manufacture of ham- mers is carried out to a large extent-here, very many are, still, imported from the States. When I order steel hammers to retail at over a dollar 1 am usually sent those of American mani.racture. Distance or freight, on hammers, afilbrd our manufacturers very little protection. These advantages are much more than counterbalanced by the accumulation of labour, skill and capital where the business has been long established. But let the tariff remain as it is ; let the danger of sudden changes cease ; and labour, skill and capital will come to Canadian manufacturers in such quantities as will soon enable them to make all this description of goods required, both in respect to price, quality ahd quantity. Nothing paralyzes industry more than uncertaint)-. While the Free-Trade agita- tion continues, Canadian manufacturers cannot calculate, either, who will be their customers or what will be their profits. With " a market of forty millions" they n\ay be like Moses, permitted to see, but not allowed to enter the promised land. More American cradle scythes were sold here at Fenelon Falls during the last three years than similar scythes of Canadian make. They were no cheaper or lietter than Canadian goods, but they were imported and purchased by storekeepers here, and had to be sold, and were sold. The farmers who bought them gained nothing, but the American manufacturer made a profit and the Canadian manufacturers were deprived of a part of their legitimate trade. There is neither patriotism, statesmanship nor policy in theories calculated to produce such results as this. vSuch a policy must necessarily tend to impov- erish a counfry. Reciprocity would annihilate in one instant millions of Cana- dian capital. As in the case of the scythes above referred to, it is not necessary for American manufacturers to undersell ours ; //icy need only to take enough of the business to make the balance unprofitable. Here is another thing which would operate against Canadian manuAicturcrs : Canadian goods, not being yet known or introduced in the States, agents would have great difficulty in getting orders. There would be a prejudice against the idea that we could make goods either as cheap or well as old American manufiicturers. On the other hand, American goods being long known in this country, agents get orders without much diffi- culty. To establish a business in the .States, our manufacturers would have to offer a better and cheaper article than the American manufacturers, which they cannot do. It is easy to foresee the result. Between. the loss of the home niarkot and the delays and difficulties of establishing any business in .he Slates^ Canaviian manufacturers would be ruined in nine cases out of ten. i».-i 'iS 30 Notwithstanding heavy freights on safes, considerable numbers are im- ported from the States. An agent from Cincinnati took '|uite a number of orders in Canada not long ago. It is proljably with the safes as with the scythes. The pi#chiners are in no way benefited. Hut it results in profit to the American manufactures and loss of legitimate business to the Canadiaii. It is natural for Canadians to buy American safes, but not for Yankees to buy Canadian safes, if they were even twice as good as any made in their own ■country. The " market of forty million" has a great many drawbacks like this. Steam engines are also imported from the States. Not long ago I saw an agent selling steam engines made in New York city to persons living at Georgian JJay. Axes, once largely imported from the States, are still imported to some <;xtent. A storekecijer at Horse Shoe Bridge, somewhere in the back country south of Lake Nipissing, has American axes advertised for sale. These axes ^re no cheaper and perhaps not so good as Canadian axes. Their sole result consists in transferring a certain profit from home manufacturers to foreigners. In the face of these facts, can any person argue that Reciprocity would benefit Canadian manufacturers? Free-Traders know this as well as anyone, but their real spring of action is utter indifference about the success or existence of Canadian manufactures at all. With access to the States, Canadian manu- facturers are needed no longer. Perish Home manufacturers, m order that Free Traders' whims may succeed ! The great mass of mankind exercise too little foresight. Mr. Hagehot, in his able work on Politics, says a desire for instant action constitutes the chief difference between savages and civiilized man. It is this desire for instant action in politicians which lead people, step by step, uncon- sciously to results of which they never dream, till the prevention becomes impossible. I see a man opening a dyke, and tell him the sea will come in. He says, "I will oppose the sea." His opposition will be too late. If he opens the dyke, the sea will enter in spite of him. I hear men demanding Reciprocity, and tell them it will lead to nnnexaiton. They say " we will oppose annexatioH." Their opposition will be too lat>.. Annexation will follow Reciprocity in spite ot them. " They're sowing the seed," but " what shall the harvest be ?" Fenelon Falls. W. DEWART. Letter 6. From the Canadian Illustrated News, Feb. 13, 1875. Some articles in the last number of The Canadian Farmer, copied from the Ohio Farmer, The Oshawa Vindicator, and The Whitby Chronicle, furnish an excellent argument against Reciprocity in Agricultural Implements. They show that, so far as real ultimate profit is concerned, the more men " seek it in Free Trade, they leave their views the farther." The article to which I refer, gives an account of the manufacture of The Champion Mower and Reaper, by Messrs. Whitley, Fassler and Keily, of Springfield, Ohio, and Messrs. Joseph Hall and Company, of Oshawa. The factory in Springfield was started about twenty years ago, on a small scale. It made fifty machines the first year ; it can make about fifty thousand in the same time now. " Champion Reapers, from Springfield," says The Oshawa Vin- dicator, " are this year being sent to France, Germany, Prussia,' Austria, Poland, Hungary, Denmark, Russia, Egypt, Sweden, England, East Indies, Chili, the Argentine Republic, and Australia," ) mmimgmmmmmmm jlj|g|^r'ii>,i<|ilMriri»rr"- r- MMMi ers are im- )er of orders ythes. The e American Yankees to n their own :ks like this, ^o I saw an at Georgian led to some ack country These axes sole result reigners. ocity would as anyone, or existence idian manu- er that Free stant action 1. It is this step, uncon- on becomes will come in. If he opens Reciprocity, annexation." ty in spite of WART. 5. ied from the ?, furnish an e more men ture of The id Keily, of hawa. The II scale. It in the same Thawa VtH- ria, Poland, IS, Chili, the 31 " Twenty-five hundred machines are being built at Oshawa for the harvest of 1875," in Canada. How does this come.'' " Mr. L. H. Lee, who has been connected with the Champion in the States and Elurope for the past thirteen years, has come here to rj^side and tal<4KPNtf|p of its construction and sale in Canada." Had Free-Traders their way.^o Champion Machines would be built at Oshawa ; nor would Mr. L. H. Lee come there to reside, lie would build the machines at Springfield, and export them to Canada, as he does to other countries. The duty on these machines has compelled Mr. Whitly, the manager of the Springfield factory to take a share in the Hall works at Oshawa. " The Hall Company," says the Vindicator, " not only secures Mr. Whitly's capital, and the exclusive control of his patents and future inventions, but the benefit of his ex- perience, energy, judgment and prestige." This is just what Canada wants. If we have PVee-Trade, let it bi in capital, labour, skill and experience — not in manufactures. The Joseph Hall Works, in Oshawa, will bring more capital, and desirable emigration into Canada, than some of the emigration agencies maintained Iby the Government at great expense, in foreign countries. If any person thinks that profits are large in this country, let him come with all the capital he can command, and all the skilled labour he can employ, and share in the general prosperity. This is the legitimate limit of Free-Trade. This arrangement will have one or two remarkable effects. First, these machines will be built as cheaply at Oshawa, as in Ohio. Hence, the Canadian farmer will buy them cheaper than he would with Reciprocity, because, with Reciprocity they would be built in Ohio, with freight added to their cost, when exported to this country. The farmer saves the freight ; hence, here is a case in which duty and protection have actually diminished the cost of a very im- portant article. Free -Traders will, doubtless, say that Reciprocity would not prevent the machines being made in Oshawa. I say it would. With Reciprocity, Mr. Whitley would not sell his patents to the Hall Company, or any Company in Canada, or give them capital, or send a manager there, or give them the benefit of his experience He would much rather keep all these things to him- self, make the machines at home, export them to Canada, compelling Canadian farmers to pay the freight, as he does with the farmers of England, France, and other countries. Home manufactures have a very beneficial effect on the currency of a country. Panics in the money market are seldom, if ever, caused by them. Importations have a different effect. They often cause panics, and a severe stringency in the money market. Suppose, for example, that a bank lends a manufacturer ten thousand dollars : he pays a large portion of this to his work people ; they pay a large part of what they get for provisions, or village lots, or building houses. Some of what they get may go directly for sugar or tea to the importer ; but the most part circulates round the immediate neighbour- hood, and returns, to the bank. Such loans, while they aid production im- mensely, do not diminish bank funds very much. It is a very small portion of them for which gold is asked, while the balance — much larger portion — returns to the bank in a short time, and is again available for new advances. The twenty-Jive hundred Champion Reapers, to be made in Oshawa this year, will not diminish the loanable funds of Canadian banks to any appreciable extent ; whereas, if made in Ohio, they would diminish those funds to the full extent of the price paid for them. It is highly important that banks should always have an abundant supply of money, at certain seasons of the year, and this can never be the case, till home manufactures become developed. A scarcity of money, caused by im- portations, when the crops require to be moved to market, is always a serious loss and inconvenience to the agricultural community. This is a side of the ^jm 32 ([uestion never presented to fanners by Free-Traders. They tell them ihu keciprocity means tucnty rent;, a bushel on barley, which is not true, ^^iajlev \^\s I'^en as >(ood a i)rice since 1864 as durinj,' the ten years of I^Pl|Wllity. Fi.c-Traders do not tell farmers that Keciprocity means a scarcity of money when their produce is beinj; moved to market. When a bank lenils an importer ten tiiousand dollars, he takes it in \!,o\A, and the loanable funds of the Ijank are diminished '.o that extent at once, and during the continuance of the loan. Suppiisin}^ \.\\c t'uH'iity-five hiindri'd Champion Rcupeis wanted were mailc in the States. When a farmer l)ou<(ht one, the bills which he paid for it are taken to a hank and exchan;j;ed for .;oid, wliich is taken immediately out of the country. Even where a farmer gives his nuie for a machine, the note is discounted, and the gold is exported precisely as before, (iold is the basis of our currency, and every dollar exporteil dimiviishes the currency to two or three times that amount. As shown, with ro;4aril to the reapers, it is doubtful whether farmers would gain in any i)articular ])>• '.,. ^cides to vo'.e ffect of Free- an establish- this country ; that /Ary utir so. and the tc wealth of ^ni manufac- )us effects of linst class, tillinjj such sts arc all lout you," as nufacturers,"" ART. 33 Letter 7. FREE TRADE AND ARBITRATION From the Canadian Illustrated News, June 27 Free- Trade can hardly ever become universal or continuous. It is opposed to the inevitable necessities of national prosperity. Every time two great nations become involved in war their whole commercial policies with other nations require changes. In some cases the effects of these changes are felt severely in very remote places. The trade relations between England and the Slates were totally changed by the late civil war. The commercial treaty between England and France was swept away by the late French and Prussian war. This is the fate of every treaty, sooner or later ; and such a fate is always disas- trous to trade. Permanent, steady prosperity cannot be secured ivitlwut a lari^e development of home manufactures. If Canada now enters into trade relations with the States, to the injury of home manufactures, a war between the East and West, of which there is some real danger, will again find us without manu- factures of our own, and compelled to pay war prices for everything we import. Duties and taxes are, and will always be, the only means of paying war debts. Nations, not having home manufactures, are constantly assisting to pay the debts of other nations. An shown in a former letter, England built up home manufactures by protection ; till now, nearly every nation in the world is con- tributing toward the payment of her national debt. Protection is what makes Free-Trade ultimately profitable. Free-Trade, however, can never be profitable for all. It is only so for those who possess natural or acquired advantages. It is no use to preach Free-Trade to a nation in the present position of France, or in that of the States immediately after the civil war. Adversity teaches those people to reject such nonsense. True economy is learned in adversity. It is only in prosperous times that false theories like Free-Trade take root. In every financial embarrassment nations have to flee to protection ; and if people would not forget the arts by which they surmount difficulties, they would make fewer mistakes. The way to pay debts and the way to make money is the same. Nations pay debts by duties and protection to home manufactures ; to continue prosperous, it is necessary to continue this policy. The conditions that might possibly make Free-Trade safe and profitable do not exist, and are never'Jikely to exist. For example, the idea that international disputes are about to be gen- erally settled by arbitration is nonsense. Such men as Emperor William and Bismarck, backed by immense resources, after enormous expenditures in mili tary preparations, feeling strong and confident of victory, will never submit a weighty matter to arbitration where the decision of such a tribunal is at ail doubtful. Military men have no faith in such a prediction. Krupp, the great cannon manufacturer in Prussia, is putting $7,500,000 of new capital into his work. All these things point to a continuance of war, as usual, and the unfitness of Free-Trade theories at present. Capitalists are as willing as ever to furnish money to carry on war, and invest money in the manufacture of arms. The most gigantic warlike preparations are going on on every side. England, where the doctrine of arbitration finds its chief support, is building as many ships of war as ever. It was by war she won her vast dominions, though peace would suit her best now ; but younger nations arc not yet satisfied to give the game up. For those who give attention to the subject, there is more to be gained yet by war than by arbitration. The age is still far off when war will cease to be the principal arbiter between nations. There are too many barbarous and semi- barbarous nations still in the world for civilized man to lay down the only means of defence which holds such people in awe. As the pugilist requires the blows of a training master to prepare him for the real conflict, so one civilized nation still M requires to come into collision with another to prepare them for a conflict with t he barb aro itf jutjo ns by which a grea^ {-"ortion of the earth is still inhabited. If ^iM^^iiMMHMRstbr of the world, at the present day, it is his superiority in arms^^ich has made him so. Uur intercourse with half the world and a large majority of the human race is prescrsed only by our superiority in the use of arms. If Kurope and America abandoned warlike preparations, and adopted rules for settling international dis|)utes by arbitration, both countries would be conquered by the barbarous antl semi-barbarous hordes of Asia and Africa withm two centuries. To civilized man, war is an evil ; but the abandonment of the art, as advocated by the arbitration movement, would be a greater evil. In wars between civilized nations, civilization suffers little in comparison with what it suffers when a civilized nation is conquered by a barbarous one. This is where the screw is loose in the Free-Trade movement. Free-traders think that arbitration as a means of settling nearly all international disputes is an accom- plished fact ; and that any policy which the present civilized nations think proper to adopt will control the destinies of mankind in all time to come. This kind of egotism is common in all ages. Oreece, Rome, Persia, Assyria, and all the nations of antiquity, thought the same thing of themselves. They never dreamed that the seat of power would be in Western Europe some day ; just as the free-traders of Western Europe now think it will never remove to any place else hereafter. Should any considerable declension take place in the military art in Western Europe, the IJritish army might probably be driven out of India within fifty years. Were it not for modern improvement in the manufiicture of fire-arms, 1 doubt if the (iovernment could hold India even now. With the old musket, IJritish soldiers could hardly succeed in expeditions even against such enemies as the Abyssinians or Ashantees ; and repulses in cases of this kind might lead to the invasi i of Europe by Asia or Africa once more. However improbable this may apf ar at present, it might be rendered quite practicable by the opera- tion of such principles as Free-Trade and the settlement of international disputes by arbitration. The arbitration and Free-Trade doctrines emanate from the same source. Free-Trade economists are the blindest of all politicians, and those who elevate such men arc the blindest of all electors. They remind one of the man who in lopping the branches off a tree cut the one on which he was standing. The declension of the military art, likely to arise from arbitration, would efface civiHzation on two continents, and exclude the manufactures of Western Europe from half of the human race. To each civilized nation individually there is no more important question than protection to home manufactures ; and to all civilized nations collectively there is nothing of greater consequence than progress in the art of war. While the former confines the evil effects of war pretty much to its immediate locality, the latter is required to push forward civilization in barbarous countries. Dis- arming civilized nations is equivalent to arming barbarous ones. But the practice of modern philanthropists is to disarm everything good and leave everything bad armed to the teeth. They are silly enough to suppose that if the saint lays down his sword Satan will follow the example. The ballot bill just passed is a corresponding principle, liy it, law and public opinion, the highest emanations of public virtue, are totally disarmed, while every elector is placed in a position to bribe .or be bribed with impunity. W. DEWART. FENhLON Falls. I conflict with 1 iiihiibitcd. If superiority in rid and a lari,'e in the use of ;, find adopted tries would be ;ia and Africa oandonment of cater evil. In ison with what one. This is dcrs think that is an accom- nations think o come. This ssyria, and all . They never e day ; just as 'e to any place art in Western lia within fifty of fire-arms, 1 le old musket, such enemies nd might lead :er improbable ; by the opera- itional disputes ; same source, se who elevate le man who in tanding. The would efface estern Europe irtant question ins collectively f war. While ediate locality, )untries. Dis- les. But the ood and leave )ose that if the ballot bill just in, the highest or is placed in EWART. " PROTECTION IS 35 Letter 8. THE FOLLY OF A.SKING A MAN ALL HIS OWN CLOTHES." MAKE From the Canadian Illustrated News, yati. 2, 1875. The foregoing ciuot.ition is one of the many sophisms employed by Free- Tradcrs. It is the style of argument used by all that class, from Mr. Bright to his humblest followers. Professor I'ricc, who is claimed as an advocate of Free- Trade, is reported to have said in one of his lectures, " Protection is the folly of asking a man to make all his own clothes." This is a misrepresentation. Neither Horace (Jreeley, Morrill, nor any living protectionist writer, ever asked a man, or even a nation, to do any such thing. Again, the Professor says, "It is folly to foster ' home industry,' by requiring the people of the country to pro- duce everything they want." This statement is worse, if anything, than the other. It means that protectionists recommend producing their own silk, tea, sugar, spices, and so forth, in whatever climate they live. I would like to know where the Professor met with men advocating these opinions. Further on he says : " Nations, like individuals, have special facilities, faculties and aptitudes, with respect to production." This is what we perceive, and we ask nations to produce those things for whicii they have " special facilities and aptitudes," instead of importing them from other countries. Again, " nobody ventures to maintain that the people of Maine should not trade freely with the people of Texas ; the people of New York with the people of California." He gives this as his ro-.^un why there should be Free-Trade between Canada and the States. The Professor appears to forget one thing, and, forgetting this, he falls into a very grave error. The relations of Maine, California, Texas and New York to each other are different from the relations of Canada to any of them. Canada is under a different government, and has dif- ferent interest, both commercially and politically. For Maine to be dependent on California, or California on Maine, does not affect the safety of either, for each is pledged to the defence of the other ; but for Canada to be dependent on either is perilous, neither being pledged to her defence, but occupying the atti- tude of interested enemies. One quotation more from the Professor, " The folly of compelling everybody to make all his own clothes will soon be relegated to the shadcj that envelope the old Navigation Act of Great Britain." There is more sound than sense in this quotation. The Professor is a very ignerant man if he does not know that his recommendation has been adopted, by Protec- tionists as well as free-traders, long before the repeal of the Navigation Act. Nothing leads to more frequent errors in reasoning than comparing things whicli are not comparable. The Professor asserts something of a man which is strictly true, so long as affirmed of a man, but utterly erroneous when applied to a nation. The acceptance of Free-Trade principles by the public depends entirely on the capacity of the leaders to mix, confuse and mystify the matter. They require to be kept to the point, like the Professor. When they make unquestioned assertions, don't allow them to transfer or apply the conclusions to something dissimilar. The moment free-traders state the exact idea intended their arguments lose force. Had the Professor said, "It is a folly to ask a nation to produce everything it requires, for which it has natural facilities," he would have stated the negative of protection fairly and clearly. But the other form of expression, till questioned, answers his purpose better. J. S. Mill admits all that protec- tionists affirm, when be says that " any country having natural facilities for any I! 36 particular manufiicture is justified in adopting protection for a time to give the start whicli otherwise individual enterprise alone would not be able to make." '*• *' The start" above referred to is all that Canadian manufacturers ask. But free-traders are too cosmopolitan in their ideas to give their own countrymen even this small preference over foreigners. They contend that if a country has natural facilities its manufactures need no start. Mill thinks otherwise ; he recommends protection /^r a time, even where the facilities exist. W. DEWART. Fenelon Falls. Letter 9. "A MARKET OF FORTY MILLIONS." From the Canadian Illustrated News, Jan.% 1875. The foregoing quotation is one of the cunningly devised fallacies of free- traders in behalf of Reciprocity. It would be to the States, in many respects, a market of four millions, but never to Canada "a market of forty." In propor- tion to the population, the Americans are our customers to a limited extent, but our competitors to a larcje extent. The same rule holds good regarding their trade with England ; while becoming less valuable customers, they are becoming more formidable competitors. As shown by Mr. Mathews, in his work on " Imperial Federation," the imports of the States, from England, have been decreasing ever since their inde- ])endence. While colonists they imported goods to the amount of £1 per head per annum ; nnmediately after independence the rate declined to i6s. per head per annum ; and in 1861 it was no more than 5s. gd. per head per annum. This change was affected by the adoption of a protectionist policy after separation. American manufacturers have now not only excluded English goods, in a great measure, from their markets, but are supplying Canada with many articles formerly imported from England. Had the American manufacturers not been protected thus they could never have attained this position. Protection has made them tl.e most formidable rivals Englands has, or is likely to have, in the future. It is only by accepting a theory without examining the facts, that a person can arrive at a different conclusion from the above. To the States bordering on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence our exports may be considerable, but to the ffreat majority of the forty millions we would never sell an article, for the simple reason that they produce and manufacture the same kind of commodities as we do. What do the Southern States want of Canada ? They don't want our manufactures, because they can be supplied more cheaply and conveniently by the intervening States. It is not possible that they can become great customers of ours. They don't vant our lumber. There is more and better lumber in the Southern StcTs than there is in Quebec or Ontario. It is distance, absence of railways, canals and navigable rivers which prevent the Eastern States from getting Southern lumber now. The unsettled state of the country is retarding the construction of railwaysi and canals, The rivers run in the wrong direction ■ne to give the le to make." irers ask. But vn countrymen a country has otherwise ; he •EWART. 875. illacies of free- lany respects, a y." In propor- limited extent, regarding their y are becoming ederation," the since their inde- of £1 per head 1 6s. per head r annum. This ifter separation, oods, in a great 1 many articles :turers not been Protection has to have, in the he facts, that a :nce our exports f/ions we would id manufacture ;rn States want can be supplied ot possible that ■ lumber in the nee, absence of :rn States from try is retarding vrong direction for this pii Canadian^ settled liM may become, The South was .kman was the West Virgioia has th« largest and moat valuable body of timber of any State in the Union. Prof. Fontaine estiipates that the area still covered by forests is between 9,000,000 aud 10,000,000 acres, and that the vivliio of the surplus ""exportable timber is fully $70,000,000 as it stands in the forests. The oak, walnut, cherry, ash, ^plar, maple, elm, sycamore, and locust attain a size there not surpassed on the American continent. ideal of every southern planter. Twenty thousand acres of forest, with two or three thousand acres of a cleared farm was the style. A planter's farm was like a small village. Pass one, and you usually travel through miles of unbroken forest before coming to another human habitation. The Southern States will have plenty of timber long after Quebec or Ontario has a stick to export. Thus we see no market in the South tor Canadian lumber, neither is there any in the West. Parts of Ontario import lumber from the States ; and about one-half of the lumber made in Michigan finds a market in New York. Thus we see this " market of forty millions " dwindle down to the partial supply of a narrow strip of country south of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence. The privilege is entirely overrated by the advocates of Reciprocity. It is not worth the Fisheries by any means. Persons who forget that the Americans are our competitors, in a much greater degree than our customers, fall into many mistakes. As a market for our wheat, this part of the argument is easily disposed of. Much of the wheat exported to the States does Canada an ultimate injury. For example, it is ground with their dark wheat, and the flour thus made comes into competition with our wheat and flour in the English market. Were they not to get our wheat for this purpose, their wheat would be unfit for export, or have to be exported at a reduced rate. The Americans produce much more wheat than they consume, and imports from this country simply swell their exports in precisely the same ratio. If my competitor ordr^s an article from me for a person who is occasionally my customer as well as his, 1 am no better off than if he had allowed the customer to have come to me directly for the article himself. In fact, I am worse ofT; persons who buy to sell again are accustomed to a margin called trade discount. Selling direct to the consumer is like buying direct from the manufacturer ; these are the transactions in which there is most profit. England is our chief customer for wheat, and seeing this, direct exports secure the largest ultimate profit. To place our commerce on a profitable and durable basis, we must resort to direct trade by outlets of our own. The proposed Reciprocity Treaty would be an entangling alliance, which might lead to very undesirable results. With Canada, free trade is the forerunner of annexation. It is said that the treaty of 1854 did not lead to this. There was a go i reason for it. The South seceded in time to check the demand and prevent the catastrophe. Another secession might not occur, at the proper time, to save us from similar danger. The termination of a treaty is a delicate question, when the notice proceeds fiom the weaker party. Had Canada been obliged to give the notice in 1864, in the temper of the American people at that time, it might have led to hostilities. Here then is the danger. If a treaty is objectionable to the States, they can withdraw at its expiration without ceremony or fear. On the other hand, if it is objectionable to us, withdrawing may be made an excuse for retaliatory measures of some kind, A smr^ll nation like Canada must not reject overtures from a large one like the States. Belligerent demagogues might make it a pretext fo.- forcible annexation. But, say the free-traders, England would not allow any such proceeding. My answer is this : if the treaty is adopted before its expiration, England will have little reason to care what becomes of this country. For all practical purposes, Canada will be to England a separate, or part of a separate nation. Had there been no secession of the South, no war, no war debt or termination of the treaty of 1854, British influence and British manufactures would be nearly extinct here by this time. The proposed treaty meets with about as much opposition in the States as Canada, This is accepted, by free-traders, as a proof that the treaty is advan- 36 I i particular manufacture is justified in adopting protection for a time to give the start whicli otherwise jr.dividual enterprise alone would not be able to make." ♦"* The start" above referred to is all that Canadian manufacturers ask. But free-traders are too cosmopolitan in their ideas to give their own countrymen even this small preference over foreigners. They contend that if a country has natural facilities its manufactures need no start. Mill thinks otherwise ; he recommends protection yi'/' a time, even where the faciUties exist. W. DEWART. Fenelon Falls. Letter 9. "A MARKET OF FORTY MILLIONS." From the Canadian Illustrated News, 7(*fi-9f '875. The foregoing quotation is one of the cunningly devised fallacies of free- traders in behalf of Reciprocity. It would be to the States, in many respects, a market of four millions, but never to Canada "a market of forty." In propor- tion to the population, the Americans are our customers to a limited extent, but our competitors to a large extent. The same rule holds good regarding their trade with England ; while becoming less valuable customers, they are becoming more formidable competitors. As shown by Mr. VTathews, in his work on " Imperial Federation," the imports of the States, from England, have been decreasing ever since their inde- pendence. While colonists they imported goods to the amount of £1 per head per annum ; immediately after independence the rate declined to i6s. per head per annum ; and in 1861 it was no more than ss. gd. per head per annum. This change was affected by the adoption of a protectionist policy after separation, American manufacturers have now not only excluded English goods, in a great measure, from their markets, but are supplying Canada with many articles formerly imported from England. Had the American manufacturers not been protected thus they could never have attained this position. Protection has made them the most formidable rivals Englands has, or is likely to have, in the future. It is only by accepting a theory without examining the facts, that a person can arrive at a different conclusion from the above. To the States bordering on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence our exports may b"" considerable, but to the great majority of the forty millions we would never sell an article, for the simple reason that they produce and manufacture the same kind of commodities as we do. What do the Southern States want of Canada ? They don't want our manufactures, because they can be supplied mere cheaply and conveniently by the intervening States. It is not possible that they can become great customers of ours. They don't want our lumber. There is more and better lumber in the Southern States than there is in Quebec or Ontario. It is distance, absence of rail.vays, canals and navigable rivers which prevent the Eastern States from getting Southern lumber now. The unsettled state of the country is retarding the construction of railwsiys and canals, The rivers run in the wrong direction I HMi to give the to make." rs ask. But countrymen country has herwise ; he WART. 5- acies of free- ny respects, a In propor- mited extent, Bgarding their are becoming deration," the ice their inde- £i per head 1 6s. per head innum. This er separation. )ds, in a great many articles irers not been 'rotection has 3 have, in the ; facts, that a ce our exports o>ts we would manufacture 1 States want in be supplied : possible that umber in the :e, absence of 1 States from f is retarding ong direction naoAV toeaiB-uaanb g» '^«ll«a "O 'S * ^ -ailjAHJO 1 -aogqca SflB^uBois -J, f«» 'WWMOia -v "O t -^ ^_^^f 'oaooHi -H 'M. 37 for this purpose. However prosperous or populous the country may become, Canadian lumber will not be required in the Southern States. The South was settled like no other portion of North America. An English nobleman was the ideal of every southern planter. Twenty thousand acres of forest, with two or three thousand acres of a cleared farm was the style. A planter's farm was like a small village. Pass one, and you usually travel through miles of unbroken forest before coming to another human habitation. The Southern States will have plenty of timber long after Quebec or Ontario has a stick to export. Thus we, see no market in the South for Canadian lumber, neither is there any in the West. Parts of Ontario import lumber from the States ; and about one-half of the lumber made in Michigan finds a market in New York. Thus we see this " market of forty millions " dwindle down to the partial supply of a narrow strip of country south of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence. The privilege is entirely overrated by the advocates of Reciprocity. It is not worth the Fisheries by any means. Persons who forget that the Americans are our competitors, in a much greater degree than our customers, fall into many mistakes. As a market for our wheat, this part of the argument is easily disposed of. Much of the wheat exported to the States does Canada an ultimate injury. For example, it is ground with their dark wheat, and the flour thus made comes into competition with our wheat and flour in the English market. Were they not to get our wheat for this purpose, their wheat would be unfit for export, or have to be exported at a reduced rate. The Americans produce much more wheat than they consume, and imports from this country simply swell their exports in precisely the same ratio. If my competitor orders an article from me for a person who is occasionally my customer as well as his, I am no better off than if he had allowed the customer to have come to me directly for the article himself. In fact, I am worse off; persons who buy to sell again are accustomed to a margin called trade discount. Selling direct to the consumer is like buying direct from the manufacturer ; these are the transactions in which there is most profit. England is our chief customer for wheat, and seeing this, direct exports secure the largest ultimate profit. To place our commerce on a profitable and durable basis, we must resort to direct trade by outlets of our own. The proposed Reciprocity Treaty would be an entangling alliance, which might lead to very undesirable results. With Canada, free trade is the forerunner of annexation. It is said that the treaty of 1854 did not lead to this. There was a good reason for it. The South seceded in time to check the demand and prevent the catastrophe. Another secession might not occur, at the proper time, to save us from similar danger. The termination of a treaty is a delicate question, when the notice proceeds from the weaker party. Had Canada been obliged to give the notice in 1864, in the temper of the American people at that time, it might have led to hostilities. Here then is the danger. If a treaty is objectionable to the States, they can withdraw at its expiration without ceremony or fear. On the other hand, if it is objectionable to us, withdrawing may be made an excuse for retaliatory measures of some kind. A small nation like Canada must not reject overtures from a large one like the States. Belligerent demagogues might make it a pretext for forcible annexation. But, say the free-traders, England would not allow any such proceeding. My answer is this : if the treaty is adopted before its expiration, England will have little reason to care what becomes of this country. For all practical purposes, Canada will be to England a separate, or part of a separate nation. Had there been no secession of the South, no war, no war debt or termination of the treaty of 1854, British influence and British manufactures would be nearly extinct here by this time. The proposed treaty meets with about as much opposition in the States as Canada, This is accepted, by free-traders, as a proof that the treaty is advan- *.!• r IF f i! • ii 38 tngcous to us. It is no proof at all. The treaty might be a positive injury to both countries. If A says to B, do my work and I will do yours, the propo- sition, if carried into effect, might result in large loss to both. This is just my view of the treaty. It might be injurious to both countries. Hence the oppo- sition from both sides. W. DEWART. Fenelon Falls. Letter 10. From the Canadian Illustrated News, March 6, 1875. Reciprocity. — Reciprocity being rejected by the United States Senate, it may be thought by some that further discussion on the subject is unnecessary. Reciprocity is not, however, a dead issue. The question is sure to come up again. It may be om turn to reject it the next time, and public opinion requires to be ready for the event. Free Trade policy is to let the question alone at present ; Protectionists policy is to keep it agitated. If carried at all. Reciprocity must be introduced and passed in hajte. There is no doubt, therefore, that the Free Trade party will remain quite for a while, eagerly watching opportunities for future negotiation. Their's is a policy of surprise. Mr. Brown's mission to Washington was a surprise to the public. His party had always maintained that Canada should not be the first to open negotiations on the subject. However, following the example of the Liberals in England, whose example they seem anxious to follow in all things, they embraced the first chance of attempting to pass a free-trade treaty by surprise. Even where Acts are good in themselves, this principle of surprise is wrong. Politics should be public and dehberate. Acts affecting the public should be done openly and after full deliberation. The storming parties have been repulsed, but the siege has not been yet raised. The Free Traders will renew their assaults a.nd surprises at no distant day. Protectionists, now is your lime for sorties. Put the besiegers to flight. While they are unable to attack you is the time to attack them. In every age there is a liberal hobby. Free Trade is the hobby now. The leaders are a kind of enthusiasts. They have unbounded faith in their theories. They need no one to proclaim them infallible. They proclaim their own infallibility. They are men of few ideas. These ideas being once attained, they have to "step down and out," as Mr. Beecher would say. See Mr. Bright and Mr. Gladstone, for example. As soon as they cease to raise " burning questions," they loose their influence over the masses. Does it pay a nation to be agitated by " burning questions " all the time, in order that certain men may rule ? The effect is obvious. The nation has little confidence in such men after all. Though it allows them to storm the works, it does not give them the fort when won. They are accounted active, but not steady. Hence, whatever credit they derive for enlarging human liberty, the preser- vation of liberty is intrusted to others. Mr. Vernon Harcourt, in touching on this subject, supplies us with the best definition I have heard — " parties of sensation and politics of surprise." Radicalism is its own worst enemy. We have hardly any Reforni CrOvernrnQnt, properly called. We have RadicjU I ve injury to , the propo- ; is just my e the oppo- VART. 75- ates Senate, innecessary. to come up jion requires ion alone at , Reciprocity ore, that the jpportunities 's mission to 1 maintained ect. lose example it chance of ;re Acts are uld be public ind after full ege has not rprises at no besiegers to m. In every leaders are a They need infallibility, hey have to ^ht and Mr. ;j questions," be agitated ^ rule .'' The all. Though rt when won. ■, the preser- i touching on -" parties of enemy. We irvve Radica,l 39 governments much oftener. These hold office just as long as they can stir up " burning questions " to divert public attention from other defects. It is curious how some journals, once delighted with the prospect of Reci- procity, have changed their tune. It cannot be on account of the terms. The terms were the same at first as last. But the contempt of the American Senate, after such humiliating concessions by this country, has " raised their dander," and made them quite national. After leading the Canadian Free Trade party into so bad a trap, it seems ungrateful of the Senate to desert it at the last moment. The terms were almost as good as annexation. After this, it is doubtful if the Americans would admit us into the Union without ,\ bonus. Says one journal : " Nothing now remains to us but to shape our own policy in our own way. Since it cannot be, in any degree, North American, it must be distinc- tively Canadian." This was the proper course from the first. " We cannot shift the wind," the opinions or prejudices of foreign governments, or people ; but we can " shift the sail," " shape our own policy in our own way." The "almighty dollar" is said to govern the States, but something more than dollars entered into their calculations in this case. Canada offered to become annexed in almost everything except the name ; but, understanding their dignity, they agreed among themselves to forego these advantages, and thus treat Canada with contempt. The time has not yet arrived to get good terms from the States. It may not arrive for a generation. It will be brought about by events over which we have no control. One of these events may occur at any time. Should a civil war again arise ; should the South or West secede, then our friendship, our neutrality, and our trade will be appreciated. The Eastern and Northern States are threatened both by the South and West. Should splits of this kind occur, our intercourse with the Eastern States may become intimate and profitable. As the Union stands at present there is little chance of either an honourable or profitable treaty. If we ever get Reciprocity on a fair basis, in my opinion, it will be with the Eastern and Northwestern States as a separate nation. These States and Canada have many interest in common. They are bound together by the great lakes and the St. Lawrence. They are interested in each other as neighbours. But the other sections, namely : the South and Far- West, while filled with all the prejudices of foreigners, have no neighbourly sympathies for us at all. What sympathy have we for Mexico .' Texas or California cannot have more for us. Besides, there is a great contest commencing between civilization and barbarism. The heathen Chinese will complete the degradation begun by universal suffrage and the enfranchisement of the negroes. Not all the religious, intellectual, and moral agencies in the Union can civilize the huge stream of Chinese immigration pouring into the country. The Golhs did not give Italy more trouble than the Chinese may give the States. Immigration is overdone. Too much attention is paid to the quantity and too little to the quality. There is too much undesirable immigra- tion. They invite the refuse of all countries, thinking to make themselves formidable among nations. That refuse has become formidable to themselves. W. DEWART. Fenelon Falls. NoTK.— Siitco wrlUHg the foregoing letter-;, especi.illy lliosc in that Free-Trade Uoes not suit eVen in Knaland. 1S74, I have come to the conclusion eK k ■•!d » fHtod to M. Trilcn, reornily, "hM no itti roof In tbe ointitr}, M>d If, wiitoh Ood f.rbM, Ik ihonld we? »tt»ln po*e» " — " Titp," r«p)««« 11 ^TbleM, "UwonWn't Jirtlprjf, foriu p'»ll'!o8 «■ In grurnn*!' the rtdlo*) la •IwD) » n*ar \\m tormlnfttion.'" 1,1 'ARD OK TIIAUK Rr.TLUNS. ii Board o( Trade returiiH for IJecci . on ■'■a 8tli Ir- ■*. • and t'l > roduUs , ■ , "• ' ..'oo .; 1 40 Letter 11. i/..A i.'j{l'.' ENGLAND'S FOREIGN TRADE. From the Canadian Illustrated News. The bad effects of Free-Trade on England's commerce is past concealment. The harvest of her foreign trade is evidently over. Free-traders can no longer mislead public opinion with regard to the present depression. The Board of Trade returns for October are about the worst ever issued. England has deluged the world with her manufactures, and the cause of her depression is that the demand for them is on the decline. This decline is not a temporary thing, either. English capital and labour have been largely diverted into unproductive chan- nels by the advocacy of Free-Trade principles. England will, in the end, pay dear for any temporary advantages derived from it. Free-Trade in England is not only the cause of depression there, but of the depression which now exists in many other countries. The London Telegraph says the case is " of a nature to make the most determined optimist admit the fact of declining commerce and industry." Her exports were less in 1874 than 1873, and less in 1875 than 1874. England has invested enormous sums in ships and factories, but the facto- ries are nearly idle and the ships have little to do ; but the people want bread, and those who have bread want little, if any, of her manufactures, so the bread has to be paid for with gold. The product of English capital and labour is depreciat- ing. This is what is the matter with England. She has been prodticing articles for '■luhich an effective profitable demand has nearly ceased. England gained a temporary advantage by having these things in advance of other nations, but the advantage is ceasing. The silk manufacturers were ruined by Free-Trade, and the machinery for that purpose became of little value. The manufacture of glass is also nearly driven from the country. American cotton manufacturers are even now sending cotton to England. English manufacturers cannot continue to import raw cotton and export manufactured cotton back to compete with Ameri- can manufacturers in their own market. Hence a great part of the fixed capital of English manufacturers will be rendered unproductive. England has great facilities for manufacturing, but trade being gone, the capital expended in creating these will be partially wasted. The time is coming when English manufacturers will be able to do no more than hold their home market in cotton goods. This will render a great deal of machinery unproduc- tive ; and many ships now employed in the cotton trade will have to find other employment. Her woollen manufactures will probably hold out longer. She is a great wool producing country ; but other countries are also becoming great wool producers, and so soon as they become able to manufacture their own wool they will need English goods no longer. Canada is importing less woollen goods every year. Our own manufacturers are rapidly superseding all others, notwith- standmg all the disadvantages under which they are placed. The one thing which gives them the advantage is their better judgment regarding the class of goods required. Great fears are entertained about the coal mines of England becoming exhausted ; but there is a much more immediate danger than this. The foreign demand for English goods will cease long before her supply of coal. The abolition of the Corn Laws was part of the Free-Trade policy. It was opposed by the nobility, though it was the one thing which has prevented reforms in the tenure of land. Had the Corn Laws not been abolished, all or nearly all the large estates would have been divided up, sold, and under cultivation now. This is what would have been done to keep down the price of food. Laws would have been passed allowing the partition and sale of entailed estates. Food might not have risen much in price, for more land would have been cultivated. \ \ RNS. 'DM (ur Decpi •' «roault«,' ij;'j{i? '' 4' lUit the impDrtiiiion of cheap food leiulercd aj^ricultiire unnecessary. E nir oncealment. n no longer le Board of has deluged is that the thing, either. uctive chan- the end, pay 1 England is now exists in if a nature to >minerce and '5 than 1874. ut the facto- ! want bread, he bread has ■ is depreciat- tcing articles ind gained a tions, but the ;-Trade, and cture of glass irers are even continue to : with Aineri- fixed capital ng gone, the me is coming i their home ry unproduc- to find other nger. She is coming great leir own wool ifoollen goods lers, notwith- 'he one thing the class of i of England er than this, ipply of coal, licy. It was :nted reforms nearly all the I HOW. This 3 would have od might not \ lish farms were depreciated in \ alue Ijy competition witli cheap lands cvcrywlierl'. J'/iiis Frcc-'J'rihii- in co)n lias prevented J-'ree-'l 1 tu/e in land. This caused a ;(rcat emii,^ralioa of agricultural labourers. This emigration was just in propor- tion to the imports of food. England's farms are in foreign countries, and her .i.!,n-icultura] labourers have had to yo to them. Had her farms been at home, iier people mij^lu also ha-e stayed at home. Tht tlierefc En>dand cont;i ih land to feed all her questu people. 1 think tliere is enoui^h, or nearly. England and Wales contain ;^5, 264,000 acres of land. Out of this there are 31,003,000 tit for cultivation. It used to be reckoned that one-eighth was unlit for cultivation. But recent experi- ments in pumping and draining marshes ha\e reduced this proportion materially, and one-twelfth would now be nearer the mark. This, therefore, would lea^'C 32,324,334 acres fit for cultivation. But, then, there is the land occupied by buildiui^s, roads, and railways. Allow 1,325,334 acres for these, though I consider this an excessive estimate, being over twenty-six times the area of London. We'l, now, what proportion of this land is cultivated ? In England and Wales there were this year 3,342,388 acres of wheat, 2,509,598 acres of barley, and 2,664,048 acres of oats. These are the principal crops, and, 'taking due allow- ance for all other crops, it is evident that between the land that is partially cultivated and that which is uncultivated there is room for a vast extension of agriculture. In his Principles of Political Econom>, page 166, J. S. Mill shows that in Flanders two and a half acres of land raise food for a man, his wife, and three children. He also shows that this is inferior sandy soil, originally reclaimed from the sea, not to be compared with land in England. At this rate, England and Wales have land enough to feed sixty-two millions of people. If we include Ireland and .Scotland, where there is a much larger proportion of uncultivated land, it will make my argument much stronger. Thus England is drawing food from the ends of the earth, often at famine prices, while the best agricultural land in the world is lying waste at home. And the labour expended on the manufactures exchanged for this far exceeds the labour required to extract it from her own soil. To this extent, therefore, Free-Trade has diverted English labour into unprofitable channels. If one-third of the capital invested in merchants' ships and manufacturing machinery was employed in agriculture, it would cause a much larger and better distribution of wealth and comfort and refinement than at present. England's wealth is badly distributed, and this is mainly due to Free-Trade. There is no nation in the world, there never was one, in which the distribution of wealth was more unequal. And this unequal distribution is one of the great questions of the day, and one of the great dangers of society. By discouraging agriculture, Free-Trade has kept the large estates undivided and perpetuated the rule of the aristocracy, and in commerce it has laised up a class of merchant princes and manufacturers. It did the same thing, rong ago, in Rome. After the people admitted corn free, and neglected their own agriculture, the inequality of wealth increased steadily. The time is near when men will cease to point to England in vindication of Free-Trade principles. The Neiu York Shipping List, a very ably conducted journal, alludes to the present depression in the following terms : " Many of England's best foreign customers for iron, coal, machinery, and various manufactures, are said to have become independent of her." Are the ships and machinery employed in foreign trade worth as much as her land would be if cultivated ? I think not. There are two causes which may lead to the extension of agriculture in England. One is a duty on corn as formerly. This is not likely. It is more likely to result from a decreasing foreign demand for English goods. Some foreign manufacturers are now not only underselling but excelling English manu- facturers in the quality of their goods. This being the case, the purchasing power of English manufactures is becoming inadequate to supply the nation with imported food, its manufactures are not purchasing its breadstuffs at the present time. For the last lew years, large balances have had to be paid for in gold. 3a ■^-■A i-. %-&.! r\ / i' I „ < OaPRBHAION IX 42 This is what bankers call a forei;;n drain. A rise in the rate ofthe Bank of England is the expedient used to check a foreign drain. It checks the e.xpcrta- tion of money. It means this, "If you leave your money with us a while longer you may have higher interest." These factories and their products will depreciate in value, and what should have been done at first will have to be done at last, namely, develope the agricultural resources of the country. England protected her manufactures till they became developed. This was right. But she withdrew all protection from agriculture. This was wrong. Ker manufactures are now a drug in the market, while she pays the highest prices in the world for food. Thus we see she buys dear and sells cheap. This is burning the candlf* at both ends. She can do this at present just because London is the great money market of the world Money is sent to London from all parts of the world for investment. Hence there is always a great floating capital there. This deceives people. The capital is always there, but it is not the same capital, and it is not all owned there. This is more particularly the case since the late French and German war. Before that time Paris was a great money market. The German Government has large sums of money in London. Nearly all the French indemnity was paid in London, and a great part is still there. It is this floating capital that enables England to go on, year after year, importing food and paying for a great part of it in gold. England, with all her ships and facto- ries, should be able to pay for her food with her manufactures, and that she cannot do so proves that her labour is unproductive. Free-Trade is the cause. If the demand for English manufactures was not on the decline, it might be safe to go on depending on imported food . But, as I have shown, England's best customers for coal, iron, machinery, and other goods, are now nearly inde- pendent of her. To hold her trade in future, wages will have to come down; and reduced wages m^ans diminished comforts for her labouring classes. The real problem is, how will the price of wages come down while the price of food goes on increasing, as it is sure to do while the greater part of it has to be imported. Free-Trade was intended to elevate the labourer, but for the fore- going reasons it is sure to injure him. I have said that England does not produce near all her own food, and that from the diminishing demand for her manufactures they have become insufficient to purchase it. Now, it remains to be shown how England pays for the excess of imports over exports. London is the world's banker. For example, it is said that Brigham ^'oung has nine million dollars there on deposit. From all parts of the world money is sent to London. It is curious that money should be sent from countries where interest is high to a country where interest is low ; but it is the case, nevertheless. This is the reason. One can get more money in London on demand than in any other place, because the bank that has the largest deposits can furnish the largest loans on call. It need not be the bank that has the largest capital of its own, either. English bankers lend these deposits to the British Government, to foreign governments, and to all parts of the world ; and it is out of its profits as a banker in this way that it pays Jor the excess of imports over exports. Suppose, for example, that Brigham Young has nine million dollars on deposit with some English bankers. This may be part of the money which is paying for the Suez Canal. Whatever England makes in this way by being the world's banker, we know that her losses are also enormous. Take' the Turkish bondholders, for example. It is not long since an association of foreign bondholders was formed, and the published statement revealed enormous losses. As I have shown, these losses are not all out of English capital. As yet, it is foreigners that are defaulters to English capitalists, but if the losses continue, English capitalists may yet become defaulters to foreign depositors. It is impossible to determine England's finan- cial standing. As yet, she is the world's banker, and handles much more money than any other nation ; but if a bank's deposits are numerous enough and large enough, it can go on doing business long after its own capital is all gone. Free- -.int>A le Hank of r.e expcita- [hile longer depreciate |ne at last, This was ong. Ker t prices in is burning don is the 11 parts of ital there. |me capital, e the late ey market. |rlv all the It is this )rting food and facto- id that she le cause. t might be England's jarly inde- )me down ; sses. The ce of food has to be the fore- 1, and that insufficient le excess of it is said 1 all parts lid be sent ; but it is in London he largest : that has sits to the orld ; and of imports on deposit 3aying for we know example. , and the ese losses aulters to !t become I's finan- re money md large J. Free- iO 111 V.,: «.t 43 Trade is lilkely to turn out a very unprofitable esperiment for England. England has discouraged her agriculture, and turned most of her lal)our to mnnufactules. These have so depreciated in value as not to purchase food enough, and she lias to fall back on the precarious profits of banking to make up the deficiency. A great war might, and probably would, deprive England of this business, and break up this centre of capital, or transfer it to some other place. It would hurt her in two ways. First, it would make food scarce and dear by interrupting its importation. Secondly, it would deprive her of her banking business, out of which she now makes much of the money with which she pays for the food imported. This is a very sensitive and artificial state of industry. If England was engaged in a great war, capitalists would not have the same confidence in English bankers that they have now. Hut war is a thing which free-traders refuse to consider in questions of this kind. They tell us that arbitration is going to supersede war in future. It is, however, my opinion that the nations which neglect to consider this question will soon have to consider the questions of foreign intervention and servitude. England is protecting her manufacturers, all the time, on a most gigantic scale, though free-traders do not appear to know it. She is keeping up naval stations out of the public purse to keep the way open for manufactures all over the world. She goes to war with China, and compels that nation to open her ports. She keeps an army in India to protect her trade. If India afforded English manufacturers no market, would the Crovernment risk a war for that country ? If it is not for its trade, India is of no use to England. She paid the Al.abama claims for the privilege of allowing her people to sell the Southerner ships and munitions of war during the rebellion. She has just paid the Khedive of Egypt twenty millions of dollars for the Suez Canal, to keep the way for her manufactures open to the East. This is protection to home manufactures, no matter under what name it ^s^oes. But it is a kind of protection rendered necessary by the evil effects ->{ Free-Trade. The misapplication of English labour, caused by Free-Trade, has created a vast amount of fixed capital, which must be wasted unless things like these are done ; and, no matter whether free-traders o>- pro- tectionists rule, this policy is now forced upon them. The London correspondent of the G/o^e says with regard to the Suez Canal. "The bargain is a wise one, whatever may happen, though, pecuniarily, it is a losing transaction. We shall lose the interest of ^4,000,000 for some forty years.'" Hut " so important is the friendliness of Egypt to us that, no matter at what cost, it must be secured." Now, England is paying all this to protect her manufactures. She has ceased to confine the circle to her own shores, but there is, nevertheless, a circle within which she employs protective measures. She is paying for this protection just as surely as when she levied duties on imports. The time it paid England to protect her manufacturers was while they were striving to supply the home market. When the manufacturers become able to hold the home market against all comers, they need, and out(ht to have, no more protection. Further protection only creates an artificial state of industry. Measured in labour, England is paying much higher prices for food than any other nation ; and, measured by the same rule, she is getting much lower prices for her manufactures. This is the reason. Food is nowhere so cheap as where producers and consumers deal direct. But England is fed by a lot of dealers and middlemen. Thus the people pay dear for food and get httle for manufactures. When we add the losses arising from bad debts on goods exported, it is apparent that great quantities of labour go for small quantities of food. The net cash proceeds of her exports do not buy near so much food as the gross cash value of those exports would take out of her own soil, if employed in agriculture. When one subject cheats another, it is an individual but not a national loss ; but where a foreign merchant cheats a British manufacturer, it is both an indi- i ^m\ r\. 44 ^ viuM.il .iiul 11. limn. il lo-i-i. It diminishes ihc annuiil value of the land and labour (it a country to tliat extent. What Knj^land lias to sell is now ncaily always a drug in tlic market, and what she wants to buy is a prime necessary of life. It is bad to be dependinj,' on fi)rei;^'n manutiu tures. but worse to l)c dependent on foreign food. ,\nil no nation in the worlil can adopt Kree-Trade wilhoi't soon Iiecomin;^^ dependent on one ur oilier of these. The jjrice of food rises much faster than tiie price of manufactures when there i> ,iny fear of a scarcit)'. \Vhen one goes to buy mamif.ictured goods he cm wait and Iiiggie w ithoiit serious d.mger, but when a scarcity of food is feared, produce dealers have to bid the prices at once that will fetch it. It is lis Tivw/;,' /(' ini(Hn t food, tiiat may In luii'iiiitii^roi'sly fn luiucid at lu>iiu\ as nianulaituies ; it is as widHi^ to crush Jioiiir iii^rii nil lire as /lo/iir inaiiiijai.tiircs, III Jiiiji^iaiid, I'rii:-7'raiii- Lriisiiis ainitiiitiiri' ; in Caiiaaa, it looiild ci iisii iiiaiiit- /aJiircs. This shows it iioesn"t suit in either place. In France, agriculture and manufactures run in parallci lines, as it were, lioth are et|ually jirotected. 'I'he consei(uence is that 1' ranee is one of the greatest w heat growing countries in the world, and an exporter of food as well as manu- lactures. lier protection to agriculture has led to the partition, sale and cultiva- tion of all the large estates, till there are now six millions of land owners in France. French economy would receive r.iore notice if Irench politics were more settled. But, well or ill governed, France's wealth increases enormously. At the end of the late war the greatest rinanciers of the world had no conception of her resources, and she is recovering strength at a rate that no other nation could, and this is because her iiulustry is protective. Fiance has few drugs m the market. There is a market for all, and a protit on all her products. Fk.nelon Falls, Oni. \V. UEVVAKT. JDce t HH r.t\ti"> f .