"T #. ^ ^ '^,^, %. JMAGE EVALUATiON TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^ r /. ■^ '^- %- 'ife lii.o i.l ■^ 5.21 no I 2.5 1^ ....12.2 1^ liS IIIIIM 1.8 i^ M m -i- ^^. ^^' o / ^ ,Os-- ^^, Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^"^^ -^. f^% "T CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiquas The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features cf this copy which may be bibliographicaily unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. I ! c n D n Coloured covers/ Couverture de coulsur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagie Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur6e et/ou pellicul6e Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de cou!our (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Relid avec d'autres documents Tight binding may causs shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure seri-^e peut causer da I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intdrieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que cert^ines pages blanches ajoutdes lors dune restauration apparaissent dans le tcxte, mais, Icrsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas At6 film^es. Additional comments:/ * Commen';aires supplimentaires; L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplasre qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les d6tails de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la methods normale de filmage sont indiqu6s ci-dessous. □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur V Pages damaged/ Pagos endommag6es I I Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaur^es et/ou pelliculies Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqudes □ Pages detached/ Pages d6tach6es □ Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of print varies/ Quality in&gale de I'ir.ipression □ Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du matdriei suppldmentaire I I Only edition available/ D Seule Edition disponibia Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuille* d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6x6 filmdes A nouveeu de faqon A obtenir la meilleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est fiim6 au taux de reduction indiquA ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X iSEK m y 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the gnnerosity of: Library of the Public Archives of Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copiec in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sior., or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol -^^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. M^ps, 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: L'ttxemplaire film4 fut reproduit grdce d la g6n6ro8it6 de: La bibliothdque des Archives publiques du Canada Lea images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de I'exempiaire filmd, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Les dxemplaire^ originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprim^e sont film^s en commen9ant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exempiaires originaux sont filmds en commenpant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN", Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est filmd d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 5 6 I COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH THE DOMINION OF CANADA. There is no more obvious remedy for the present depression of our manu- factures and trade, nor any more sure foundation of our prosperity in all time to come, than the extension of our commercial relations with the adjacent countries. I SPEECH OF HON. ELIJAH WARD IN' THE I HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, •est //lAY 18, lo,... /g7/^ The prosperity of our people and our strength as a nation depend more upon the unrestricted exchanges of the products of the different States than upon any other material cause, and similar commercial rela- tions would be scarcely less valuable to our citizens and the Canadians, * * » The purpose of the resolution is to ascertain how far and through what measures we can best bring into practical use the opportunities placed'within our reach by the circumstances of the times, and by immutable nature, or rather by Providence itself. WASHINGTON: 1876. I Coiinneivial Relations with the Doininion oC Canada. SPEECH ov HON. ELIJAH WARD. Tho House having under consideration the joint resolution providing tor the ap- pointment of comniis.Hioners to confiT with similar CDniniiHsiduers appoiuned by Great Britain and ascertain on wliat l):i,sisa mutually benertcial treaty of commerce between tho United States aud Canada can bo uegetiated — Mr. WARD said : Mr. Speaker : At the present time, when capital seeks iuveat- meut, interest is reduced beyond a!I precedent in tiiis country, wages are lowered, immigration decreases, the value of our exports is dimin- ished, und hundreds of thousands of our people are iu search of work by which tliey may earn a livelihood, it is the duty of wise states- men and sound patriots to do the utmost in their power to promote the return of prosperity by such measures as will best exteml the sales of -our productions and promote our carrying trade and commerce. Hitherto, intent upon tho development of our unparalleled resources, and having a sparse population, we have paid too little attention to external trade and the encouragement of foreign markets for our products, especially for those of onr manufactories, the number of which we have stimulated to an extent far greater than is commei.surate with the demands of our own population. There is no more obvious remedy for this state of atiairsat present, nor any more sure and stable foundation of our prosperity iu all time to come, than the extension of oitr commercial relations with the ad- jacent countries on this continent — on the north with Canada, and on the south with Mexico. EXTENT ANI> KF.SOrUCES OF CAXAOA. We yet seldom appreciate at their great and piactical value the im- portance of the vast regions north of the United States on this conti- nent. Stretching from the Atlantic to the Paoitic Ocean, they con- tain an area of at least 3,478,3-'0 square miles ; more than is owned by the United States, exclusive of our newly ac»]uired territory iu the far northwest, and not much less than the whole of Europe with its family of nations. No small proportion of these Territories consists ^f barren and inhospitable regions iu the extreme north ; but, as a rec- ompense, the arid plains extending through Texas, and thence nortliwanl beydiid the liuiitH of the United States, are comparatively iuHiguiflcaut as they enter the British possessions, where the Rocky Mountains, being less elevated and having a narrower base, admit the I)aK8age of the clouds from the Pacific Ocean, bearing ample rain with its fertilizing influences into the interior of the continent. By the same cause the climate is tempered. The isothermal line of 60'^ for summer rises on the northwestern I»lain8 as high as the sixty-first panillel, its average position in Europe ; and a favorable comparison may also be traced for winter and tho other seasons of the year. Spring opens almost simultaneously for a distance of about twelve hundred miles on the vast jilains reaching northerly from Saint Paul. Along the valleys of the Red, Assiua- boiue, Saskatchewan, and Mackenzie Rivers, for more than seven liuu- dred miles north of the limit of the United States, wheat has been grown, yielding most abundant returns, thus indicating a soil and climate well suited for the crops ordinarily produced in the cooler parts of the temperate zone. Barley, the grasses, and many root crops grow twelve hundred miles north of the same boundary. These facts are significant proofs of the immense capabilities of tho agricultural areas in the interior of the continent north of the forty- ninth parallel. Westward from these regions — yet scarcely inhabited, but of incalculable value in the future — are countries of yet milder climate on the Pacific coast, whose relations to California are already important. On the eastward are the rapidly increasing settlements, enjoying the rich lands and pleasant climate of Manitoba, on the Red River of the North, a sti'eam capable of steamboat navigation for four hundred miles. It is asserted by those who add pergonal knowledge of the subject to scientific investigation, that the habitable but undeveloped area of the British possessions westei-ly from Lake Superior and Hudson's Bay comprises suflticient territory to make twenty-five States equal in size to Illinois. Bold as this assertion is, it meets with confirmatiou in the isothermal charts of Blodgett, the testimony of Richardson, Simpson. Mackenzie, the maps published by the government of Can- ada, and recent explorations. North of a line drawn from the northern limit of Lake Superior to the coast at the southern limit of Labrador exists a vast region, pos- sessing in its best parts a climate barely endurable, and reaching into the arctic regions. This country, even more cold, dpsolsite, and bar- ren on the Atlantic coast than in the interior latitudes, becoming early known to travelers, has given character in public estimation to the whole nortb. Another line, drawn from the northern limit of Minnesota to that of Maine, inclmles nearly all the inhabited portion of Canada, a coun- try extending opposite the Territory of Dakota and States of Miu- ^ '%^'. 5 t iiesotii, Wisconsin, Mitshii^an.Oliio, PonuHylviinia,N'»nv YorI<, Vermont, Now Hanipshiit'. and Muinti, possessing arliiuate identical with tliiit of our Northern States. TlIK M.VKiriME I'ROVINTES. The "maritime proviucea" on tlie Atlantic coast inelnde New Bruns- wick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland. Geograjdiioally they may be regarded •in a northeasterly prolonga- tion of the New England system. Unitedly they iueludi; an area of at least 8(1,000 square miles and a^e capable of supporting a larger population than that at present existing in the United States or Great Britain. They are e(|ual iu extent to the united territory of Holland, Greece, Belgium, Portugal, and Switzerland. The natiiral interests of New Ib'unswick and the adjacent State of Maine are inseparably connect, d. New Brunswick has an area of 22,000,000 acres and a sea-coast lour hundred miles in extent and abounding in harbors. It had at the census of t^n a population of 285,594, being nearly eciual to that of Nebraska, Nevada, (Oregon, and Colorado. The chief occupations of its inhabitants are connected •with ship-building, the tisheries, and the timber trade. Judging from authentic surveys and records, it is scarcely possible to speak too highly of its climate, soil, and capabilities. Few countries are so well watered and wooded. ()u its unreclaimed surface are large flvocks of timber ; beneath are coal-tields. The rivers, lakes, and sea- coast abound with fish. Nova Scotia, a long peninsula, united to the American continent by an isthmus only tifteen miles wide, is two hundred anil eighty miles in length. The numerous indentations on its coast form har- bors unsurpassed in any part of the world. Including Cai)e Breton, it has an area of 12,000,000 acres. Wheat and the usual cereals and fruits of the Northern States tlourish in many parts of it. Its popu- lation in 1871 was declared by the census to be 367,800. Besides possessing productive tisheries and agricultural resources, it is rich in mineral wealth, having beneath its surface coal, iron, manganese, gypsum, and gold. The province of Prince Edward Island is separated from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia by straits only nine miles in width. It is crescent-shaped, one hundred and thirty miles in length, and at its broadest part is thirty-four miles wide. It is a level region, of a more moderate temperature than that of Lower Canada, and well adapted to agricultural purposes. The island of Newfoundland has a sea-coast of one thousand miles iu extent. It has an area of 23,040,000 acjres, of which only a small portion is cultivated. Its spring is late, its summer short, but the frost of winter is less severe than in many parts of our own northern States and Territories. It is only sixteen hundred and sixty-vfie ..it ;.;a- G wiles distant from Irolmid. It possesses a lnrjj[e trade with varioiw countries, inoliiding Spain, Portugal, Italy, the West Indies, and the Lrazils. The chief wealth of Newloundlnnd and of the Labrador coast is to 1)0 found in their extensive and inexhaustible fisheries, in which the other provinces also ]>artake. The future products of these, whoa properly developed by human ingenuity and industry, defy calcula- tion. The Gulf Stream is met near the shores of Newfoundland by a current from the ]>olar Itasin, vast deposits are formed by the meet- ing of the opposing waters, the great submarine islands known as "The Banks" are formed, and the rich pastures created in Ireland by the warm and humid inliuencesof the Gulf Stream are compensated by the " rich sea-pastures of Newfoundland.'' The fishes of warm or tropical waters, inferior in h the central or intermediate States, creating in them commercial interests of a magnitude which it is almost impossible now to calculate. The mutual benefits thus given and received would be perpetually diffused and circulate in every vein and artery of commerce and manufactures throughout the Union and be accompanied with the gratifying knowledge that they were derived from the prosperity of our neighbors in other countries. KECU'UOCITY APPROVED BY LEADIXO STATESMEN OF UOTU PARTIES. As the naturally interdependent commercial relations of the United States and Canada arise from geographical and climatic causes wbich are permanent and uncbangeable, and tbe cost of labor and the inter- est on capital in both countries are, reckoning from a series of years, nearly alike, they have from the beginning of our history attracted the attention of our leading statesmen without distinction of party. •During the Presidency of General Jackson, Mr. Van Buren, when ■writing in 1.829 to Mr. McLane, then our minister at the court of St. James, referring especially to the North American colonies, said : The policy of the United States in relation to their commercial inti rcourse with other nations is fotinded on principles of perfect equality i nd reciprocity. By the adoption of these principles they have endeavored to relieve themselves from the discussions, discontents, and embarrassments inseparable from the imposition of l)iiril(>iiHitn)t< (Ihciinilnalions. Tlit'iHf jtiinciplcH wt>ri> Hvowotl wblli^ tlicy w»r their lii(li>|MMiilt'iK't^ nee t'tiiiriU-d in tlmir lirnt trcuty, uml li.tvu iMtoii iilhurvil to wltii tiit« niimt Hcnipiiloiirt tlilt'lity. The exceptional character ot our natural commercial relatiotm witli Canada has also heen dnly oltwerv.^d by Home of the inortt eminent ad- vocateH of what i« termed .i " protective" ixdiey. One ol' tiie chief argnmiMitH iu itn favor in that aji^aluMt admitting; the products uf *^ pauper hibor " to compete with theme of our own eitizen-s. It has no f«)rce in reference to a contij{i:ous country, from whicli j)eople «an l)aHH to the United States in a few moments or at nuwf -i few hours. The other argument of tl»e same chiss of theoristM is derived fnun the importance of a " home market."' But a '* home nuirket " is tlio mar- ket nearest home, and this is furnislied by tlie respective countries to each other at every j . int of their coterminous teiritory. Mr.Chiy, who wascalle*! the fatlier of the '• protective" system, duly appreciated these facts, and from iiis stand-])i)int added valuable testi- mony to the uniformity of opinion anions American statesmen in his time, and his conviction as to the pdlicy by which he desiriiti our coun- try t«) be giiided. Tho Govenimeut of tlio United Slatiw— Ho said — lias ahvays iM'cn iinxinus that the traili' lit'twccii tln'in anil flic niitisli colonics ihould bo placed nu a liberal and eqiiitaltle basi^. Then; liax not been a moment mIucc tho adoption of tho present Constitution when they have uotbeou willing to api»ly (o it j)rinclples of fair reciprocity and oroducts of tlie industry of their people, thus depriving Canada of lier natural j rosperity, injuring the business of many of our States, and most seriously impeding the progress of those parts of our country which are near the Canadian frontitr, oui* exports of articles the growth, produce, and manufacture of the United States to Canada, according to the rejiort of the Treasury Department, amounted in lo73-'74 to no less than |4'2,505,914, be- ing more than twenty times as large as those to China, whence we draw so large a proportion of our imports, and larger thaw our ex- ports of a similar character to any country in the world excepting only Great Britain. Germany, and France. Our exports to Canada of goods tif foreign origin in the same year amounted to .$4,589,343, and the total trade with her to at least the v\ast sum of 185,253,108. Taking the official statistics of Canada as the tejt of our exports to the Dominion, the value of onr exports was much larger, those entered for consumption there having amounted to $54,279,749, and our imports to $35,001,117— the aggregate trade having been $90,524,000. In 1874-75 the aggregate of our domestic exports to Canada, as shown in the Report on Commerce and JSfavigation, including the ad- ditions on page 410, was $49,900,285, and the trade Itetweeu the two countiies amounted altogether to $80,250,925. An examination of our exports to Canada shows thai her vali'e as an outlet for our manufactures has long been much underrated. This has, no doubt, arisen in p irt from the f r ct that we compute the amount of 11 our exports from our own custom-lionse statistics. The- e are tlip best sources we have of information as to our imports, on which accuracy is exacteil because they are subject to duty ; but tLere is no such ur- gency as to our exports. They pass from our side of the lines with- out much attention from our ofilicer.s. Modern political economists and statisticians have observed the operation of the same rule in va- rious countries, and regard it as an eftablished axiom that " the amount of exjjort is always less exactly registered than the amount of import because with the former duty is but rarely levied.'' This rule applies with peculiar force to the ordinary data furnished by the ofiicial re- ports of the commerce and navigation of the United States so far as they refer to Canada. In 1874 the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics asked the attention of the national Legislature to this subject and repeated his request in 1875. Ho found it impracticable, if not impossible, to obtain full returns of merchandise exported to tlie provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Our custom-house returns on the Canadian border are nec- essarily defective, in part for want of legislation requiring persons exporting merchandise by railway-cars or other land-vehicles, which have long been used in the transportation of merchandise across the Canadian borders to file full manifests of such merchandise with the collector of the customs as is required in the case of all exjiorts to foreign countries in vessels. It has been found on close investigation into th"? facts that in both countries the accounts of imports from each into the other are the more accurate, because "the customs-offi- cers of both are constantly on the alert to see that no dutiable mer- chandise ci'osses the border without paying its pi'escribed impost." Upon the basis thus irrefutably laiddowMi, it is found that the value of articles of d.jmestic production exported from the United States to Canada in 1874 was .$11,424,560, and in 1875 no less than $15,660,281, in addition to the amounts shown by our own official records. This enormous amount of over |27,000,<'U0 consisted chietly of the products of the mjinufactnring industry of our people, and I desire to direct to it the special attention of those who fancy an extension of i<»ciprocal trade with Canada would be injurious to the manufacturing popula- tion of the United States. LAUGE IMPOKTS OF OCR MANUFACTURES. One of the most efficient and beneficial means of protecting our manufactures would be to encourage the demand for them in Canada. Including the amounts given in the statement of the quantities and values of our domestic exports in the official records of the Bureau of Statistics, and the additions corrected from the reports furnished by the Canadian commissioners of customs, our exports last year of our own productions to the j. ominion included books and stationery to the value of !^794,840; cotton manufactures, besides raw cotton, $1,591,844; 12 musical ihstruments, $639,027 ; leather and its manufactures, $789,428; tobacco and its manufactures, $1,673,306 ; refined sugar and molasses, $1,988,733; manufactures of iron and steol, $6,833,649, besides other manufactures to the value of many millions. Our imports during the same year from all parts of the Dominion of her staple productious of wheat and flour amounted only in value to $363,317. If we can export our manufactm-es in such large quantities to Can- ada when impeded by her present tariff, it cannot be disputed that we should increase our sales of them if they were admitted at lower rates of duty, and yet more if they were admitted free of all duty whatever. THE FOUMER TREATY. The treaty of 1854 provided for a reciprocal trade betweea the United States and the Bridsh North American possessions in certain articles, consisting mainly of the unmanufactured productions ol the farm, forest, miiies, and fisheries. It was for several years mutually satisfactory, but under the pressure of debt and the need of increased revenue the Canadians raised the duties on manufactured goods to such an extent as to destroy its natural effects in promoting many branches of the industry of our people. The Legislattire of the State of New York passed concurrent reso- lutions complaining of the tariff thus exacted by Canada and demand- ing a revision of the treaty, but expressing approval of the i>rinciple of reciprocity and a desire for an extension of its application. It was seen that unrestricted trade betw een the United States and Can- ada must bo mutually beneficial for the same reasons as make it de- sirable between New York and Pennsylvania or any of the other States in the Union. The resolutions of the State of New York asserted that " free com- mercial intercourse between the United States and the British North American possessions, developing the natural, geographical, and other advantages of each for the good of all, is conducive to the present in- terests of each, and is the only proper basis of our intercourse for all time to come ; " and, in pursuance of the request of the State of New York, that Wi Senators and Representatives in Congress should t"ke such stejis as would regulate the commerce and navigation between the two countries in such manner as to render the same reciprocally beneficial and satisfactory, I moved in the House cf Representatives that the President of the United States should be authorized and re- quired to give notice to the British government that the treaty of commerce then existing, as to the British Isorth American colonies, would be terminated at the earliest date legally permitted, but that the President should be authorized to appoint three commissioners for the revision of said treaty, and to confer with other commissioners duly authorized therefor, whenever it should appear to be the wish of ■\ " *.' ; 13 the government of Great Britain to negotiate a new treaty between the governments and the people of hoth countries, based upon the true princij/les of reciprocity, and for the removal of existing diffi- culties. HECirROCITY APPROVED IIY COXGKESS. The preamble declared that inequality and injustice existed in our present intercourse with Canada, subversive of the true intent of the treaty, owing to the legislation of Canada after the treaty had been adopted, and that it was desirable that friendly relations should be entertained between the United States and the British North Ameri- can provinces, and that commercial intercourse should be thereafter carried on between them upon principles reciprocally beneficial and satisfactory to both parties. A motion to lay the preamble and resolution on the table was re- jected by a vote of 76 to 73. Thus the House refused to terminate tlie treaty unconditionally. A notice simply to abrogate the treaty was voted down, and the preamble, which .asserted that '•ommerclal iutercourse between the United States and the British North Ameri- can provinces should be hereafter carried oix between them upon principles rtciprocally beneficial and satiKfactory, was .adopted ; and the resolution would also have been carried if a few members who together with their constituents were conspicuously in favor of and especially interested in the utmost possible freedom of exchanges be- tween the two countries had not been induced to believe that they would .obtain better terms by postponement to the next session of Congress. But the postponement was only adopted by a majority of 5 out of 159 votes. Just before the time for reconsideration arrived the war feeling had attained increased intensity, and the exigencies and temper of the occasion threw all commercial considerations temporarily aside. CANADIAN TARIFF. Since that time the Canadian tariff has undergone great and liberal changes. Very many of the articles on which we charge duties almost prohibitory are admitted free of all duty into Canada, and her old tariff of 25 or 30 per cent, has bteu reduced to a general rate of 17| on manufactures, and can no longer be a subject for complaint of in- justice on our part while Ave charge 40 or 60 i)er cent. We now ap- proach the whole subject under new and favorable auspices. 0U8TACLE8 TO COMPLETE RECIPROCITY. As the exports of Canada consist chiefly of raw productions of the farm and forest, of which we export little for actual consumption in Canada, the admission of these articles free of duty by each country into the territory of tha other is not the most just or desirable form of reciprocity. To i>laco our tr ide with the Dominion on a sat.sfac- 14 tory basis, mauufacturos also should he admitted free of duty from each country into the other. But to ett'ect this it is necessary that no higher duty should be levied in one country than in the other on iron, silk, wool, and the other materials of manufactures. Without this the country admitting them at low duties, or without any, would mani- festly be able to undersell the other if it continued such duties as it might deem necessary for its revenue or prudent for the protection of its labor against the competition of countries under diflfereut social and monetary conditions. The best arrangement of reciprocal trade between the two countries must include more or less the manufactured as well as the raw pro- ductions of each, thus giving mutual encouragement to various and diflfering industries on both sides of the line and permitting labor in each to adjust itself to the most advantageous employments. The United States have never yet made decisive eflforts to secure the ben- efits thus within their grasp. If such a system of reciprocal exchanges could be extended to manufactured productions, both countries would assuredly profit. The first etiect might seem detrimental to special interests in both, but a natural equilibrium would soon establish itself, producing con- ditions under which capital and labor would be applied to the best advantages. It would be found what each country can produce bet- ter and more cheaply for the other than the latter can for itself, and under such circumstances each would obviously be the gainer by mu- tual exchanges. It is the nature of ti'ade that it will not long be con- tinued unless all the parties gain by it. Both as producers and con- sumers the people of each country would profit by such an economical adjustment of aff'airs. As many manufactures in both countries are made of materials im- liorted from various parts of the world, it would manifestly be im- possible to establish a completely free system of commercial inter- course with Canada, except under duties not only corresponding but also equitably divided on the productions of other countries. This is the chief obstacle to any fair, mutually advantageous, and complete arrangement of reciprocity .between us. If, for instance, wearing-apparel, of which we formerly sold large quantities to the Canadians, were included in a list of free exchanges between us and them, without any more fundamental and compre- hensive change, Canada, by admitting free of duty wool, or, if she chose, cloth and the other articles used in making the apparel, could undersell us so far as to drive us out of our own markets. The prin- ciple thus illustrated is applicable to almost all other manufactures. The materials for manufactures of wood, wool, and iron are already brought into Canada either free of all imports or under nominal du- ties for the purpose of enoouraging cheap production. There is ■ '".«•-, 15 nothing to prevont tbeir bniig admitted wholly free. Undor these circumstances the Canadian niauiitacturers wouM have ati unjust advantage over those of our own country. On our side we might re- verse all this by a lower tariff or a system of bounties. But if the matei'isils of manufactures were admitted on the same terms into the United States and the Dominion and an equitable distribution made of the revenues, the manufactures of each might safely and profitably be admitted into the other. In fact, with our larger capital and more advanced manufactories we should have an advantage in the compe- tition, while it would also inure to the benelit of the Canadian people. INTEUESTS OF OCU MKUrifAXT FORWAUDEUS. Manufactures are not the only form of industry which is worthy of consideration. The interests of our merchants and forwarders, as well as the people of Canada, are seriously injured by the present ob- stacles to their intercourse. There is a great difference between a bonded system and a system oi perfect freedom, as to exi>()rts or im- ports. The annoyances, vexations, and delays necessarily attached to any bonded system are often sufficient in this day of easy commu- nication to turn away business from its natural anrehensively defined to be the association of a number of states for the establishment of a common customs law and customs line with regard to foreign countries, and for the sup- pression of both in the intercourse of the States within the border line. There would be no impediment by discriminating duties on the im- portations for Toronto if made via New York or Boston. If the mer- chants of Chicago found it to their interest to purchase at Montreal, they could do so ; and buyers from the new province of Manitoba might buy and sell at Saint Paul, Du Luth, Saint Louis, or New Orleans^ as freely as at Halifax or any city in the Dominion. The merchants of British Columbia would buy and sell in the markets of San Francisco as freely and with as little hindrance as in those of their own coun- try. All means of transit would be entirely open to the people of both countries, and those most conducive to the public welfare would take the trade. Internal-revenue laws could, so far as necessary, be made in conformity with the principles of the Union. There could be fair and complete competition everywhere within the confedera- tion, and full scope could be given to the development of natural ad- vantages wherever they would bring profit to the merchant and save needless labor of the people or yield remunerative employment to them. SiKETCH OF THE GEUMAN ZOLLVEREIX. Ti)e German ZoUverein began in 1818, considerably more than half a century ago. Its progress is a sufficient proof of the excellence of the principles it embodies and of the mode by which they are carried into effect. The enlightened state of Prussia was the originator and 17 loader in the movement, by forming a commercial union with a few minor states ; the whole population thus included being at first only nineteen millions. The experience of the benefits thus created is so satisfactory, that the best publicists of Europe believe that Prussia thus conferred upon the German people advantages scarcely inferior to those she initiated by the diftusion of education and intelligence. It not only promoted the industry and prosperity of the allied statea more than any other measure or sets of measures that their govern- ments could have devised, but it was found that the increase of wealtli and population thus arising created an additional demand for foreign products. Whatever opposition there is to unembarrassed intercourse with Canada proceeds mainly from a fear lest it might revolutionize our tariff or injure our revenue. It is well to remind the alarmists who raise this outcry that such results are no necessary consequence of an American zollverein. So far as the Zollverein of Germany is a pre- cedent, such apprehensions are entirely groundless. As Prussia was the largest and most populous country when the Zollverein was be- gun, her tariff was adopted ; and owing to increased prosperity and the consequently increased consumption of tax-paying articles, the revenue of Prussia rose about 30 per cent, in the four years next fol- lowing the amalgamation of the North German and South German States into one grand union on the 1st of January, 1834. In 1865 the benefits of the German Zollverein had become so well proved and appreciated, that instead of the three original states or duchies it included fourteen, witili a population of nearly 36,000,000. The solidity and cohesive po\v.er of the Zollverein were decisively tested in the war which began between Prussia and Austria in 1866. The governments of the North German states included in the union sided with Austria, and it was feared that a dissolution of the Zoll- verein would ensue, but, says one of the historians of the time, the ex- traordinary spectacle was presented that while " its component parts were waging open war with each other, its custom-house authorities remained in their functions in the general name and received and divided the revenue moneys in the general name, a spectacle which surprised nobody in Germany, but caused general astonishment abroad as something quite incomprehensible. German nationality, and the inner conservingpower which animates the Zollverein received hereby the most glorious confirmation." After the war of 1866 the German states to the south of the river Main, having preserved their independence, were not under any obli- gation to renew the Zollverein, but preferred to continue members of it. In 1867 a new Zollverein treaty was concluded between the states of the North German Confederation and the North German states, the scope of which extended to the whole of Germany except Austria. 2 W II *# lllfi HiK 18 Even with Austria a liberal and comprehensive treaty was eftbctedin 18G8, mutually reducing duties on both sides and abolishing all transit duties and nearly all those on exjjorts. A traveler wlio has croHscd the outer hue is freed from the vexations of the don- anier in every part of Germany, and may proceed witiiout interruption f i-om Bel- gium to tlie frontier of RiisHia, and from Tyrol t« the ]hiUic, a distance of seveu hundred or eight hundred miles, including a population of 70,000,000. MUTUAL BENEFIT OF A CUSTOMS UNION. Until the Canadians are ready for annexation to the United States by their own appreciation of republican institutions, no solution of the conunen^ial (juestions at issue between us and them can be complete except by means of a customs nnion. I, for one, am not desirous of incorporating in our political union 4,000,000 of pcojde who desire a form of government essentially distinct from our own. But it by no means follows that we and they should not mutually develop in harmony our material interests and regard them and the character of our respective populations as a basis on which such future political arrangements may be made as time may prove to be wise. The quality of grain or lumber and the desirability of selling or purchas- ing manufactures are utterly independent of the political preferences of the producers or consumers, and on neither side can natural pros- perity be promoted by chronic commercial jealousy. It is evident that the policy I advocate would tend to lessen the hostility of diirerently instituted governments, while it would not in- terfere with the political institutions of any, and that a strong bias toward the most friendly relations on other points must natui'ally arise upon the basis of mutual pecuniary interests and intimate social intercourse. THAT •' llALAXCE OF TKADE." Meeting upon their own ground the theorists who regard "a bal- ance of trade in our favor" as the chief test of the benefits of com- mercial exchanges with any single country, I iiud that, according to the reports of the Secretary of the Treasury, there appears to have been during the thirteen years when a treaty for the reciprocal ex- change of grain, lumber, and many other natural productions existed, a balance in our favor amounting to some $83,000,000, and that ever since the termination of the treaty until 1874, when the pressure on our alfairs tended to force sales at low prices, there has been a balance against the United States in the trade with the Dominion. So much for the present exclusive policy in comparison with the more liberal but incomplete system under the treaty, judging them from the ordi- nary stand-point of many protectionists. Since the termination of the treaty the proportion of the trade of Canada with this country in comparison with the whole foreign trade has been reduced from 52 to 35 per cent., until the necessities of our I la people compelled them to part with the products of their labor at re- duced priccH. The tariff of Canada is moderate as compared with our own ; hut, in oonuectiou with our taxation of many materials, it is enough to have caused some important branches of manufacture, notably th«)80 of wood-screws and musical instruments, to be lately transferred by our own citizens to the other side of the northern frontier, where they are not only established for the'supply of the people of the Dominion, but, if we Tsist in our present course, will undoubtedly at no distant date compete on terms favorable to the Canadians in neutral markets with the jjroducts of our own labor on a very extensive scale and in many various manufactures. THE IlKAL UALANCK. While it is desirable to onconraj;e as far as we are able the sales of our manufactures to Canada, it is always to bo remembered that the trade between that country and the United States is to a considera- ble extent one of transit or carrying to other countries, and thus "what is called " a balance" against us, which is really an advantage, may exist, because it may merely represent what we have bought from one country to sell at a profit to others. If our merchants buy the bulky productions of Canada to the extent of many millions and carry them through our own country to our sea-ports, they give employment to our laborers, create a domaiul for the products of our farmers, rfiid cause the expenditure and employment of vast sums of money among our traders and capitalists, while the articles thus carried and ex- ported stand to our credit and profitably swell the balance in onr favor in otlier countries, being at least as valuable in our exchanges with the rest of the Avorld as if they were gold or silver. The Canadians, understand) 3ig this natural operation of the simple laws of business and carrying it into their afttiirs.of state, have, with an enlightened self-interest, attemi)ted to diminish what might by more short-sighted economists be called " the balance in their favor," by admitting onr wheat, flour, corn, oats, barley, pease, and many other productions entirely free of all duty. They would like the exchange to be much more — as some of our doctrinaires would call it — " against them." The more of our wheat, corn, and flour they buy, or, in other words, " the larger the balance against them," the more their shipping and canals, and with them their merchants and the rest of thair pop- ulation, prosper. Wo take the other course, and by way of fancied "protection" levy a duty of twenty cents a bnshel on their wheat, fifteen cents on their barley, ten cents on their oats- 20 per cent, on their flour, and from 10 to 20 per cent, on their pease. ' -; Under the treaty, the quantities of grain exchanged between the two countries were almost exactly equal. In 1874 our exports of grain and breadstuff's to the Dominion, exclusive of barley, for which wo 20 m i pny Ciinada u lu-tter price than slio can find cIhowIuto, ainonnted to $ir>,477,r)74, wliilo the importH of th« cornsNpoiuliiijj artichiH were $!3,47;},:ir)2, showini? what is called " a halance in our favor " of ^13,004,- 322; otir exports of f^rain and hreadstufts to Canada, as thus shown, beinj;, in conHO([nenco of our duties on her products and her exemp- tion of ours, more than four times as large as our imports from her. This " balance in our favor" shows that we expel the trade in certain classes of product* from our shipping, railroads, elevators, and waro- hcmses with incalculable injury to all classes of our people and force it into Canadian channels. This is more fully shown by the official reports of Canada, where it appears that in the same year nearly twenty-one millions of bushels of grain were certainly exported from that country, being between six and seven millions of bushels more than her imports. Thus we see that the purchases of grain by Canada are for re-ex- portation, either directly or for such consumption as leaves a corre- sponding surplus on her own side for exportation. No bonded system egarding grain from Canada can afford such facilities for profits by our merchants, millers, carriers, and others as would arise from free and untrammeled trade in it. WK DIUVE AWAY THE ThADE WE MIGHT ATTRACT. The enlargement of the Canadian canals, with a view yet fuvthor to draw away from this country the transit of its own productions and trade in them is at the present moment going on, and that on a magnificent scale. In 1855, the year after the treaty went into oper- ation, as soon as routes and. markets of the United States were opened freely to the grain. Hour, aiul timber of Canada, the trade by way of the Saint Lawrence was $18,469,528, or not much more than half its amount in *he previous year. The decrease was .$15,203,600, and a corresponding amount was transferred, to other carriers, for the Cana- dian trade in the United States increased in the same time |15,856,624, or from |24,97 1,096 to $40,827,720. In view of these facts, tha urgency of removing from those who are employedon our railroads, rivers, and canals the restrictions imposed on them by duties on Canadian grain, and placing them on an equal footing with their foreign competitors, cannot be reasonably disputed. If we bought from Canada every bushel of wheat that she now ex- ports to other countries, the demand in those countries would remain the same. The difference would chiefly be that after paying for it in the products of our labor, we should send it or its equivalent "to the present consumers and that we should do the business and make the jiroflts now made by the Canadians. If there should be what some call " a balance against us " with Canada, it would be more than made up through the amounts placed to our credit by our sales to other couutrlea. AX INCHEA8RI) SLTJ'Lr OF I'HOVIMOXi*. Mniiily for tliose nKiit'ultnral iiroductioiis whicli nrc not " poriHh- al)li> " and will boar tranHportation the niarketHof tho world at larj;o regnlato our own. The prices alike of grain and dairy productH are tranHniittcd by cable and eagerly examined by the dealers in them on tluH side of the Atlantic. The free admission of those artich'S into this country will stimulate industry without reducing general prices, not only through increasing the business of our railroads, canals, riv- ers, and sea-ports, but by furnishing them to consumoi's os nearly as possible to the places where they are produced, and by passing theui through the hands of the fewest intermediate dealers. There are also many agricultural products — notably animals and fresh meats — which might profitably bo exchanged by Canada for our nmnufactures, thus furnishing an increased and cheaiicr supply of provisions to our people, who, nnder the system I advocate, would pay for them in the prod- ucts of their looms and workshops. Even as to these articles many errors are current. It appears from the tables published by the Bureau of Statistics that last year our imports describc^d as animals from the British Anu'rican colonies amounted to $l,987,2VA, and those'of meats, butter, cheese, poultry, lard, «fec., to ^533,886; a total of §2,521,117. Au outcry is raised that our farmers are oppressed by these inundations of provisions. But their amount is little more than equal to our exports of meats alone to Canada. Their amount is no less than §2,4.57,904. Of animals,-meat8, butter, cheese, lard, and tallow only our exports to the same country wore $4,398,000, or aboxit two millions more than our imports. FKRE TRADE IK COAL. It would be improper to pass without examination our trade with Canada in coal, an article which is one of the essential elements of manufactures, and in the North becoming daily more and more one of the prime necessaviesof human life. It is found in abundanceon the sea-coast of Canada, whence it is advantageously exported to the New England States and New York. But it is not found in the interior and well-settled parts of the Dominion. They depend on our mines for a supply, and obtain it, free of all duties, principally from Penn- sylvania, Virginia, and Ohio. Anthracite coal is extensively imported into the maritime provinces. Altogether, regarding the subject from a national point of view, our imports of coal last year from Canada amounted to $697,673, and our exports to her were, as shown by our own returns alone, $2,034,527. The imports, taking a series of years, are nearly stationary ; but our exports increase enormously, and in the last three years were $7,272,964, not far from four times as large " as in the three years from 1863 to 1867. Under these circumstances any imposition of duty on coal from the Dominion is evidently unjust, favorable only to petty local interests at the cost of important com- 22 il III 1 . ■ 1 innn'.tloM aii«!r i» probably on tho whole tho one most neciCMHary to our citizeuH. It fornm a jtart of every liouHO in city and country. It Ih directly or indirectly a part of alnumt every manufacture, u ' tho cost of the home of every workman in the manufacturing parts i. our country dependH upon its price. Consitl- ored with regard to the taritVaud its " protective" character, lumber is unlike any other article. Our iron-ore being inexhaustible, the pro- duction of that metal may be stimulated to any extent. The more there is made of it the more can be made. The same is true of man- ufactures of wool ami cotton, or of those articles themselves. Looms, hheop, and cotton plantations can bo almost indefinitely multiplied, liut, for all intents and piirposcs, a high price for lumber is not only a tax on tho people, but stimiilutes present production with the abso- lute certainty of speedy, spendthrift, exhaustion of the supply. IJy duties on Camidiau lumber wo simply exhaust our resotirces and pay for drawing wh;vi we need from places remote or diflicult of access when we might get it easier elsewhere. It would be even more rea- sonable to dig holes aiid fill them up again thau to indulge in this delrsive and extravagant legislation. There has been a too comniou belief that by duties on the produc- tions of Canada we make her people pay our taxes. Perhaps the fallacy yet 1 ugers in some minds. The fact that we have destroyed onr importations of wheat and Hour from Canada, and that she now sends her surplus together with nmcli of our own to other markets, may convince of their error some of those who have imagined she must depend upon us for the sales of her productions. It was argued when the treaty was repealed and a duty was imposed on Canadian timber that we should buy it as cheaply as ever. Instead of this consummation, it has been found that our importations became nearly threefold as large as before, and that the prices in Canada doubled, showing clearly that a e pay the duty aud injure every branch of in- dustry in which northern timber is a material. The well-known fact is that we are rapidly exhausting our supplies of timber in the Northern States. The demand for it increases at the rate of 25 per cent, a year, and even those who are interested in high prices and immediate sales of what is left of it admit that in twenty years building timber will be extremely scarce, and that in many parts of the country, yet supplied in part from their own soil, it will have entirely disappeared. It is stated on good authority that no less than 63,923 establishments, employing 393,378 persons and using material to the value of $310,000,000 a year, were engaged in 1869 in manufacturing articles entirely from wood, in addition to 7,439,840 no 23 jiersons partly iMiiployiMl on wood and n.iliiK that niatorlal y«»ar1y to tlu) viiliui of li(.'K>4,"0(>,(KMl. Ill Hoinc inHtanccH, following th»' example of nioro <'xpori«Mic(3(l iiatlonH, prt'tuiums are giv«Mi to thoHO who phint certain anni8 with for«Ht trees. Yet lii the face of all theHo facts we, niulor the name of " protection," hotray the public iiiterestH into the hantU of a few iiioi)o|>oli8t8, and condeiiui oiu' peoplr to pay largo ro- wardH for the too rapid ileHtrnotion oP our renniiniiig forentH. In con- Hideriiig these facts it in desiruhle to renieniber that nnder a free sys- tem of exchanges Canada would he paid tor her lumber in the prod- ucts of our labor. rUllMC fU'INION ox TIIAIIK WITH TAXADA. The value of an extension of trade with Canada is duly appreci- ated by all thoughtful commert'ial men. The National Hoard of Trade passed resolutions and petitioned Congress in its favor. The New York Chamberof Conunerco regards it as " specially desirable, on po- litical as well as ecoriomical grounds, that all unnecessary hindrances should bo removed from the commercial intercourse Jietwren the United States and the great Dominion which bordjTs our northern border for so many thousands of miles," and " strongly recommends the proper authorities at Washington to enter into such treaty Htipu- lations whenever the Canadian authorities may bo found ready to meet them on a basis of perfect fairness and equity." The boards of trade in Uoston and Chicago, and many other similar associations, have earnestly expressed the same views. Various State Legislatures, notably that of New York, have passed resolutions to the same eftect. Proof that the importance of the? interests involved is fully appreci- ated, and of a willingness to negotiate, abounds in Canada. CANADA WILLING TO NKOOTIATK. In 1873 the Dominion board of trade presented a memorial t'o Earl Dufierin, the governor-general of the Dominion, expressing a" sincere and cordial desire" that he would " be pleased to make such repre- sentations to tho imperial government as will procure the appoint- ment of a cojnmission to meet and confer with a similar commission on the part of the Government of the United States, (if such commis- sion has been or shall be appointed,) for tho purpose of framing and negotiating such a treaty of reciprocal trade as will be for tho mu- tual advantage and benefit of the trade and commerce of the Domin- ion of Canada and the United States." The Canadian minister of customs, the privy council, and the governor-general fully concurred in these views, and the governor, in council, formally promised that " should the Government of the United States comply with the wishes exjiressed by the National Board of Trade, the subject will receive the fullest consideration of the government of Canada." There is good reason for believing that no change has been made in their views. 24 During the present year a leading member of the Dominion board of trade, at its annual meeting, expressed the general sentiaient of those who were present by saying, " We are anxious to deal fairly and liberally with our neighbors, and on condif-'.on that they meet us in a liberal spirit." A resolution was passed, declaring ' that this board is of opinion that it is very desirable that a treaty of reciprocity in trade with the United States, on a comprehensive, liberal^ and fair basis, shonld be obtained ;' and is also of opinion that the initiatory steps thereto ought to come from the Government of the United States, seeing that it was by tlieir action that the old treaty was abrogated." Thns thee is ample proof that commibsioners would be promptly appointed to meet and confer with our own. While we now possess a most valuable market and increasing mar- ket for our manufactures, it is quite as certain that its continuance depends on tne duties levied by the Canadian tarift". A largo propor- tion of the manufactures we expert so extensively to the Dominion, conspicuously jiany of iron, copper, brass, lead, cotton, &c., are ad- mitted free of duty or at almost nominal rates of 5 or 10 per cent., and those charged at higher rates than 17+ per cent, are few in num- ber find insign- leant in quantity. The Canadians have it in their power, and it couhl be n ^ just cause of complaint by us, to adopt our own scale of duties. The Ciiect of such a step could not fail to inflict serious injury on our manufacturers, many of whose products would soon bo excluded from the Canadian markets, which it is for our in- terest to open yet more widely. CONTRAST CANADIAN WITH HAWAIIAN TUADE. The importance of our present and future commercial relations with the Hawaiian IsTduds has been ably discussed. I have not under- estimated nor will I now depreciate it. But it shrinks into seeming insignificance in comparison with the value of the trade between the people oi the United States and Canada. In the same year when our exports of cereal productions to the islands amounted to the value of about |!45,000 those to the Dominion were of the value of over four- teen millions, our exports of cotton and its manufactures to the islands were about $16,000, and of iron and steel, including wooden- ware, were nearly $20,000, while those of the same classes to Canada were over one million one hundred thousand and over six millions, respentivrely, exclusive of wooden ware. The exports I have specitied to Canaetween them. The people of these countries have as un- doubted rights to free-trade with each other as the citizens of our ■different States now enjoy among themselves. But, if ti\e difficulties attending our present tariff ure now " in some respects insurmountable," what would they becoiiie If the same free- dom of trade ae exists between the States of the Unionwere also a matter of fact between the different parts of the British Empire ? There is no complete remedy but such a customs-union as I have sug- :gested between the United States and the Dominion. COMMISSIONERS WOULD IJiJl'dlT IMPARTIALLY. In proposing the appointment of rommissioners to confer with other commissioners duly authorized by the government of Grea*; Britain, or Avhenever it shall appear to be the wish of that govein- mont to appoint such commissioners, to investigate and ascertain on what basis a treaty of reciprocal trade for the mutual benefit of the I)eople cf the United States and the Dominion of Canada can be ne- gotiated, and to report the results of their investigation to the Presi- dent of the United States, there is no bias toward any special form of reciprocity. They may or may not approve of such a customs union as under existing circumstances seems to me the best and only lierfect solution of the embarrassments attending the present com- mercial relations of the two countries, as it would effect a great sav- ing in the revenue service, abolish smuggling, give complete freedom of transit to the people on both sides, and by a continuous and har- monious development of their resoiirces encourage social intercourse and prepare the way for whatever other institutions their intelli- gence and mutual good-will might hereafter suggest and approve. But between such an arrangement and the present condition of trade there are many intermediate steps. It ought not to bo difficult to agree upon the basis of a common tariff on all articles, such as silks, laces, brandies, wines, jewelry, &,o., the importation of which is taxed only for revenue, and in regard to which no irreconcilable differences of politico-economical theory arise, or to determine the ter is of equi table division of the revenue collected from them in common, if this only were done, the m^ ^t extensive smuggling from which the rev- enue of the United States suffers would be stopped, and our own public Treasury would be the gainer by many millioiis. Some at least of the manufactures and raw products of each country could be admitted to free exchange with those of the other. SUMMAUY AND CONCLUSION. Beyond these considerations, or rather as vheir basis, are the plain and well-known facts that the prosperity of our people and our strength as a nation depend upon their unrestricted exchanges of the products - / Zi of their labor more tlmn upon any other material cause, and that the relative positions of the United States and the Dominion render sim- ilar commercial relations no less valuable to our citizens and the Ca- nadians ; that if permitted to develop themselves harmoniously, ac- cording to the unrestricted wishes of the people, the mutual interests of the two countries are even more important than taose of many of our own States, and that whatever would directly benefit so large a number of them must be jirofitable to them all and should be desired by all. Whatever arrangements may be made might properly include va- rious regulations necessary for the freedom and convenience of our commercial and social neighborhood and intercourse, such as a uni- form system of extradition, light-houses, copyrights, postage, patents, telegraphs, weights, measures, and coinage. The principles I am desirous of seeing brought into active use are simply those expressed nearly a century ago by Girard, Franklin, Deane,and Lee in atreatyjof commerce between France and the United Stsites, in which they, on the part of this country, agreed to avoid " all those burdensome prejudices which are usually sources of debate, embarrassment, and discontent," and to take as the " basis of their agreement the most perfect equality and reciprocity," "founding the advantage of commerce solely ujion reciprocal utility and the just rules of free intexoourse." Thus all petty, acrimonious debates as to whether one party would make more or leas than the other would cease. All would be merged in considerations of plain and palpable benefit as far as it is between States and individuals in the Union. It is undeniable that +he government and people of Canada are desirous of meeting in « friondly and liberal spirit whatever eftbrts we may make toward extending our trade with them. Thus appar- ently the means of benefiting a large and suffering portion of our population are open to us by giving "^hem employment through an ex- tended market for their productions. How much this is needed may be estimated from the statement of the Secretary of the Treasury in his annual report, that our domestic exports to all countries decreased in value $70,149,321 last year. By opening trade with Canada we should also furnish our people with a more abundant supply of the necessaries of life and some of the materials for manufactures. The purpose of the resolutions now under consideration is simply to as- certain, after full and careful investigation by intelligent citizens of the United States, how far and through wb it measures we can best bring into actual practice the opportunities which are placed within our reach by the circumstances of the times and i/y immutable nature, or rather bv Providence itself.