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Les diagrammes suivants iliustrent la mAthode. rata > eiure, A 3 ax 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 REPORT OK HON. ISRAEL T. HATCH UPON THB Operation of the Revenue Laws AND THE EECIPROCITY TREATY UPON THH If ORTHEKlf FKONTIEB. COMMDNICATED TO CONGRESS, REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE OF WAYS AND MEANS, AND ORDERED TO BE PRINTED. JtrnsTE istii, iSGO. WASUINGTON. 1860. *'^%»a. (v PiECIPROCITY TREATY. Report of Hon. Israel T. Hatch, JUNE l«tU, 1800, Communicated to Congress, referred to the Committee of Ways and Means, and ordered to de Printed. To Hon. Howell Cobb, Secretary/ of the Treasury: In discharging the special duty assigned to me, of examining the operations of the leveniie laws and the Reciprocity Treaty on our northern fi-ontier with Canada, I beg leave to report that I have visited the principal points of intercoursft between the two countries for the purpose of acijuiring practical information, and have also had interviews and correspondence with leading individuals whose interests are afi'ected by the treaty, and who are engaged in the various pursuits of trade, agriculture and manufactures. The personal obgervation I have thus been enabled to give the workings of the treaty at the places whore its effects are perhaps most perceptible, and the information derived thus from the every-day experience of those who do business under it, I have believed would furnish most important data for forming a practical judgment of its operation. The Treaty of Reciprocity produced a revolution in the operation of the revenue laws, as well as in the re\ enue itself. The principle of recipiocity in the commercial intercourse of the United States with Canada, has met the approbation of all political parties iii this country at all times. The territory of the provinces is indented with our own along a line extending across the continent from ocean to ocean. The wages of labor (the gieat modern test of cne phase of national equality) are nearly equal in both countries. The cost in the production of wheat and other cereals differs but little on both sides of the boundary line. Shown thus to be apparently commercially alike in these leading considerations, and minor parallels confirming the similitude, I Si' it 1*8 not Hiiiguliir that at variouH periods of our national cxifitcnce, tho itlea of recipPKMty in trade between the two countries has received the favorable reyrard of oininent men. " The jroverntnent of the United States," said Mr, Clay, in his letter of the 1 1th October, 1826, to Mr, Vaughan, "luw always been anxious that tho triule between them and tho British colonies should bo placei on a liberal and equitable basis. There has not been a moment since tho ado])tioii of tho present constitution, when thoy have not been willing to apply to it j)rineiplefi of fair reciprocity and equal competition." Three years after tho date of this letter, during tho ])re«idency of General Jackson, Mr. Van Buren'a letter of instructions to Mr. McLean, who was then our Minister at tho Court of Su James, announced tho principles on which this government re-opened i>egoti- ations relative to tho trade with tho British colonies in North Amevica. Ho said: ''Tho policy of tho United States in rehition to their commercial intercourse with other nations is founded on principles of perfect equaKty and reciprocity. By tho adoption of these principles they have endeavored to relievo themselves from tho discussions, discontents and embarrassments inseparable from the iiriposition of burdensome discriminations. These prin- ciples were avowed while they were yet struggling for their independence, are recorded in thoir first trcfity, and have been adhered to with tho most scrupulous fidelity." The freedonj of commerciiU intercourse has never beon more ably advocated than by Thomas Jefferson. In the report made by him in 1793, when he wm Secretary of the Treasriry, as if ho would rescue the term " reciprocity" from the opprobrium it must sometimes encounter, ho made uso of tho fol- lowing memorable words: "Should any nation, contrary to our wishes, suppose it may better find its advantages by continuing its system of prohibi- tions, duties and regulations, it behooves us to protect our citizens, their com- merce and navigation, by counter prohibitions, duties and regulations, also. Free commerce and navigation are not to be given in exchange for restrictions and vexations, nor are they likely to produce relaxation of them." Familiar a.s the public mind must have been made with the principles which finally produced this treaty, by these and similar almost authoritative expres- sions of opinion ; brought home at intervals as these ideas must have been to tho legislation and di[)lomacy of the country, it is not surprising th t this practical but limited experiment in substantial free trade was attempted. The leading idea of tho treaty itself was to permit tho introduction of the products of one country into tho other fiee of duty, and consequent reciprocal benefits were expected to follow for both. The various colonies included in its provisions wore left to regulate their own tariffs, and each colonial power can annul its honorary obligations without reference to its Bister provinces or the engagements of the empire. No statesmanship could. howovor, foretell tho workinsjs of tho tronty, or had >i lij^lit to antici|)atG'2,\'.i8 on the imp(trtationw of tli.it year; or RH Canada received from us during the same year i7,899,.')r)4, the value of the corresponding articles, there waj for that year a balance of trade in favor of Canada amounting to $!),91 1,130, the duties on which would hnvo been $1,))8'J,220. During the four years elapsed since the treaty came into ed'ect, and ended Slst December, 1858, wo have received from Canada $28,- 771,090 in value of the articles enumerated in the treaty more than hhe has received from us. At the same rate of duty, the re\enuo on them would have been $5,754,338, or $11,722,089 if computed on $58,013,449 (see Table D), the value of commodities received by us since the treaty, and simi- larly tree. The collection and safe keeping of the large income which would have accrueil to our revenue under the former system cf duties would have iti- posed no additional expense upon our government, as an organization suitable for the purpose already exists in the custom-houses necessarily maintained on our nortliern frontier to prevent free trade in these commodities on which duties are now levied, (and chiefly collected at the Atlantic ports of entry,) and to protect the public againr.t the total loss of the revenue which must arise if foreign merchandise could be thrown into the interior, free of duty, through the northern frontier. inrreiiKc of tii« The marked diango in the amount of free goods importe,847,822 (MO.lJTo 18.57 17,000,737 (!!H,()!)7 18.58 11,267.618 3i;j.!i.53 1859 l.'{,703.748 .504.91i9 Total, $70,783,854 $28,800,344 I i I Tho abovo atiitistics hHow tlmt whilo for tho fivo vfars tioxt prcctMliii;^ the treaty, ilufy wiis paiil o'l nearly tlvo times tlio amoiitit of iiiipDitJitioim from Cnuailaiu wcro admitlod freo of duty, tho exact proportioim hv\n.'").'■> 119,.358 1S4,4U This statement demonstrates that during these years wo have not collected aniually duties on much more than $100,000 in vjiluo of merchandise ac- tudHy produced in Canada, yielding at an average of 20 per cent, about $25*000 towards defraying the yearly expenses of collection, and of guarding a frontier of inland coast six thousand miles in extent. I present a statement showing in contrast the value of freo and duty-pay- ing irticles exported from this country to Canada before January 1st, 1850, from December 30th, 1840. . . TABLE B. Value of goodii, etc.. from tho V. 3. free of duty in Canada. cUielljr free before the treaty. Vahip of poods, etc.. from the U. S. paying duty in Ciinada. 1850 ,..$.5,803,732 $ 7!tl,128 1851 (i,981,735 1,384,030 1852 7,013,003 810,090 18.53 10,0.50,582 1,125,.505 18.54 1.3,449,341 2.08.3,7.56 18.55 11,449.472 9,379,204 1850 12,770,923 9,9.33,586 18.57 „ 9,900,4,30 10,2,58,220 18f3 8,473,007 7,101,958 8 Tlio oonlriwl iMitwcdn ijl.'l 1 ■'J.O.').!, llm toliil ainouiit of duty fdnfrnut lii'lwi'(>n . , , . i i- /i i ■ .< ► , i x.,, ,>,.. iiiitioA w\u'i\ DM paying ^ixxIh niipoitiHi troiii ( iiiiH caniod through loth countries. A glaring and important contraHt Htiil romains. in 18/58, when wo col- loctud duties on aliout ♦ 100,000 in valuo of Canadian proiiuctioiiH, tlio pro- ductH (>1 Aniciicaii lahor on which duties woro paid in ('anada amounted to $l,r)'24,r)U;i. Tho stalis'Jca of ISGr) infer in part to goods iinptntcd l)ofor« thu treaty, iind aro consequuntly omitted in the following Htatemcnl, and a reduction should bo inadu from tho morclmndiso assumed to hu C'linadiitn ; hut neither country has thought thi distinction worthy of a place in its stJi- tistics, and tlio caso (loes not reipiiro tlio miniito ejahoration propcr'y observed when the evide ice on both sides is nicely balanced in the scale of justico. TAnLK C. \K,a. isr>7. \s;.%. rriidiicls (if the ir. S. imying duty in Caniidu $7,nHl,2M G,2l);t,.'{20 ■t.,')2t..')03 rriidiH'ts (if ('itnudii inlying duly ia U. S 13(>,370 KiO.OHt? 119,358 Vuhio of Ani«r!caii prodiicta clmrjrcd witli duty in ('iin- luiii, al)()V(^ the ('nnndiuii jirodiicls clinrged witli duty intlieU.S $7,HM,914 6,043,234 4,40r),145 During these years tho total amount of priiduct of Americjin industry taxol ill Canada, was 15(18,294,293 more than the amount of Canadian productiois tiixed in this country: redj)rocity and C(iuality being in this instance rep'o- Hoiited by tho relative proportions of 45 to 1. This is tho condition of trido purchased as I havo already shown by a loss of revenue, being in 1854, the last year before the operation of tho treaty, more than six times the reveiuo collected by Canada during that year on the articles made free by tho troity and imported from tin United States. Owing to the geographical position of Canada, by which she is pent up behind our territory without any moans of carrying goods from the sea coast for more than half the year, sho must receive through us the earliest supplies for spring trade, and our territory furaishes at "all times the cheajiost and most expeditious route for tho carriage of many commodities, especially thosa of tropical origin, to Canada. ;', It might have been supposed that a system of trade admitting nearly all tho productions of Canada into tho United S .tes free of duty, wh'le an R\erage revenue of over one million is annually levied on merchandise of i I f • r \ sarly all h'le an idise of Ainoiican orij^!n tnkoii into ('unudn (seo Appendix No. 4), would liavc bwn at luaNt HatiHtactory to tliat |)rovin('e, and liavo exoinptod us from unfiii^ndly eornniiticial l<- far as her nisou'.ros liavo as yot lu-ttn dovclojitid (willi tlio trivial exceptions nbvady nainwl, nnd unworiliy of niontion in a national '■ point of view), slio enjoys in tiio salo of hor productions frco from all duties for tlio prot(!ction of our labor and tlie incroaso of our n-vcnuo, every advan- ;, taijo posscswsd l>y llu- Slates of this Union, reciprocating, by iho imposition of duties such as no Statu of the Union could adopt or demand upon the productions of the otliei-s. This is the return made to us for a polii'v full of special concession in their favor, and the revemie raised by taxing our labor has boon spc-nt in jmblic works expressly and avowedly inttaideil to divert our commerce — thus dimini.HliJng the al)ility "•' our people to support our own gov "rnment, »is is more particularly stateil in those parts of this Report which treat of the railroads and canals of Canada. t'ommerco and navigation are the medium of exchange for the articles of production and consumption between various countries, and thiough their nieans revenue is jiroduced. Hence, to estimate correctly the opeiation of thn Heiiiprocity Treaty Jipon the revenue, '.vould re(|iiiro an exainiiuition of the commercial cK^iru^nts which either Jm reiwe or diminish it. A liberal policy towards American manufactures was al- niHtnrirni fact in ways urged by Hritisji -statesmen as a reason for irrantinir ri'iViviMciccimiiKo J r^ J fl .-1 In n'M'lllll' IllvVMUIIll admission to Canadian i)roductions. In 1843 a celebrated tinir (.inniiioimp- ' nil Ahii'i'K'Mii nnd dispatch was issued by Lord Stanley, now Earl of Derby, lamuiiuu com'rco. recommending that all diseriminating duties in Canada against American manufactures should cease. Until 1840 nuich (hictuating legislation had ex- isted between the two countries, in accordance with an artificial system little calculated to promote the common good. Sometimes an identity of opinion was nearly established ; at other times, the diifercnce was so great thrit on the l/th day of March, ISiil, the President of the United Slates issued a proclamatior, prohibiting the trade between this country and the British col- onies of North America. Hitherto dill'erential duti"'' had been exacted in Oreiit Britain on the wheat of the United States am. the colonies, with an intention of forcing our agricultinal productions through Canada by way of tlie St. Lawrence. By an act of Congress dated August Gth, 1840, wo per- mitted the [iroduce of Canada to bo sent through our lines of communication to the ocean, either in bond or with a right of drawkick, on paying two and a half per cent, at the place of exportation. The etl'ect of this law waH largely to divert from the St. Lawrence the shipments hitherto made through it, and send them through our sea porta, and it will thus be seen that under the operation of this law wo were the carriers for Canada ; but since the treaty 10 tho Cunadiiiiis Imvo not only carried the comnioditieb rwjuired for their own use, but iiiivu become the forwarders and carriers for us. Although 'he free navigation of tho St. Lawrence had been for years lidd up to the great west a« an ineatiniabie prize, the Canadian or British governino'it always j)roferrod to enjoy jU advantages in driving a good bargain with us, rather than rely upon its uncertain half ye ir's navigation for the outlet of their surjJus pro- ductions. They continued to seek a free access to our markets. In 1847, when the colonies suffered under a removal of tho exclusive privi- leges it had formerly enjoyed in Great Britain, duties on Americtm manufac- tures weie reduced from 12^ to *i^ per cent, and increased on liritish manu- factures from 5 to 7^ per cent.; thus removing all difierontial duties against tho United States. In 1849 the Provincial Legislature passed an act author- izing tho removal of duties on all articles being tho growth and production of ihe United States, on condition that we should pass a similar law. Sir H. L. Bulwor, when British Minister at Washington, pressed u])on our govem- ment the considera'ion of such a treaty as became law in 1854, urging, as a reason, the liberal policy of Canada towards our manufactuies. The follow- ing is an extract fiom his letter to our Secretary of State. " I have already expressed to you at different periods, and the*HM"ish"^fiiiiis^ especially in my note of the 22d of Maich last, the disap- iion" ipf Va'iuIiL'iu poihtmcnt which was experienced in Canada, when, at the **" "'' "' last session of Congress, it was known that no progress what- ever had been made in the bill which had been bi-ought forward for three successive years, for reciprocating the measures which passed the Canadian Legislature in 1847, and which granted to the natural produce of this coun- try an entry free of duty into Canada, whensoever the Federal Legislature of the United States should pass a law similarly admitting into the United States the niiturul produce of the Canadas. The disappointment was the greater masmuch as the Canadian government has always adopted the most liberal commercial policy with respect to the United States, as well in regard to the transit through its canals as in regard to the admission of viam/factured goods coming from this country T The treaty itself was formally declared to be founded on a Formal iloclara- •' •' _ tionK of ti.e basis of dosiro to " ivffulate the commerce and navigation between tho the treaty. . ° . ^ . respective territories and people of the United States and Great Britain," and " moi-e especially betweeti Her Majesty's possessions in North America and the United States, in such a manner as to render e same reciprocally beneficial and satisfactory." The assent of Congress was procured on this understanding, and it was substantially ae either closed their markets against the chief productions we could sell to them or exacted a large duty on admission into their markets. From time to time the Canadian duties have been increased , , , „, Anniinl chanffC* since the ratification of the treaty, and durinc; the last five ?."■' .''"■'•,"i"<«^ a"- •' o ties lu CauuUii t*- years the following duties have been exacted on the declared ''iiTn. value of various chief articles of consumption : 1855 Molasses 16 Sugar, refined 32 Do. other 27)^ ... Boots and shoos 12)-^ ... Ilarnesri i2}4 ... Ccitton goods VlQ ... Iron goods 1234 ... Silk goods ]2i| ... Wool goods I23I ... 185« 1857 1868 1859 11 .... 11 .... 18 .... 30 28 .... 26 .... 2ii}4 .... 40 20 .... 17>^ .... 21 .... 30 U}^, .... 20 .... 21 .... 25 17 .... 20 .... 21 .... 25 131^ .... 15 .... 15 .... 20 )H34 .... 15 .... 16 .... 20 131^ .... 15 .... 17 .... 20 14 .... 15 .... 18 .... 20 Every year a new tariff hjis been enacted, and each of them has inflicted higher duties upon the chief productions of American labor. These duties are so adjusted as to fall most heu ily upon the products of our citizens. The tariff of 1859 was avowedly bused upon an isolating . ■ T ' 1 1 1 Tiiriir intended U) and exclusive policy. It was supported on this ground, alike exclude the msa- ... I » , ..'"..„ ufactures and com- by ministerial oigius of the presy, by petitions in its favor, merce oi the United and by mcnibers of the colonial Parliament After securing our free markets for all Canadian productions, its advocates argued that it was the interest of Canaflians to become independent of all other countries, and to employ their own ships and their own people; thus keeping in the country all that is now paid to the United States. They can find no justifi- cation lor the annual increase in their rates of tariflf) in the assertion that the present rates do not exceed our own. When the treaty was ratified our tariff exceeded theirs, and the concession given to them was not an equality of tariffs, but an interchange of produce of both countries, and certain privileges in navigation, while a liberal policy towards our manufactures was promised and had been adopted, thus placing the commerce and navigation of the two I II t'Hj Public opJDion in Canada. 19 countries upon " terms reciprocally beneficial and satisfactory," although we have made large reductions in our tariff since the treaty. Canada has deter- mined to free lierself from the difliculties of her geographical position, and the British government was compelled to secure our free markets to prevent rebellion. This was secured through menaces and vomises of liberality to " manufactured goods." Justice to our people for the privileges granted by the treaty, demanded that future Canadian legislation should conform to the letter and spirit of the treaty, and that Canadian enactments should be in the direction of a more free intercouree between the two countries. If it bo true that the Canfulian government has a right to increase its taxes upon our industry, as it has done almost to the exclusion of our manufactures, because no stipulation against this course was inserted in the treaty, then it haslj right to put an embargo (for a prohibitory duty amounts to an end^argo) upon all articles not enumerated in the treaty, and there could bo no check to its aggressions. I believe that the Canadian people do not feel easy under their recent leginlation affecting this country ; and many of their public men, and some public journals, speak of it as furnishing just grounds to the United States for anr illing the treaty. The Canadians rely more upon American foibearauco, under the violations of the spirit of the treaty by colonial legislation, than upon any omission in the treaty to provide against such wrong. The Boards of Trade in th'3 chief cities of Canada West Opiuinn of Cnna- • i /. i t -v ■ (liau UoarJs of complamcd of the Canadian tarift m such representations as Trade. i . n • it • • « • • i the toilowmg: " Your petitioners are of opinion, that so uncalled for and unwise a scheme is calculated to affect the existing pleasant commercial relationship between Canada and the United States, in the work- ing of the Reci2)rocity Treaty; the great advantage of which to this province is well known to your honorable House, inasmuch as the proposed policy of the Inspector General practically shuts the door to the admission into Cana- da of the leading articles of commerce hitherto purchased in the great mar- ket of the United States, and forces Uppei' Canada to import via the St. Lawrence, or otherwise pay an enormous increase of duty." Deficiency of Ca- When the tiu-iff was under discussion in the Provincial cause" o7t«xa" ion Parliament, a deficiency of $4,000,000 (greatly exceeding on our products. i]^q rcveuue of that year) was officially announced. This deficiency and the consequent increase of taxation on American manufactures, arose, it is asserted by the organs of the government, from exjienditures in carrying out their system of internal improvements. That a large amount has been thus expended, is shown by the following quotation from the report of the select committea appointed in 1858 by the Legislative Assembly of Canada, to enquire into the course of trade between the different Atlantic V i I 18 icy of ports in America and Groat Britain. "Tho public debt of Canada has incrcjisod from year to year to about fifty millions of dollars; twenty-fivo millions of which have been created since 1853, principally in tho construc- tion of railways, yielding no income." (See Public Accounts, 1857, p. 223.) Countless trains of ftirs are now daily djisbing along those railroads, from tho sea-board towards tho Rocky Mountains, competing, without rcijard to n munevation, for the commerce of tho great valleys of the Lakes and the Mis8issip|)i. Tho railroads and canals of Canada were alike constructed Hniinmds and for the express purpose of extending political and commer- TOnsiriictcd uT'v. ciiJ power, by the diversion of the trade of tho great interior ^- «"■"'"*'''=•'• of our country, through the valley of the St. Lawrence, and the Canadian routes of transportation; thereby advancing the prosperity of the colony and increasing British power. They were undertaken by the government, and were mainly dependent upon subsidies and municipal bonds, and the object of their managers has hitherto been to secure the largest amount of traffic to the roads, instead of the largest dividends to tho stockholders. This extended system of internal improvements was brought into active life by tho ratification of tho Reciprocity Treaty, through which Canada waa enabled to onen a crrain trade between tho great West and the Eastern States. To control it, she plunged into extraordinary expenditures ibr an extended railroad and carrying syst'^m. Increiised taxation was the consequence, and additional duties were imposed upon all manutactured articles, and upon many others not enumerated in tho free list of the treaty. The Canadians attempt justification of these impositions oniciai avowal of by their public necessities. Whence arose their necessities ? Canadian policy. Did they not originate in a desire to abuse our concessions by strongthening their hands in grasping tho carrying business of tho United States ? Their Minister of Finance, Mr. Gait, in a .sport recently Amount expenu- issued by him in England, in support of a Canadian minis- control ^oar'^om- terial scheme, admits the insufficiency of the commerce of ■""■^<=®- Canada to support her public works; complaining that, whilst possessing " tho most magnificent canals in the world," she is " without any trade to support them except her own ;" and adding that tho canals of Canada hav- ing failed to divert trade from the channels it had already formed, a system of railroads had also been constructed for the purpose of competing with American interests. He then proceeds to state that after deducting a sinking fund for tho redemption of the Imperial guaranteed loan, the direct public debt of the province amounts to £8,884,672, or $43,001,812; adding that of this sum, debts incurred in consequence cf tho canals and other works connected with the navigation of the St. Lawrence, and railway advances, S S 14 furnish £8,861,400, leaving only £22,272, or $107,796, as tho totiil direct debt of Canada made for any ollior purposes. CnnB.ia taxes our To mak.i up the doficioncy caused by these speculative ''ublic"^v!.'rk^'c , i ■ . T ed here ii'i the col- spoctaclo of two bordcr uatious With an array of custom lection of revenue , ,i-i i-ii • «. by the two coun- houses extcndmg along their whole co-terunnous frontiere, sustained at an expense to this government greatly exceeding \ / triev. 116 direct Illative iclmnts by the ea, pay voment ral, and io spirit 1 by the protect ssengere stui'bing laws as in their L manner f United tariff of own that reaty was letter of se with a wards the thority of as should ther^^ the the offers forthwith sequences, ween the sions, and ors of the of profits revenue ; so in our ality. momalous of custom frontiers, exceeding /. I the revenue it collects, whose j)rincipal occupation is to enter and register the free products of Canada on theii- way to our free markets, while on the oppo- site shore, often separated Aom us only by a bridge, a ferry, or a boundary lino, is found an eipially extended cordon of Imperial customs buildings, em- blazoned with the Royal Arms of England, collecting largo re\'eiuies on our taxed products, as a tribute A-om the commercial bondage beneath which the unfriendly legislation of Provincial Parliaments has placed us, in exchange for the conunercial freedom we have granted to the Canadas. These exactions are derisively justified on the ground that no special provision against them was inserted in the treaty, although its avowed object was to carry out the [jrinci- ple of recipiocity, and " especially to regulate the commerce aiul navigation between Her Majesty's possessions in North Amei'ica and the United State* in such manner as to render the same reciprocally beneficial and sjitisfactory." In comparison with the duties of 1864, the duties levied incrpaupofdutiei by the tariff of 1859 on many of our manufactures, such Jis <"' vmious A^icri- "' •/ Clin iniintifiirtiireii boots and shoes, harness and saddlery, clothing, wearing ap- t^Hiuuiiiin uuiiis. parel, etc., h.'is been increased a hundred per cent. ; and in the large chiss of unenumerated articles, includini; leather and nearly all our other manufactures, such as woollens, cotton, tobacco, printed handbills, checks, etc., hats, house- . hold furniture, glass, axes, edge tools, fire-arms, agiioultural implement'', nails, etc., other hardware, stoves and castings, upholstery, carriages, medicines, India rubber goods, musical instruments, soap and candles, stiirch, triuiks, manufac- tures of brass, copper, lead and tin, earthenware, paints and varnish, except for use of ships, manufactures of marble, etc., etc., the duty has been increased sixty-two and a half per cent., or upwards, while on the distillations of grain the increase has been a hundred and twenty-five per cent. (See Appendix No. 5.) The motives actuating the enactment of the present tariff are of less moment than its results, and although no duties fiKtmf* injurioua- avowedly discrimmating are levied on American goods, the influence of the Provincial tariff produces the same effect, for the manufac- tures most readily adopted by Canada must be like our own. The climate, price of materials, interest of money, wages of labor, and the various causes determining the kind and prices of manufactures on both sides of the fron- tier, are neaily identical when no legislation intervenes to arrest or alter the laws of trade. It is as easy to transplant manufactures to Canada, as from one Suite to another. Master manufacturers and workmen already skillful in the special pi.rsuits of their industry, together with the tools and machinery adapted for their purposes, can go to Canada in a few hours. Well-known establishments originating in this way were already transplanted under the influence of the high tariffs of 1858 and 1859, and the tendewcy of these tariffs is towards a virtual prohibition of our manufactures, pithough Canada 16 will still continue to import, as wo do, from Europe and Asia, commodities re- quiring (such skill as wo have not attained, materials not readily accessiljlo to us, or the products of cheaper labor than wo possess. The usual policy of Canada has also been to encourage manufactures by admitting their mnit^riaLi raw or partially manufactured, either free or at a low duty. Violation of trea- Viewed Hs a question of national integrity, tho conduc« of ♦y- the Cnnailian Parliament, in thus taxing the products of Amer- ican industi-y almost to their exclusion from the province, must be pronounced to be a violation not only of tho letter and spirit of the treaty, but of the amity and good faith in which it was conceived, and without which all inter- national obligations are una\ ailing. Piirerentinidutica '^^^ retrogiado policy developed by tho Canadian tariffs agaiuHt our Hhip- gju^jg ^jjg rat ficatiou of the treaty is not confined in its action perK, forwaruora •' and morchaiiu. ^q American manufactures. With duties piactically difl'eren- tial, through a change in the valuation, she has endeavored to assess the business of our shippers, forwarders and merchants, by diverting trade in tea, coffee, siigar, wine, and all other articles of foreign j)roduction, but 08j)ecially those of tropical origin, from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and other Atlaatic cities of the north to Montreal, choosing a long and circuitous route OaifH Report, to the richcst and most progressive portions of her territory, made'to favor Brft^ oudeavoring thus to draw her comnieice from all parts of the iBii BhipperB. ^^j.]j^ jjI^jj^ ^j^g ^.j^gj_ jjjj^ ^^ jjgj. fr(,„tjer^ instead of takmg the shortest course from the Atlantic across the United Slates. The avowed object in changing specific duties to ad valorem was commercial hostility. (See Note at end of this Report from Finance Minister Gait.) Abu«eofourbon- The law9 by which the passngo of foreign productions ded systera. through our country in bond was permitted, were an essen- tial part of the system of reciprocal benefits intended to develop harmoni- ously tho natural advantages of each country. They tended to reconcile our people to tho inequalities it imposed on us. They vested in tho financial oiBcer of the government a power hitherto exercised in tho most liberal man- ner towards the railroads and carrying lines of Canada, in permitting alike the exportation of Canada and re- importation to the United States of foreign merchandise in bond, and merchandise of American origin. Upon this idea of being the carriers for us depend the hopes of making profitable their in- vestments in railroads and canals. Their public works wera constructed as our carriers, not their's. Canada now endeavors to deprive us of all the benefits of •ntfai duties adop- this systcm of levying duties on the value of goods at the t«d by ana place of purchase. The people of Western Canada were accustomed to buy their wines, spirits, groceries, and East and West India produce^ besides many other commodities, at New York, Boston or Montreal; I 17 tlio former system lulmiftiiig American cities to coinpotition, tbe duticH hiiv- inoj boon specific and levied on the weight, measure or nuinher of tlio articles wherever they wore purchased. Thus no greater duty was charged on im- ports via Boston or New Yorii to Toronto or Hamihon than via tlie St. Law- re ice to Montreal. The j»rescnt system forces the people of (Canada to dis- continue tlieir business connections with our mercha its and buy from tho Montreal or Quebec importer. Thus the productions of China, Brazil, or Cuba, if brought to Canada via the St. Lawrence, will pay duty only on their value in the country of their origin, but if purchased in our Atlantic cities must pay duty on that value increased by interest and freight over the ocean, and the various other ex- penses and cliarges of the insurer, shipper and merchant. This is not only legislation against our carriers but against all our mercantile interests. The "increase of duty" has been carefully estimated to be twenty-tive jier cent, on goods imported into the United States and thence into Canada in exc&sa of the duties levied via Montreal. The distance from Cul a to Toronto via the St. Lawrence (a river frozen lialf the year) is about three times as great as through the United States. Thus Canada vainly strives to coiujuer the laws of arithmetic, of climate and geography. This legislation occurred at a time when, without asking for any eqiii\a]ent, we had reduced our duties on Canadian treiityViion Cana- manufactures twt^nty per cent. Before this, desirous of ren- '"' dering " our commercial relations reciprocally beneficial and satisfjictc )ry,'' we had conferred upon Canada benefits shared by all classes of her people. We gave to her farmers highly remunerative prices, and brought their lands and producti<)n3 upon an equality with our own, and thus greatly increased thatit>n in tho bonetita arisinjy from tho Ainori- ciu\ system by an exemption in their favor, while wo contiuue to levy duty on the articles named in the treaty when imported from other countries; but in Canada, all these articles, with a few nominal exceptions, aro admitted free of duty from every country in tho world; and the j>rodHct«of tho United Htatos onjoy no more advantngo in Canada than they would tlo if the treaty had never been made or were now abrogated. Thus, also, for tho articles enume- rated in the treaty and produced in Canada, the market of tho United States is thrown open to all the world, via Canada and the provinces; for no system of inspection can bo devised sufticiontly exact to determino in what country these common productfl of the temjitrato zono may liavo had their origin. Tho following is a schedule of the articles enumerated in the treaty and to be admitted into each country free of duty, when the growth and protluce of tho exporting country. SCHEDULE. „ ^ ^ , ,. Grain, flour and broadstufts of all kinds; animals of all .''(•hertnlf of free srticioB eiiiiincrnt- kiuds; flosh, smokcd and salted moats; cotton, wool, seeds ed lu tlie trciitv. ... . , . , , and vegetables; undriotl fruits, dried fruits; nshof all kinds, products of fish and all other creatures living in tho water; poultry, eggs, hides, furs, skins or tails undre.sscd ; stone or marble in its crude or unwrought state; slate, butter, cheese, tallow, lard, manure, ores of metals of all kinds; coal, pitch, tar, turpentine, ashes; timber and lumber of all kinds, round, hewed and sawed, unmanufactured in whole or in part, firewo(xl, plants, shrubs and trees ; pelts, wool ; fish oil ; rice, broom com and bark ; gypsum, ground and unground; hewn or wrought or unwrought burr or grindstones; dyestuffs; flax, hemp and tow unmanufacturetl ; unmanufactured tobacco. Tho following is a statement of the value of the articles enumerated above, and imported into each country from the other since the treaty came into operation, to January 1st, 1859, without deducting for tho items re-expoiled to us. (For the value of each class, see Appendix No. 6.) TABLE D. IMPOKTS INTO TUB UNITED STATES FROM CANAD.i. 1855 $IM7G,093 1866 17,810,084 1867 12,812,308 1868 Il,514.3(i4 Total $58,613,449 I 21 IMPOKTH INTO CANADA PHOM TIIR UNITED HTATKH. i8r>r> $ 7.72r..r.fii IKrifl T.llOD.fiM iHr.7 H.(i.»2,():»" 1868 ft.ritiJ.olft TotuI $2!»,S 1 1,7(50 KXfKNH OK IMI'OKTH KIIKK UNPKIl TIIK TIlKATr IN KAVOIl (IV TANADA. IHM $ H.7:)0,r)r»3 IHM't !),!M)|,i;jO iKr)7 less 4.170.278 _^f».!l4!),749 Total !|B28,771,«89 Tli() fullowinjif table prosentHJi full compamtivo view of all the importa !.n3 18M Tmportod into Canada $(i,5!)4,8f)0 8..'t(ir),7C5 8,477,69.3 11,782,147 lo,r).'i.'),097 Imported Into U.Statc'8 4,9r)l,159 4,071,644 0,284,621 8,93C,.'(82 8,649,002 Excess of Imports Into Canada 1,64.'{,701 4,294,221 2,193,172 2,845,765 6,684,005 • Other Imports into United SiatoH 982,083 845,8:J3 1,251,6;{2 1,789,073 1,769,880 EHtimated excess of Imports into Canada from the U. States above Canadian Im- ports into the United States 661,618 3,448,;i88 941,640 1,056,692 6,114,215 Imported into Canada $20,828,676 Imported into U. States Excess of Imports into Canada * Other Imports into Unitinl States Estimated excess of Imports into Canada from the U. States above Canadian Im- ports into the United States 1866 I8S6 18AT 1858 0,828,676 22,704,509 20,224,650 15,63.5,566 16,737,277 17,979,753 13,206,436 11,930,094 4,091,399 4.724,756 7,018,214 3,705,471 3,265,013 2,238,900 1,556,206 1,443,044 826.386 2,485,856 6,462,009 2,262,427 * These amnuntH are named In the stntistics publinhed under the sanction of the Canadian gorera- nient aH ri'tiirned not reported at inland purtH in Canada, and it may be inferred were chiefly sent to the United States. ■ !i i I't'i; m 22 Alllit>ii;^li till' (>x|ioi-tM iiiid iinitoiti ti> aiul fioiii diireriMit r\|.lllly COIIlH't ill(l()X«H lo llu) VIlllU' ul' tllOlf Voitilfidl Import* Aiit <>f trade cannot \>e at once diverted, but it has •nM^'wiii .'.gHinl't ^*'*''" al''»^notli hhIch a rn|iit, exliihit in the ^rctalcNt decree u natural a<8 expensive and troublesome to enter wheat as free under the treaty than to keep it in bond, and to a considerable extent there is littla more d-stinction as to the origm of the wheat after it has once been taken into Canada, than there is in nationality of the mingled waters on which it is carried towards the ocean. Cannrin ..xpnHs ^^ Canada produces more wheat and flour than she can (imiTtiui'ir^iio iiu- ^*'*^' *'"'" shipments to her are not made for purposes of con- P"""'"- sumption, but must compel the return of the same or an equivalent quantity io us, chiefly in a inanufactured condition, at the expenso of the milling interests of this country, or its shipment to Europe in foreign vessels at the expense of our American bottoms. m if: n» s ' )■': I « i '. f I Mi Statkmkn Flow 1>3 14,664 iHbi 138,913 18.55 1,461,624 1856 1,694,091 1857 2,375,638 1858 1,647,489 Of nearly all the articles named in the treaty, a surplus is common to both countiies; and wo have an abundant supply and c surplus for cx})ort of every article named in it. Canada has no crop so cheap and profitable for various manufacturing; and other [jurposes, as the corn bought from us; she admitted it like wheat, free, before the treaty. For other grains — bailey, rye, oats, etc. — we furnish for Canada the only market worlhv of mention. Cana• before the treaty, except this country, where they then contributed to the revemie. The same examination wiU disclose the fact that most of the lead- ing articles named in it were imported into Canada free of duty before the treaty. For more than half the year the rigor of her climate debais her from commercial exchanges with any countiy except the United States, or through our territory, preventing her during that period from taking advan- tage of a rise in the market. She is placed in the position of a farmer who lias on\y one customer. This is the political and geographical disad\antage sought to be overcome by the Earl of Derby when he urges the abolition of duties discriminating in favor of the manufactures of his own country against the manufactures of the United States. It was for this cause that reciprocity was urged so strongly by Sir H. L. Bulwer, aud to compare this argument and these admissions with the facts of experience, I again refer to the testimony of the select committee appointed by the Legislative Assembly of Canada in 1858, by which in reference to the repeal of large discriminating duties on grain imported into Great Britain, it is said ( pp. 4 and 5 of their lieport ) : " The ert'ect of this law was to depreciate the value of all articles grown or produced in Canada twenty per cent, under the value of like articles grown or produced in the United States, and this difference in value conliimed up to the year 1854, a period of nearly nine years." The opinion of her merchants as to the value of our market, is i-ecorded in their having exported to us six times as much wheat and flour as to Great 26 ^ij^ m f 'i! Thofiillacy (il'tlie Iiiv(M')io<)l iiiarki't nlwnvH 11x111(5 H'" valui'. Britain during tho four years which elapsed since the (reaty and before Janu- ary 1st, 1859. Contrary to tho belief commonly held at the date of tho treaty, tho Liverpool market does not determine tho standard of value for brem'-iiutls on this side of tho Atlantic. Euro- pean prices are now far from being remunerative to the American producer. They have seldom been ].n-^.tablo to us, since tho termination of the Crimean war re-oppnod tho Rrssian granaries, throw the cheap Russian serf into close competition with the American farmer, who can only sustain himself by his superior intclligence^and the application of modern labor-stwing im- plements tf agriculture. Since tho speculations consequent upon that war have ceaseil, our exportations of grain and flour to Eurojie ha\ e been insig- nificant.; nor are they likely to be of much importance here;ifter except from the occasional and irregular demand caused by war or famine. All tho wheat and flour sent by us in 1858 and '9 to England, whore flour is charged ™ith a duty of 4^ per cent., or about 16 cents a barrel, and a corresponding duty is levied on grain, was only $1,730,152 in value, or less than half of $3,666,- 502, the amount thrown on our market from Canada, notwithstanding the failure of her crop. The grain-growing regions of the North-Wcstern States have suffered more than other parts of tho Union from a depression of prices in our Atlantic cities, thus caused by the influx of Canadian products. A temjHirary cheapness of transportation will not compensate for reduction in the value of the grain ; and Canada by virtually prohibiting the importation of American manufactures, prevents so far as she is able an increaseil de- mand and consumption for breadstuffs within the limits of our confederacy. Natural ooinnipr- Thoro has not bceu a year since the treaty when Canada cjai (iip.Mi(Uiic« has not thrown upon our markets a larger amount of her of Canailaiipon tho r » Unitcii States. productions than sho has sold to ai.y other country, and to all other countries added together — demonstrating her commercial depen- dence upon the neighboring States when thwarted by no artificial cause or restriction. (Appendix No. 7.) The difference will be yet more conspicuously and clearly shown by deducting tho products of the forest from her European exports. These alone amounted in 1857 to more than $8,000,000, or twice as much as was sent to us, differential duties yet existing in Great Britain in favor of colonial timber. Struggling under these obstacles imposed by the British and Canadian governments, we arc yet to Canada of more commer- cial value than all other countries together, while recent legislation has re- versed the natural law of trade that a nation should buy where it sells. Her people sell to us and are now prevented by her taiiffs from buying of us. Hitherto tho further injurious legislation of Canada is too recent to have fully exhibited its eflfects, and an additional illtistration of her natural commer- ciiJ dependence is found also in our exports to that province (Ajjpeudix M -U ^ and to cause or 27 No. 8), showing that for each of the four years ending Dcv-omber 31, 1858, the amount taken from or through the United States exceeds the Canadian imports from all other countries unitedly. It has already been shown how largo a portion of them is re-exported to us, whilst the taxes on our manu- factui'cs and differential duties on merchandise of foreign origin passing through the United States, will effectually check tlio other classes of their imports into Canada. In the profits accruing from freight between the two countries, the advan- tage since the treaty has been in favor of British shipping, the value of exports and imports by the vessels of each country being regarded aa the test. In the five years ending June 30, 1854, the value of domestic expoils to Canada in British bottoms was $12,595,816, and in American bottoms, $16,595,816, the preponderance in our favor being about one-third, whilst in the five yeare since the treaty, and beginning with July 1, 1854, there was an excess against us of nearly one-half, the value being $26,330,730 in American vessels, against $38,942,652 in vessels of British nationality. No marked inequality exists in the imports to the United States by the shipping of both countries, the value carried by each being $37,223,665 In American, and $36,528,968 in foreign vessels. In this competition of shipping, American ship ownere run a race in fetters. The staple manufacture of Canada has long been that of ship-build- ing for exportation. A cheap and abundant supply of labor for this purpose is obtained at Quebec during the long winter suspension of navigation, and the value of ships built there for sale in foreign markets exceeds by many times that of all other manufactured exports of Canada. This branch of industry is encouraged by admitting all the materials used in the construction, rigging or equipment of ships, either at a nominal rate of duty or entirely free, or subject to a return of duty to the shipbuilder when satisfactory proof is given that they have been used for this purpose. Canada grounded her hopes of future crreatncss upon the ,^ , c r o r Value of free na- possossion of the St. Lawrence. The Western States have y'ff»'i"n "f ">« '^^• ' _ I-»wrence to the considered it of great advantage to themselves, and it was ignited statt ■.. said, when we obtained its navigation, that the benefits arising from this national privilege would more than countei balance any fancied injury or wrongs on other interests. The British Minister, Sir H. L. Bulwer, after pressing upon our attention the spirit evinced by Canada towards our manu- factures, and promising on behalf of the Canadian government to can-y a libe'al policy out sj'll further, presented the navigation of the St. Lawrence, with the adjoining canals, as a consideration to be paid by that province for the free interchange of all natural productions with us, and for the navigation of Lake Michigan. The arrangement of the treaty was comj)rehen8ive, and included a satisfactory settlement of the perplexities then existing in regard to ll:n I; m , , , ill f> I' ■ i i I 1 * .U. . 28 the fisheries along the coast of the provinces; but for this the maritime prov- inces also received a full eijuivalent in the opening of our ninrkot to their fish, coal and other products. The ilobates in Congress show the high value placed by the advocates of the treaty on the use of the St. Lawrence. One honorablo member lamented that by being debarred from it, the shipping of the lakes wjis compelled to be idle ai.d unproductive for about one-third of the year, whilst the interest on the capital thus invested was running up to $250,000 annually. Another, expressing only the general Vxpectation of many others, said: "The free navigation of the St. Lawrence is only necessary to show us in the fall of every year long lines of vessels seeking the Atlantic, through Canada, laden with westLM-n produce, and in the spring making their way back with foreign wares, and with the avails of profiUible labor for nearly half a year." Tile commerce of the north-western lakes is of immense national import- ance, amounting annually to $587,197,320. (vSee Report of Committee on Commerce to House of Representatives, 1856, No. 316, vol. 3, page 9.) More than 1000 vessels, with an aggregate burthen exceeding four hundred thou- sand tons, are employed in navigating these waters, which Chief Justice Taney, in that decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, which gives the lakes forever their international character, termed " Inland Seas." It was believed that the advantages gained by the navigation of the St. Law- rence would bear adequate proportions to the number and value of these commercial fleets, but the official statements of Canadian authorities show that since the treaty received the signature of the President of the United States, nearly six years ago, no more than forty American vessels, with a burthen of only twelve thousand five hundred and fifty tons, passed seaward through the St. Lawrence, and that of these less than half, or nineteen ves- sels, with a burthen of only five thousand four hundred and forty-six tons, have returned from sea. So insignificant has been the foreign commerce expected by honorable members to be developed in this direction, that during these six years only twenty-five of these vessels have sailed for foreign coun- tries, the other fifteen having gone to American ports. It would seem that the promised advantages from the navigation of the St. Lawrence were more poetical than nautical, but the navigation of Lake Michigan, ceded to Canada by the treaty, has been so extensive that in the year 1857 one hundred and nine British vessels cleared from Chicago alone; thus depriving our own carriers of freight, by enabling others to take the produce of the great grain growing regions through Canada to ports on either side of Lake Ontario, or to Montreal and thence to eastern States, or chiefly by British vessels to Europa. It is a noticeable fact in this connection, that the above is a statement of the clearances from only one port upon Lake Michigan of Canadian or British vessels for one year, and they are more ^1!^ 29 than double the nuinbor of United States vessola that passed outwards through tlu! St. Lawrence for the last six years since the ratification of the treaty, and ijuintuple the number tliat ever returned inward from sea. Well might Lord Elgin exchange congratulations with the British capital- ists in London, as ho did in a recent speech, uj)on the advantages to bis coun- try arising from the woi-king of the Reciprocity Treaty which ho signed at Washington,* when the barren advantages of the free navigation of the St. Lawrence have boon given in exchange for our free markets to all Canadian productions, and when the consequent increase of their exports has ndded wealth to their country, and operated in inverse ratio upon the prosperity of our agricultural and industrial classes. Although the equivalent gravely ofl'ered to us by the Brit- commorco of thn ish Minister in exchange for the valuable concessions we made, ''""''"* p'l.vs moBt of " rovfiiiii! of Cans- has hitherto been thus imimportant as regards the St. Law- . 4), and by British capitalists sustained by "imperial credit" for the purpose of securing our western trade. They were chiefly constructed with a view to the inconsistent distinction made by oar laws, but having no foundation in justice, permitting foreign or American merchandise to be conveyed by land, or partly Ijy land and partly by water, from one part of the United States to another by Canadian lines of communication, while we prohibited their car- riage from foreign vessels from one American port to another. Laigo quan- tities of grain and merchandise are thus sent to and from the United States through various Canadian ports on Lakes Erie, Huron and Ontario. It was enacted by Congress, March 3, 1817, sec. 4, that " no 'goods' shall be imported under penalty of forfeiture thereof from one port in the United States to another port of the United States in a vessel belonging wholly or in part to a subject of any foreign power;" and the evasion of this law by these railroads enabling Canadian to compete with American vessels may be illustrated by the case of the Welland railroad, a line only about twenty -eight miles in length and running alongside of the Welland canal. Its owners carried a large proportion ot the grain sent last year from Chicago to Oswego, receiving it at one end of their line from Canadian vessels and delivering it to vessels of the same nationality at the other, thus by the simple process of transhipment evading and frustrating the laws by which no foreign \essel could carry direcLly from Chicago to Oswego. In this competition of ship- ping interests there can be no equality so long as Canadian legislation makes the price of ship-building materials cheaper in their country than in this. These efforts to divert our own traffic from our own ter- ritory, although important in themselves, are insignificant in oft"a'nst, with equipments, wjis more than $100,000,000. It is the great railroad of the world — unoqualed in extent. The Victoria Bridge, crossing the St. Lawrence at Montreal, is unsurpassed by any monument of human enterprise, power and skill erected during tho present century. It is two miles in length, over a vast and rapid river. By means of this bridge, the Grand Trunk Railroad can transport goods for a distance of 1,400 miles, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, with but one transhipment. The change in tariff of which we justly complain, was caused by the capitalists interested in this road, who supported by tho British and Canadian governments, hope, in addition to 4 ii t] \l is it PI llti 88 securing (lio trade ol'tlie Wctstcrn Stiitcs, to divert from us tin; profit of huyint^, sellinif and carrying (lie coinnKxlitios jjroiiucod or consuniod l)y the people (»f the peninsula of Canutla. This they jiropoae to effect hy the liigh tariff and (lifferential duties aheady mentioned and professedly ma- plied at all its stations. The hope of reciprocity in tho carrying trade is futile, when such distinc- tions are made in favor of this gigantic competition. The British govern- ment, pureuing that commercial policy by which its historical career has alw.ays been characterized, has not supported this road with a view to the 3 !i:' «V1 I I prortt of tho stockholtlors, but with » dcHij^ii of oj'Oiiiiij^ ii direct trade with the interior of thin continutit, and of enabling her inanufuctururN, bankern and njcrchantH, by incanH of agcntH in tho Western Statfs, to fonvort to their own iiM^ tho profits and coinniitwions now ina(h) in our Atlantic citioH. It in in- tended, ultimately, to uho Montreal and Portland an way stntionti oidy, for n Hystom of conununieation including tiio (K'oan and tho (irand Trunk liailroad with its western conncctionH, thus uniting Liverpool, London, (llaogow, Shof- fieKl, Manchester and Birmingham, tho commercial and manufacturing cities of England, with our inland cities in tho valleys of tho Lakes and MiKsissippi. Tho whole plan and ptructuro of this monoi)oly for tho aggrandisement of n foreign power, is conceived and built upon tho basis of our bonded system, and tho liberal exerciso of ofHcial authority under tho act of 1700, and the warehousing act of 1864 (and cerbiinly under the most liberal construction of the act of 1700), permitting tho transit of foreign and domestic goods, first through our territory, then through Canada, ond afterwards to their ultimato destination in this country. Th law of 1700 was enacted at a timo when its framei-s could not have foreseen any such application of its authority as to permit tho productions of American origin to be taken from ono section of the United States through a foreign country, by foieign means, to another taction of tho United States, duty free. Koiiy nnii injiiK- '^''® inconsistency, not to say injustice, must bo apparent er'nnicnt 'nol pro- ^^ *'^"** pol'cy which prohibits transportation in foreign ves- eTit»!r*'ri»e^"'f ro'ra ^^^' ^'"'"" '^"^ American port to another, and at tlio same foreigu aggrcssioa. time toloratcs tho siimo transit from tho same ports to the same ports through foreign means, de\eIoped in another form, and equally in rivalry with the enterprise, labor and capital of our own citizens. From such inconsistent legislation, or a too liberal construction of it, a foreign gov- ernment now derives a license for its subsidized and privileged road to become the great carrier of our exports and imports to and from our western and eastern States. In addition, this foreign monopoly sustains its passage thiougb our territory under the evasion of the spirit of our laws, and enjoys under a perpetual lease the use of property which non-resident aliens thus situated could not hold in fee. The ch.-ingcs to be produced by this grasping monopoly will bo developed with the rapidity characteristic of modern times. They will include the whole system of our commerce and industry. Qv&xt Britain, by saving inter- mediate profits, will be enabled to sell her manufactuics in close competition with our own, will obtain on easier terms the produce of tho west and tho south, of which she is the chief foreign consumer, and will transact an increased business in tho merchandise bought by her from other countries and sold to us. The reward thus obtained will be ample compensation for the large outlay on this road, and its seemingly reckless competition. This I '.]o From ititcriiiitioti.-il iiitorcourao onco full)' ostiihli'^hed, profitublo pticuH for iVoight will Ikj uxac'tu)!. Tills vast (loimnercial Htriijrglu wlioro monopoly is tho ony Jiayiiii; a fair and remunerative price to tho carrier, i-hould tho present ruinous competi- tion continue, it will be followed by [)riccs of freif;ht to nnd from the west dictated by combinations secure in their monopoly, und rc-imbursitig, by taxo» on tho western producers, tho losses they havo sustained. This "Treaty of Reciprcx'ity" was not on our part founded only on commor- eial considerations, but was regarded as inaugurating a system of international fraternity. A real and permanent frame for tho comprehcnsivo principles on which our own institutions are based, and for tho popular instincts expressed among less practicfil nations in vaguo sentimonfalism, wjis sought in a system of mutual benefits intended to give each country all the advantages of annex- ation without its entangling political difllculties. Tho natural ndaptiition of tho United States and Canada to give and re- ceivo reciprocal benefits, easily and without humiliation conferred by neigi. bors on each other, is well known; but tho explicit and earnest appeals of Canada for an honorable and mutually beneficial reciprocity, arc now n«i longer uttered. With an increase of wealth and importance, the liberality of her spirit and of her promises has ceased ; and deeming herself secure in our forbearance, Canada has adopted by her recent legislation a policy intended to exclude us from all tho geographicjil benefits of our position, while she hopes to use all their advantages for her own gain. Each concession has been used !i8 a vantage ground for further encroachments; she has reversed the natural laws of trade, and prevents merchants and agriculturalists from buy- ing in the sjmie market where thoy sell. The revenue formerly collected on our northern frontier luis been annihilated. She has increased lior own revenue by a tax on American industry. Tho .advantageous trade formerly carried on with Canada by the cities and villages on our northern frontier, has been destroyed. Our farmers and lumbermen encounter the competition of new nnd productive territories. It having been found that our shippers, sailore and merchants in tho Atlantic cities were transacting a mutually pro- fitable business with Canadians, the grasping spirit of their legislation endea- vored to secure all tlie benefits of this trafl:ic, and att.ncked our interests with discriminating duties. Our railroads suffer from a British competitor^. 8(( i mippoiloil bv piivili'ijoH oqiiivalfiit to tiixntioii dii (luiir l)iiHiiit«H with tlui C"iiimn)\iiuv iiikI llio iiid-iior of our own (uiiiitiy. Our iimiiut'mtmvrh, itmtwiil ofi!X|ii>rlin>j; to (.'uniidii, aru cliccktd l»y imports inloniltHi noon tu pro- hibit tho oiitnitiiM! of ihoir proibictioiw into tho provini'o. Tho wool anil raw iiKitt-rialH of (!iiiia'la arc aihnittt!H rveiy day wliilo thai oi>|Hiiliiiiity lian cutitiiiiiod. Without ihoti'oatVi ii'» wu'li ajj. t Sec. 5 of Act to extend Warehousing Sy slvm, pusscd March 28, 1854. 38 Xoi K. — The flscnl year of Canada (onninatoH iij'on the Slst day of Doct'inlMM-. which iiiukfs statistifial comparisons hctwof n tlit- two countries very (litllcult As our fiscal year eml)race8 jmrts of two years, \ have generally adojited in my calculations fur compavisons (he Canadian fiscal year. " By e vlfuding the ad valorem princ-ido to all importations and thereby encour. aging and developing the direct trade between Canada and all foreign countries by Beo, and so far benefitting the shipping interests of (ireat Uritain — an object which is partly ittained through ihc duties being taken upon (he value in the market where lost l)ought — the levy of specific duties for several years had comi)le(ely j)ly the principle of ad valorem dudes. (Mr. Gait, Finance Minister of Canada, Report, Mr.rch 1, 18(50, p. 36.) " Any increase of duty which has been placed on English goods, is quite indemni- fied at the increased cost by which our canals, railroads and steamshij's enal>le them now to be delivered throughout the province; and if the question were one of com- petidon with Canadian manufacturers, the English exporter is quite as well off as be- fore, whilt! iis compared with the American, his position is greatly improved." (Page 38, same Report.) Letter of British Minister, loarnii^g Canadian Goremment of the consequences of increase of Didies upon American products. (Gopr.) Washinoton, February 2StIi, 1859. Sin. — I have (he hono"" to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch of the 19th inst., enclosing a copy of a report of a CommiKee of (he Executive Council, with reference to a supposed design on the part of the government of the United States to terminate the Reciprocity Treaty. A Resolution has been proposed by Mr. Kino, of the State of New York, in the Sena(e, pointing to the terminaiion of the treaty at the peiiod con(empla(ed in the ' provisions of that instniment ; and suggesting that retaliatory duties be meanwhile imposed upon articles produced or manufactured in the British Provinces, which are not exempted from duty by the treaty. This Resolution was referred to the Committee on Finance, whicii has, however, not reported upon the sulyect No resolution has, I believe, been moved in the House of Rei/resentativea ; but there hiis been some exhibition of hostility to the operation of the treaty in the course of the debate. I am bound to state, however, that the high scale of duties now established by the Canadian tariff has produced in some quarters a feeling of dissadstUcdon whicli may eventually result in a serious movement against theHtii)ula(ions of the Recii)io- city Tieaty. It is urged that while under the treaty. Canada has the advantage of i 30 pourine hor raw productions into tho United States free of charge, tbe American trader whose exports to Canada consist in considerable part of manufactured goods, is mot' on tho Canadian frontier by a high tariff. The reciprocal exoneration is alleged to be more apparent than real, and the United States are represented to be the losing party. Your excollonoy can judge how far the impressions I allude to are well founded, and whether they might not be removed by some modiflcjtion of the duties affecting certain Iclnds of goods imported by Canada from the Uni ed States. Tho governmenta of the British Provinces may be confident, that the best eflforts of Hor Majesty's Minister at Washington will, under the instructions of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, bo always employed In support of the reciprocity sysUm., which ha« proved to bo so advantageous to the Interests of Her Majesty's subjects. I have, etc., His Excellency NAPIER. Sir E. W. Hbap, Bart., ' etc, cot., oto, T P^ ;i !;, w i A APPENDIX. No. 1. Statemkkt eMhUimj the I'alue o»(f Ammmt ••( Ihitifs on Arlkle. ported (lurinij the. fiscal year mdlng 'Mih June, 1854, and now Jkviprocity Treutij. liftle Vnliie ARTIC/.KS. of Duty of per cwt. Articles. (irain. Flour, nml Bmulsttiffs 20 $:3,!»0(),073 .. .Animals, free 7r),4()() .. dutiable 20 .... 225,042 .. Fresh, Pinokod, and Salted Meat, 20 5, 1 84 . . Cotton, Wool, free 12r) . Heeds, Plants, Shmbs, etc., free 18,210 ., dutiable 20 .... .555 .. Vegetables 20 102,800 .. Uudried Fmita 20 .... 13,092 ., Dried Fruits 20.... ;{| .. Fibh of lUl kinds 20 901,671 .. I'roduc't.s of Fish and of all otlier creatures living in the water Poultry 20 .... 1,016 .. Eggs 20 .5,.500 .. Hides and Skins 5 .... .34,729 .. Furs, undres.sed 10 13,920 .. Tails, undre.ssed 20 8 .. Unwrought Stone 10 10,7.58 . Unwrought Marble 4 4 . Huttcr 20 .... 126,811 . Cheese 30 .... 127 . Tallow 10 .... 37 . Lard 20 .... 8.37 . Horns 5 .... 1,421 . Manures Ores of Metiils, free 18,790 . dutiable 20 .... .516 . Coal .30 254,775 . Pitch, Tar, and Turpentine 20 75 . Ashes 20 4,441 . Fire and otlier Wood .30 728,688 . All other Wood 20 .... 574.051 . Pelts 20 .... 24.639 . Wool.. .30 69.182 . Fish Oil 20 .... 110,402 . Uice liroom Corn Hark 20 .... 978 . Gypsum, ground 20 353 . free, unground 113,312 . Grindstones 5 23.265. Dyestuffs : 5.... 14,717. Hemp. Flax, Tow. unmanufactured Tobacco, unmanufactured 30 2.915 . Rags 5 12.696. Total $7.398,.358 . Deduct for iJritish North American Prov- inces 1,301,154 . Leaving for Canada $6,097,204. .s which were iin- made free. I>y the I)llti(!,<, $781,214 60 4.5,128 40 1,036 80 111 00 20,.561 20 2,738 40 6 20 180,3,34 20 20.3 20 1,100 00 1,7.34 45 1,392 00 1 60 1,075 80 80 25,362 20 38 10 3 70 167 40 71 05 , 103 20 76,432 50 15 00 888 20 218,606 40 114,810 20 4,927 80 20,7.54 60 22,080 40 195 60 70 60 1.163 25 735 85 874 50 634 80 $1,524,457 40 231,0.54 00 $1,293,403 40 43 No. 3. SiATKMKNT of the Eevenw. collecled nnnnnlly at the, principal Vort.t nf Khtn/ on the Xorth-WisU'rn Lakes from 1855 to ]S5!), inelusiveh/. on Canadian aiid all other Im- portatiouK/rcv} Canada, so far as ascertained; sho'wiruj Expenditures over lieceipU: 1K6 S: . 1«57 o£ 1H..8 7.,^ 1859 [2 Total $ 1,907 Kxjicnscof eoUcct- ingfortimr joars as per U. Htati'S Register for 1857 $21,016 1 d a CJ :- g 1 o o £ 3 1. S a - 1 o X a u 6 i: $ 2,fi40 4,045 2,900 3.727 17,8.S4 1,735 1,349 4,491 1,797 7,499 8,050 1.074 8 2,084 5,152 2,907 2.293 7,924 2,109 10 2,377 4,193 7.803 1,514 8,317 42,131 958 8,4,')0 18,481 15,407 15,033 • 5,9;J0 18 54,884 49,312 43,148 32,548 52,652 26,330 4,424 i ft* 1-^ 5 S s »'■ i SS 5 »■?! '■■'ii ? 3 '•* ss? ?. r-i ■s • * t« ■ 1 = ' '■2 ; z a ' ■ a ■ 1 -a aa H 1850 1H57 92 1858 98 1859 Total $ 190 62 5 22 2,685 1,576 3,095 2,847 a 5,070 11,822 13,8K9 32,905 6,093 4,809 2,93,3 2,714 o s 13,801 9,880 1..5,35 2,147 Total. 89 9,103 63,752 16,609 27,429 03,014 288,508 Kxjicn.'io 1)1' collect- ing for lour years as per U. Stales Register for 1857 $i;i,072 14,732 22,312 58,032 17,828 4.3,872 22,960 478,2,38 Excess of cost of collection over receipts $ 89,730 No. 4. Statkmknt e.rhihitini; the amount of Bevenue from Didies o?i Prodwts of American ori'jin, collected by the Canadian Government] from Dec. 31, 1855, to Jan. 1. 1860. 1S56. Duties— Specific $ •■ 20 jjcr cent '• 12>.5 00 392.123 00 103,557 00 11.742 00 $883,261 00 1857, Dutit's— Spcc-ilio " 20 per cciit " 15 •• '• ... " rKiiuiL".; " .... ii 18,09, $20(t.M2 00 Duties on AniPriciin piodiic- ^•l.,'*,'^.'. 40 tioiia $l.lO!t.»Gl 00 C.'il'i.lflO .'{;') IT.C.Mi 24 Toiiii f!i)4;i,!)«;t ;i8 Total . .$1.10i),4«l 00 So tlie lot.il ;iiii(nint of duties loviod in Canadu in 1859, undor iho high tarlrt', was ^4,4^7,840. In 1858, iho whole amount of the (hities wuh $3,381,389, of w'liii'h more than one-fouith was levied on productions of United States oiii>;in. Il is therefore fair to assume tliat more than !5!l,109,- 401, or one-fourth of the whole customs revenue, arose from the same source in 1859, the duties by the tfiiWof that year being proportioiially higher upon the dutiable articles exported from the United States to Canada than those from any other country. See j)ublished accounts of Canada, 1859, by Mr. Gait, Minister of Finance. 1^ No. 5. State.mknt of the. Canadian Tan(f of \H'>i), in cimfraat icilh Vial of 1854, //le yfor when the Treaty was made. 1"69. ('LANS 1. ]8,'>4. Brandy, gin, ruin, etc., 100 per cent. Brandy, 40 cents jier fral,, 25 jier cent; Rum, etc., 25 cents and 25 per cent. Clash 2. 40 per cent, eifrars, sugar refined, duty Cigar."", .30 cents per 11). and 12J per on (he latter to lie reduced on a sliding cent.; sugar relined, $2 50 jior cwt, and scale to 15 per cent, in 18()2. 12 J jier cent. Class 3. .'iO per cent, rnffee roast or ungronnd, Unrefined sugar $ I 20 per cwt. and 12* sjuees gnmiid. drieil fruits, 8nuf!', starch, percent.; niola.s.«es 4 cents jier gal. ana patent nie cents per gal., and 12J per * cent Cr.Asa 10. Five, iron, zine and tin in pigs or block, Iron, brass and tin in pig or blocks, 2J all articles nunwd in treaty (with nominal per cent e.xccplion), liook-binders' tool.s, canvas for sails, variou.s artii'les ifnscd for ship build- ing, hat fcll« and bodies, etc., etc. No. 6. Statement nhVMnij in contrast the value of each clas.i of Imports into each vounlry from the other, 0 180,830 86 472 74.S51 ]4H.5;0 201,863 eS4,4!9 S4,i.591 1.4.S5.'.l2.'i 1.878.0t:4 5,29.'i.007 1. (-00,52 1 ILbOLatn 4,972,475 8,305,931 2 7!-4,004 ie,47u.iJJ3 7,72j,i61 46 isse. I'-ST. nrA. Into V MtutPH. Produce of tlii> Mlncn $ H4.'J2S I'roduec of tlif Koient 8,.'14),i;H4 Produce of till' S I'll HO.IMS AninialK anil tbeir I'roduce 2,.'I75.;IS8 AgTlcultiiriil I'rodutc Il,h8l,8;t0 TotuU $17,810,084 Into Caniiiln. 4S8.1IS4 .•«(•-! 1H)1 411,71(1 2,f«lfi «;is 3.800,112 Into I', Sliiti's. ;i,:u;),otiH U.),4I7 l,ltT4,.'ilii 7. 100,4 la Into Ciiniiclii. fiOO 4tl4 4I1.W0 ;tl4.'j»i 2,i:t4.;i.'i!) o.'JTzirii Into l". Slai(-,H. n.'i 41).) 3-iio;;mh l.'.K is.-> 'jail.TMl fi,7io,;:o.'> Into ('anadu. 324,374 212,177 l.'.7,fl74 l,4tM,H73 3,;i«f),ftl7 7.»00,&54 12,S12,S0H 8,0I^,0.;0 U,.M4.;i04 fi,6»4.6IS !■■ No. 7. SuMMAUT shoirhiff an anmial emesn of Kjfportations frdm Canada to the I'liUed Staten above those to all other covntrks toij ether, from Ike. .'(1. 1851, to ,lan. 1. 1859. Total Kiports from riinndft to the Unilod St4itcs. (ircai Urit4iin and all other countrifH, K.xportH from Cnnndnto tlie I'nilcd .Slaten. 1855 $ 28.inMf>l $20,002,230 1850 ;r2.017.0l(l 2().2IS,().''>.T 1857 27,00(i,(;2i I(."(12.(i41 1868 _2;{,472^(i01( I.i,.i7;!.138 Totiii $110,0;i4,710 $(i8,:{,)(;,722 E.\|)()rt» to the United States $(;s,:^5f..722 Ex|)ort,s to all other countries $12,277,1)80 Amount of Canadian Flxport-s to the U. S. above those to Great Britain and all other countries .$2(;,078.8.34 No. 8. SfMMARY shoidng an annual excens of Importations into Canada from the United Statcnabove those from allothtr conntries toijether, from Jhc.'M, ix,'yl, to, fan. 1, 185.4. Imports into ranad.'i from the United Statea and all other countries. Imports into Canada from till! I'nitcd StatPH, 1855 $ ;{6,086,lfln $20.82S,(;7(i 1856 4.'},58.1,387 22.70t,.'J0