OCR Text |
Show kk iruociiY. The Herald, which seems to regard its.lf as the hoary depository of tho wisdom of tho ages, takes occasion to pounce on this paper on the, reciprocity question, but it makes its usual mistake of misrepresenting what was said iu these columns. Tub TiMKSdid not say that this country was not paid in goods for its surplus European exports. It does not say that the surplus does not depend upon purchases from Europe or from South America. We all agree that the balance of trade in our favor growing out of our trade with Europe is absorbed by the balance against us in the South American trade. Tho principle of reciprocity is designed to oMicoiue this, ami nearly everybody in the world excepting the Herald recognizes the fact tdat it will absorb it. The proposition of tho Herald was that if the American mill owners should secure a market in South America their goods would be paid for iu agricultural agricultu-ral products, which would deprive the American farmer of part of his home market. It fortities this assertion iu its last issue by stating that there are 50, MX), 000 shepherds aud farmers 011 that continent. The Herald is fund of quoting statistics, but it ought to quote them correctly. As there are'not nearly 00,000,000 people all told in South America it is dillicult to see how there can be such an army of shepherds aud farmers. Rut it would make do difference differ-ence if there was a hundred millions of them, Our importations are mainly of products that are not grown here. We take more than $100,000,000 from that country each year in excess of the amount sent there. We take these goods because we need them, a fact which effectually disposes of the proposition that purchases by one country coun-try from another depend upon its sales to that country. The direct effect of opening up trade with South America will be to decrease aud eventually wipe out the balance of trade now against us there aud to compel Europe to pay us in money for our wheat and pork and thur exports. Tho uniutelligent study of tat!stics is often sadly misleading, aud the aged can make themselves quite as ridiculous ridicu-lous in that respect as the young. The United States is after that South Amer-can Amer-can trade, and it is universally believed that reciprocity will prove a groat lever in accomplishing that purpose. So far from workiug any injury to tho American Ameri-can farmer, a large portion of the exports ex-ports that will be sent south will be farm products, including Hour, coru meal, pork, bacon, canned goods of all kinds and a loug list of other articles. |