Page:The reciprocity craze.djvu/11

 puzzle, but a rock of offence, and a cause of alarm. To those, however, who are acquainted with the facts and circumstances which cause this excess, nothing can seem more absurd than the feeling which has been aroused, and the conclusions which have been drawn. The absurdity will be made abundantly clear as we proceed.

But, I must here warn the reader that he will have to master what I have to say under this head, for it constitutes the "Pons Asinorum" of the Free Trade question. If he passes this "pons," he will find himself among the Free Traders on the other side. If not, he must be numbered among the Neo-Protectionists, who seem to be utterly unable to pass over it. This is what they cannot get over:—They point to the Board of Trade returns for 1880, which show that we imported £411,000,000 worth of commodities, and exported only £286,000,000 worth; and this they call a balance of trade against us of £125,000,000; and from this fact they draw such deductions as these: that this balance is a loss to the country; that John Bull buys £411,000,000 of goods from the foreigner, and sells him only £286,000,000 worth; that, consequently, the foreigner has the best of the trade; that he is draining away all John Bull's wealth; that the latter is getting poorer and poorer; that if the system goes on it must end in his ruin; and that this is the outcome of the one-sided Free Trade now existing. And then they give vent in their agony to such cries as "Protection to Native Industry," "Reciprocity or Retaliation." Here are some of their utterances:—

The Quarterly Review July 1881, p. 293.—"In 1846 our imports amounted to little more than 74 millions; in 1850, when Sir Robert Peel died, they reached 100½ millions. Last year they were valued at 410 millions. Did Sir Robert Peel ever dream of such an import trade as this? If he did, it is most probable he saw in his dreams our exports approaching the same standard if not exceeding it, and that such a balance sheet as the following never rose up before his mind's eye:—