/7^/5- / I. THE COST OF A NATIONAL CRIME. II. THE HELL OF WAR AND ITS PENALTIES. TWO TKEATISES SUGGESTED BY THE APPOINTMENT OP A DAY OF NATIONAL THANKSGIVING PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. BT EDWARD ATKINSON, OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A. [Entered as second-class mail matter at the Boston, Mass., Post-Office.] THIS PAMPHLET IS RESPECTFULLY DKDICATED I'RESIDKNT OF THE UNU'ED STATES UPON AVHOM NOAV RESTS A FEARFUL HESPONSIIULITV " O yet a nobler task awaits thy hand (For what can war hut emlless war still breed?), Till truth anil rigiit from violence be freed, And public faith eleard from the shameful brand Of public fraud." Gift, .yfifton. 2"My'Gb ROCKWELL & CHURCHILL PRESS. BOSTON. I. THE COST OF A NATIONAL CRDIK. Analysis of the Keyexle and ExrENorruRE of the United States, Past and Futuke. " I speak not of forcible annexation, for that cannot be; tliought of. That by our code of morality would be criminal aggression. " William McKinley. " ESKCUTIVE MaN>ION, '• April 11, IS'JS." Many problems are now pending in respect to the past and future of national taxation which may be stated in the following terms : First. What are the necessar}' or .normal peace expenditures of this Govern- ment when economically administered ? Second. From what sources have these revenues been derived ? Third. Was the revenue derived under the act known as the Dingley Bill sufficient to meet the n(n-mal or peace expenditures in the last tiscal year? Fourth. Was it likely to suffice in the present fiscal year except for the war with Spain ? Fifth. Will the Dingley Bill with the recent war revenue act combined yield a sufficient revenue to meet the probable future expenditures, assuming that the surplus cash in the Treasury at the beginning of the war and the proceeds of the war loan of $200,000,000 will have sufficed to cover the cost of the war, which may now be assumed? In order to develop the facts in the case the official figures of the last fiscal year will be given and analyzed per capita. These figures will then be compared per capita with the figures of the pre- vious twenty years, 1878 to 18i)7 inclusive. The per capita method of comparison, often very delusive, is in this case the only tit standard, because it gives an accurate standai d of the economy or otherwise of each variation in our fiscal policy, and also because down to the enactment of the recent war revenue measures the taxes have been derived almost wholly from articles of common use and consumpticm, and have therefore been borne in much o-reater measure by consumers without distinction than with regard to their rela- tive earnings or incomes and their ability to pay. What are the necessary or normal expenditures of the Government economically administered? From 1878 to 1897 inclusive, a period of twenty years, the standard or unit of value was gold, and all transactions were substantially at that standard, specie payment on a gold l)asis having been resumed Jan. 1, 1879. In the short period covered by this term antecedent to that date the so-called premium on gold was so small as to be a negligible element in the case. The following table gives the facts : THE COST OF A NATIONAL CRIME. POPULATION, NET REVKNUE, AND NET EXPENDITURES OF THE GOVERN.MENT FROM 1878 TO 1897 (.ItlNE 30), PER CAPITA OF THE REVENUE.* AND PER CAPITA OF EXPENDITURES Year. Population. 1 1 Per cap - Xet revenue. ^ res Xct expenses. enue. i Per cap-' ditures. 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 47,598,000 48,8(16,000 ."0,155.7.'<3 51. 316. 000 52,4'.«5,000 53,(i9.s00o 54,911,000 56,118,000 57,404.000 58,680,000 59,974,000 61,289,000 62,622,250 63.975.(100 (■-5.516 000 66.946,000 68,. ■197. 000 (-9,878,000 71,390,000 72,937,000 $257,763,879 00 273,d.'7,184 (JO 33--l,526,611 oO 360.78--',2!t3 00 403,5-J5,250 00 398,287,582 00 348,519,870 oO 3l'3,(.90.706 00 333,439,727 00 371,403,277 00 379,266,075 00 387,050,059 00 4O3,080,".l82 00 392,6r_',447 31 354,937,784 24 3h5,8 19.628 78 297,722,019 25 313,390,075 11 326,976,200 38 347,721,705 16 5.42 5.60 6.65 7. CO 7.68 7.41 6.36 5 76 5.86 6.33 6.32 6.31 6.43 6.14 5.42 5.76 437 4.48 4.58 4.77 .§236,964,327 00 166.047,884 00 267,642.9.-.8 00 260.712,888 00 257,981,4)0 00 265.40K,188 00 244.1--'6.244 00 260,226,935 00 242.483,13s 00 267,932,179 00 '2(;7,924,>0I 00 -299, -.'88,978 00 ■'318,040,710 00 ■•365,773,905 35 345,023.330 58 3^3:477.954 49 367.525,279 83 356,195,298 29 352,179,446 08 365.774.159 57 4 ;.8 1 5.46 I 5 34 1 5.08 J 4 91 1 4.94 ! 4.44 ■ 4.(33 J 4.22] 4.56 1 4.46 ( 4 88J 5.07] 5.71 . 5 27 1 5 73J 5.37 1 5.10 i 4.93 1 5.01J Hayes. .Arthur. Clevelauil. Harrisuii. Cleveland. 66,993,343,355 23 5.81 $5,891,629,994 19 4.97 ' This includes tS,270,842.46 of " premiums on purchase of bonds." = ThiH incluricn $17,-J'.fJ,:!6-2.65 " " " " »Tliii» iuchiileH$Jii,:'>04,224.U6 " " " " " «Tiii8 includes *10,4U1,-J-20.61 " " •' FISCAL TEAR ENDING JCNE 30, 1898. Year. Population. Net revenue. Per cap- ita of rev- enue. Per cap. Net expcuBeo. cxpen- P''«^'e'den«- diturcH. 1898 74,389,000 $339,327,981 11 4.56 i ! $443,368,582 00 5.96 j McKinley. 1 Per rapitn. ?.9.'>4,43.5,557 $2,476 SuM.MAiJV AM) .Analysis 1,S7.s-1S'.i7. Inci.lsivk. (Made up by the compiler from annual n-porttt itliglitly varying in tlic totiil from a final ofliclal i given alxive in the total.] KKVENttEH. Amount. l-i<|iiors and tobacco, tlomcstic and forcifjii, Suo;ar and molasses, 1K78 to 1,S9U at yoc, .$1)38,687,909 1891 to 1897 . . . . !!tll9.921..S02 I.cs.s hountics paid . . :{.5,00(>,0(H) 84,921.302 .Mi.scellaneous receipts Inleiiial ta.xcs other than liijUiTs and tobacco . . Inciitn*' from freneral tariff. omittin4.i.. 87 1.102 l:W.46tM94 2,.")73.842,070 .?(;.93G,21s.l;^4 .606 .457 .116 2.16 85.810 THE COST OF A NATIONAL CRIME. Expenditures. Civil service $1,60:1276,987.81 $1.34 War 877.582,140.47 .74 Naw 422,3.S(),2()4.95 .35 Indians 163,005,042.80 .14 $3,066,200,376.03 $2.57 Pensions 1,802,684.568.94 1.51 Interest I,(i62,(il9,s;n 00 .89 2,865.304,399 94 2.40 $5,931,504,775.97 $4.97 Excess rev. 78 to '93, inc., $1,160,.577,543 Deficiency, '94 to '97, inc., 155,864,184 Net payment of debt 1,004,713,359.00 .84 Total $6,936,218,134.97 $5.81 II. From what sources have the revenues been derived ? A glance at the above statement discloses the fact that the revenue from liquors and tobacco averaged : Two dollars and forty-seven cents per head $2,476 Small internal taxes on banks, oleomargarine, etc. .... .116 Miscellaneous permanent receipts ...... . .457 Sugar and molasses ........... .606 Miscellaneous duties on imports other than liquors, tobacco, and sugar . 2.160 $5,815 The excess of 84 cents per head of revenue above expenditures yield, $1 ,004,- 713,359 surplus, which was applied to the reduction of the debt. It will be remarked that the revenue from sugar and molasses from 1878 to 1890 came to 90 cents per head. The duties on sugar abated under the McKinley act, partially restored under the Wilson act, were under the Dingley act some- what less than from 1878 to 1890. Had these duties been maintained from 1891 to 1898 at 90 cents there would have been no deficient'}- in the revenue except the war expenditures of the present year, but on the contrary a surplus of about one hundred and fifty million dollars ($150,000,000) to be added to the previous reduction of debt. It will also be remarked that the revenue from liquors and tobacco, .$2,476, Avith the small internal revenue taxes added, .116, making $2,592, covered the normal cost of conducting the government, including the cost of what is called the new navy, leaving only interest and pensions to be covered by revenue from all other sources. It will also be remarked that if twenty years is a sufficient period on which to base a rule, the normal expenditures of the nation are five dollars per head ($5), at which rate they are less than half the expenditures of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, where the burden of national taxation in ratio to person is much less than in any other State or nation on the Continent of Europe where militarism and compulsory ser\ice in army or navy renders the masses of the people subordinate to the militaiy classes: very much less in ratio to the annual product. III. Was the revenue derived under the Dingley bill sufficient to meet the normal ex])enditures in the last fiscal year ? A comparison of the items will disclose the facts. Statement of revenue under the Dingley act in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1898: THE COST OF A yATIOXAL CRIME. Amount. Per capita. Spirits and winos $y7,(i6b,s:i8 $1.31 Beer 40.135.722 54 Tobacco 4G. 146.805 .(J2 .« 183.95 1. 365 $2.47 Small iiitenial revenues 2.6(17,699 .04 ■ $186,559,064 $2.51 .Mi.scellaneous: Permanent receipts .... 18,852.278 .25 .Sugar and molasses 29,378.938 .40 $234,790,280 $3 16 Miscellaneous dutv otiier than li(|Uors. tobacco. and sugar . ' 104,537,701 1.40 $3.19,327,981 $4.56 It, therefore. api)ears that the Dingley act did not yield tlie necessary sum, tiv(> dollars per head, for the conduct of the government economically admin- istered. 'Ihe deficiency was forty-four cents per head, which being computed on the estimated population of 74.389,000 persons amounts to 832.731.160. The actual expenditures of the Government were greatly increased by the war witii .^pain. amounting to five dollars and nnietv-.six cents per heail . . . $5.96 $443,368,582 Revenue ..." -^-^'^ 339.327 .981 Revenue deficiencv •'?»--t" $1<>4.<'4h.60I Received from Linon Tacific U.R 6.'),993.3o4 Actual deficiency $3.s.U47.247 A comparison of the revenue under the Dingley liill with the receipts per capita under the previous .systems, of 1883, the .McKinley bill, and the Wilson bill c(uubined, will be interesting. Revenue per cipiin Revi-nue per SiBJKCT or Taxation. yenr ly year, cupiia ..nder 187S t.i ISit? inc. l>ii.(!lty bill. Liquors and tobacc $2.47() $2.47 Small internal revenue Al6 .04 Miscellaneous peimaneiit -457 .2.) Sugar 606 .40 Miscellaneous imijorts other than li(|Uors, tobacco. andsujrar --^-KiO l.«" $5.81 $».5(; It will be ol)serv<'il that the deficiency on duties on imports other than liciuors, tobacco, and sugar is 76 cents jjcr head as compared to previous acts, which amounts in roimd figures to $57, 000, (MM). IV. Would the Dingl.'y bill have yielded a revenue in the pre.<. sullliMent to meet the normal rale <»f expendilure under normal conditions at .$."> j)er head? The total revenue on the computed population dune 1, 1898, which is the date estHblished in the practice of the Treasury Department for a^cert^iining the per capita of receipts and expenditures at $5 per head on an estimated jiopula- tion of 76.011,0(10, would amount to $:r)0.0.")5,000. Hearing in mind that the revenue in the last fi.scal year was at the rate of $|..".6 per head, was attained under the di.-^advant.ige of a very large .stock of .sugar imported l)efore the increase of duty, and that the tax on tea had only beo-UD to yield revenue, it is prol)able that the present revenue taxes on sugar. THE COST OF A NATIONAL CRIME. tobacco, and tea will come to an increase of not less than 44 cents per head. On the other hand, the import of goods which are subject to the miscellaneous duties is diminishing notwithstanding the exhaustion of any stock imported before the Dingley bill came into force, July 24, 1897. On the whole, it may be deemed fairly probable that the Dingley act without the subsequent war taxes would have yielded $5 per head, but this favoral)le view is rendered doubtful by the diminisiiing imports of miscellaneous dutiable goods since June 30. In this estimate, however, many facts must be considered in comparing the very small yield of revenue from the miscellaneous duties under the Dingley act, of $1.40 per head, with the $2.16 yielded on the average of the previous twenty years. No considerable revenue may hereafter be counted on from metals and metallic goods — formerly yielding a large revenue. No sum of any moment will be secured Irom iron, steel, or copper, or their products, which formerly yielded a large revenue. Supremacy in making the steel plates which are the principal element in the cost of tin plates has been coupled with the substitu- tion of machinery for the hand work of Wales in this branch of industry. Under these conditions a relatively very small force of skilled workmen at high wages are enabled to convert black plates into tin plates at so low a cost that it is more likely that we shall become large exj)ortcrs of tin plates, rather than importers- The duties on wool are yielding much less than the expected revenue, having raised the cost of imported wool so much as to have forced the manufacturers to resort to cotton and shoddy as a sui)Stitute. Aside from these subjects of forn.er revenue the progress in many other manufactured products formerly imported has enabled us to export rather than to import. It therefore folh)WS that even if the miscellaneous duties of the Dingley bill were reduced for the purpose of increasing the revenue, the result would probably be followed by as great a dis- appointment as has followed the enactment of the Dingley act, which was expected to increase the revenue in the sum of $112,0()0,OJO — if I rightly recall the speech of the framer on its introduction, wliich sum. had it been realized, would have carried the per capita revenue in the last fiscal year to six dollars ($6) per head in place of four dollars and fifty-six cents ($4. 56) af commerce. KDWAKI) ATKINSON. Boston, Nov. 21, 1898. THE HELL OF WAR AND ITS PENALTIES. II. THE HELL OF WAR AND ITS PENALTH^:S. President IMeKinley saiil rightly that to allow a war undertaken in the name of humanit}' to be perverted into a wai' of eonquest would be a erime, but I doubt if he was fully aware of the jjenalty whieh would at once l)e met by the criminal nation. A war of conquest or any permanent occupation of tropical countries by white troops brings not only fevers and malaria upon them of well-known kinds, but yet worse, more fatal and more certain to bring moral and physical degen- eration upon them, is the infection of venereal disease. There are many good people whose sympathies have been aroused by the anticipation of being enabled to earr}' the benefits of Protestant Christianity and of personal liberty to the oppressed in the West Indies and the Philippine Islands. We may even admit all that is urged in favor of making the conquest of these islands upon these grounds, but before we undertake this philanthropic enterprise may it not be judicious to count the cost? I do not mean the money cost and the necessity which has lately been made very plain of adding new taxes even to the war revenues now being collected. That burden we can bear if we must. The greater cost will be the corruption of the blood through the infection of every force that will be annually called out to maintain our rule. It may be well to ask all who are imbued with this missionary sympathy, how many young men of our own brotherhood are you willing to sacrifice for each convert ? How many of your own sons will you expose to sure infection and degeneration in the conduct of your philanthropic purpose? Or will you satisfy your own consciences by consenting to the necessary conscription of other people's sons when it presently becomes impossible to maintain our armed forces in these islands without a draft ? I know that this is a very unsavory subject and that I am using terms which are not commonly spoken aloud, but it happens that in the course of my social studies my attention has been called to this social evil, and I think I should be wanting in my duty if I did not call public attention to the dangers in the plainest way. To that end I lately addressed a letter to Presitlent McKinley, of which the following is a slightly condensed copy : "President William McKinley : "Sir: I venture to present a protest against any longer occupation of the Philippine Islands, of Cul)a, and of Porto Uico, or the use of any larger forces than are needed to enable the people of these islands to frame and form a method of government under which personal liberty and individual rights may be estab- lished, and to enter upon this undertaking. Whether or not they are caj)able of maintaining such governments after their being enabled to do so by the removal of the Spanish rule is not a matter with which we have any permanent concern. " I present this case, as hereinafter stated, in my personal capacity, pending the organization of what will probably become a great national Anti-Im])erialist League, founded on the principles of AVashington's Farewell Address, for THE HELL OF WAR AND ITS PENALTIES. which the preparations are being made and the consultations are being had tliroughoul the country. " To the extent named tlie burden of temporary occupation must be assumed ; beyond that, any exercise of dominion or sovereignty would be as unwarranted in principle and as inconsistent with the maintenance of our republican institutions as it would be dangerous to the armed forces required. "The political wrong of assuming sovereignty by force over any part of these islands after a war undertaken in the name of humanity has been so force- fully stated by yourself that no words of ndne could bring out the iniquity of such a course more plainly, but it is feared that your hand may be forced again, as it was apparently, into a premature declaration of war by the acts of Senators whose apparent judicial reports of what they thought they saw in Cuba were disproved a week later by one of the constituents of the one who had the most influence, who followed after him, and has since been fully disproved by the facts of the case, it is therefore now the right and duty of every true and patriotic citizen to sup- port you in resistance to these evil inlluences by Ijringingout in the plainest terms the physical and social dangers and evils which must and will ensue if large armed forces are kept upon land for any length of time upon any of these islands and from which naval forces can only be protected by keepin«r them off the land. " The greatest and most unavoidable danger to which these forces will be exposed will neither be fevers nor malaria; it will be venereal diseases in their worst and most malignant form. It is this which has reduced the population of Hawaii to a degenerated remnant, four per cent, of whom are isolated under sentence of death from leprosy ; a di.sease of a similar type, perhaps not from the same cause, which gives evidence of the utter degeneracy of these poor people. It is fortunate, on l!ie testimony of one of the highest judicial oflicers of the Sandwich islands lately in Boston, that no large armed force will be reipiired in Hawaii, admitting that none such could be sustained without infection. His view is that one hundred and fifty to two hundred middle-aged men of established character would suffice for all the exhibition of force that may be needed to main- tain order. •' The records of the British arniy in India and China, and the condition of the Engl i.sh troops in Hong Kong, lately reported to me by an English gentle- man who has been studying social conditions throughout the world, are horrible in the extreme. He stated that fifty per cent, of tiie English troops in Hong Kon"- were infected witii vi nereal disease every year. It is well known tiiat while there may be an apparent cure this disease works corruption of the blood to the third and fourth generation, ending in degeneracy. " The records of the Mel.iin speech und.'r a false sense of delicacy, 'ilie.se words must bespoken. This danger must be pul)licly named and th«-se facts must be widely known, and the exposure to the i-orriiption of the young blood of this nation must be stojiped. It is not a pleasant duty, but I .shall assume tliis duty. The final responsilnliiy will rest upon yourself ami all who liave authority. Unless you would invite the execration of the mothers of our THE HELL OF WAR AND ITS PENALTIES. 9 land and cause your administration to stand recorded in liistory witli utter condem- nation, you cannot ignore or slight tiiesc facts and this danger, which is an evil worse than death, worse than war; to try to ignore it and not to provide against it in every possible manner by avoiding the inclusion of these islands in our domain will be to the disgrace of those who shall bring this danger of corruption of the blood upon our country, — a greater disgrace than all other losses of honor combined. " Measures are being taken to bring conclusive evidence of the f:icts which I have stated before Congress at the earliest possible date. I have sent to England for the medical records. I trust that you will order the Commission now engaged in the investigation of the war to deal with this suljject. " 1 pledge to you the support of every right-minded man and woman in your eftbrt to carry out your declareil purpose of limiting the exercise of force by this country to the cause of humanity without permitting it to degenerate into a war of conquest. ' Imperialism,' so-called, is an evil in all its {jhases, whether viewed from the political or economical side, but it is more sure to promote moral, physical, and social degradation than it is to work evil in any other direction. " It is my purpose as soon as our organizations are completed, and as fast as measures can be taken, to give publicity to these facts throughout the country. " 1 hope it may be consistent with your present duty to reply to this letter for publication, to the end that we may again have occasion to express our sympathy with you for the difficult position in which you have been placed, and to give you the assurance of our continued support; not only Republicans, but the great body of Independent and Sound xMoncy Democrats who turned the scale in the presidential election, who will give you continued assurance of their support in the declaration wnich you made against the perversion of the war conducted in the name of humanity into a war of conquest. That perversion is now disguised by those who advocate it, but the forced extension of the sovereignty of this nation over great populations who can never be assimilated with us politically, socially, or industriall} is nothing mere and nothing less than for this country to under- take a war of conquest wliich will be condemned and is condemned by every right- minded man and woman in our land. " 1 know from previous experience how dense is the screen by which the sup- porters of bad measures attempt to surround the chief executive of the nation. When the Intiation Bill of 187-i was impending, Vice-President Wilson called upon me, — knowing I had a wide correspondence with sound money men Ihrougiiout the West; he slated to me that under the pressure which was be- ing brought to bear upon the President in Washington he was being misled into the belief that public opinion required him to sign the Inflation Bill, and Mr. Wilson called upon me to bring to bear upon him the true public opinion of the country to the utmost of my ability. I immediately telegraphed to a num- ber of men in the great Western cities \\\w had agreed to act together in any emer- gency to send in protests ajzainst the Inllation Bill day by day, signed by a few men of prominence,— preferably those known to theP resident, —while protesting meetings in New York and Boston were immediately organized, the latter by myself. The eviderice was thus placed before President Grant of an overwhelm- ing kind, that he was being misled and deceived by the advocates of bad legisla- tion who surrounded him. "After his term had expired I met President Grant. He turned the conversa- tion to the financial issue, saying to me that 1 was entitled to know the history of the veto of the Inflation Bill. He said, ' I had prepared a message to accompany the bill signed, stating my objection to it, and that I had yielded to what 1 assumed to be the public opinion of the country ; but presently the protests came in to me from the leading men of all the great Western cities accompanied by the 10 THE HELL OF WAR AND ITS PENALTIES. New York and Boston meetings, and I found that the true public opinion of the coutitry would sustain me in doing what was right and what I knew would be right. 1 read over the message wliich 1 liad written to accompany the bill signed. 1 said to myself, this is all sophistry. I do not believe it mysidf, and no one else will believe it. I tore it up and substituted the veto message.' To which I replied, ' Veto and Vicksburg, — the victory of Peace and the victory of War.' You now have the opportunity, suppoi-ted as you will be by the true public opinion of this country, to emulate the example of that grand man to maintain peace, order, and industry without violating the principles laid down in W ashingtun's Farewell Address, and without violating the sj)irit of the Constitu- tion. In that you may rest assured of the continued support of all luen to whom you would resort for cool, deliberate, and sound judgment throughout the country. " Yours with great respect, " Edw.vrd Atkinson. "Boston, Nov. 14, 1898." HOW TO INCREASE EXPORTS. 11 III. TREATISE SUBMITTED AT THE MEETlNCi OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE AT THE MEETING HELD IN BOSTON ON AU(4UST 25, 1898. Bt EDWARD ATKINSON. How TO Incuease Expokts. It is a common remark that the machinery which is now applied to produc- tion in the United States is so effective on nearly every line of work that a few months' time, varying in different estimates from six to nine, would suffice to meet the necessary consumption of the people of this country under normal con- ditions. Hence the necessity for foreign markets. I believe all these estimates are exaggerated. There is but one product, cotton, of which more than one-half is exported. There are miscellaneous products of agriculture, such as grain, provisions, and dairy products, — of which the export varies from ten (10) to twenty (20) per cent, of the farm value, changing according to conditions and according to the relative product of this and other countries. There are very few branches of what are called manufacturing industries of which we now export in excess of ten (10) per cent., and from that down to a fraction of the total product. Yet Avith here and there an exceptional period due to si)ecial conditions, such as the wide discredit and paralysis of industry which followed the silver craze of 1893, it is not often that the means of production of manufactured goods have been largely in excess of the consumption. The real truth is that it is now possible to increase productive mechanism either on the field, in the forest, in the mine or the factory, with very great rapidity, thus very quickly meeting a renewed demand after a period of depression or any new export demand which may be opened. Supply is, therefore, pressing on demand, and the relief of exports is. therefore, a constant need. It is also ti-ue that with the exception of a ver}' few branches of industry, such as the woollen and worsted manufacture, in which, however low the prices may be, the cost of domestic production is yet greatly enhanced in this as compared to competing countries by heavy taxes on wool and other materials of foreign origin winch are supplied to our competitors free of taxation, there is hardly a branch of production fitted to the climate of this country, either in agriculture, forestry, metallurgy, or manufacturing, in which we have not now such an advantagt; over other countries as to enable us to in- crease our exports in very large measure so far as the power of export rests on the cost of the production of any article which is in demand in foreign countries. Vast Increase in Exports. The exports of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897, before the foreign scarcity of grain had exerted any considerable infiuence, exceeded a thousand million dollars ($1,000,000,000) in value. The exports of the last fiscal year exceeded twelve hundred million dollars ($1,200,000,000) in value ; the gain in the export of manufactured goods being relatively almost as great as the gain iu the export of the products of agriculture even under the influence of the scarcity which prevailed in Europe. These goods consist of nearly every crude, partly manufactured, and finished product of the country, with the exceptions named; 12 now TO IXCREASE EXPORTS. namely, those of which the cost has been relatively enhanced by taxes on the import of the materials. These goods are sent to every corner of the globe. Large c|uantitiL's go to the manufacturing States of Europe with which we compete, notwitiistanding the fact tliat the wages whicii are recovered from the sale of these goods in this country are twenty-five (25) to one hundred (100) per cent, higher than they are in the manufacturing countries of Europe. Our goods are also sent in competition with the manufacturers of Europe to continents, nations, and States, in which the rates of wages are not one-quarter, and in some cases nut one-tenth, as much as the wages earned on wheat and on other similar products are in this country. If the rate of wages governed the cost of lalx)r, not one dollar's worth of any of our products could be sent to any part of the globe in competition with the products of the labor of other countries. To What olk Supremacy is Due. Our manifest supremacy is due to several causes: First, This is the only manufacturing countiy which produces within its own area an excess of food, of fuel, of timber, of every metal except tin, an excess of cotton, the most important tibre. \Vc do not produce an excess of wool, but whenever common sense is applied to the production of wool in the cotton States, alternately or concurrently with cotton on the same fields, we shall become large exporters of wool. It is not probable that we shall ever produce our own raw silk ; certainly not so long as the reeling of the silk from the cocoon must be done by hand. Our second paramount advantage is this : Our national taxes do not exceed two and a half (2h) per cent, upon our annual product, of which they constitute a sliare set apart for the support of government. Even with the increase of taxa- tion which may follow the present war, oar national taxes cannot exceed four (4) percent, of our product. 1 compute the national taxes of Great Britain, which are double ours per head, and which are derivetl from a lesser product, at six (6) to seven (7), possibly eight (8), per cent. ; Germany at ten (10) per cent. ; France at filleen (15) to eighteen (18) per cent. ; while in poor Italy it is alleged that the national expenditures absorb a third of the entire product. Such are the relative disadvantages of militarism. From the l)cst information and study of the systems of taxation of all coun- tries I am of opinion that the advantage of this covmtry in the ratio which taxa- tion for national purposes bears to the total annual proiluct is not less than 4 per cent, in our favor, as compared to Great Hritain, and from 8 to 15 per cent, as compared to the manufacturing States of continental Europe. Our average advantage is not less than (3 per cent, upon oiu" total jiroilnct. Now, as 6 per cent, is a large margin to be carried to profit and loss account in this ctnuitry, where other countries would have no margin, we may deem our advantages in ihi.s matter apparently established unless we ourselves have the folly to enter upon a period of imperialism and militarism, with the consequent result of a very large increase in the burden of taxation. Our third advantage is in the stinujlus of climate applied throughout the umre northern or distinctly manufacturing sections of the country to the most versatile, energetic, and well-trained body of workmen taken as a whole that can be found in the world. Under these conditions high wages Iiave become a syno- nym for low cost of production, and we are now seeking how to extend the benefits of our coninnii't' throughout the world. I'l T.I-IC MlM> (ilfAVKLY .M(>VF,I>. The public miml is ijcing gravely moved on this question. Each section, each State, and the represenUitives of every branch of industry are turning their atten- tion to the widening of their market. Admitting that the home market is and will HOW TO INCREASE EXPORTS. 13 always be the largest and tlie most important, yet the representatives, especially -of agriculture, have found out that the price of their entire product is fixed by what the surplus will bring for export. The export demand is the balance-wheel of the whole traffic of this country. The prosperity, indeed the very existence, of our present system of agriculture depends upon the development of exports, and since half the population is occupied either directly in agriculture or in the secondary processes of converting the crude products of the farm into their sec- ondary forms for sale, the prosjjerity of manufacturers depends upon that of the farmers, who are their principal customers. May there not be a great deal of misdirected energy unless the principles which govern the trade and commerce are fully considered ? The paramount power of supplying nearly all the necessaries of life, which the world must have at the highest rates of wages and the lowest cost of i)roduc- tion, has fallen to the United States. The demand for these goods exists through- out the world, but the purchasing power which must exist in order to supply that demand is very limited. The reasons for this limitation must be considered, lest time be wasted in efforts to open trade with nations that have the least power of purchase, while we neglect States and nations which possess the greatest power. The Destixatiox of Ouu Exports. "What makes the power of purchase of foreign countries? Before dealing with that question, the following facts and tables should be fully considered : Table No. 1.' Valuation and Destination of the Exports from the United States. Exports, 18S5 Annual Percent. Approximate to 1894. average. of total, population. United Kin^jdom of Great Britain and Ire- , l.jtKl . ." $4,060,135,619 $406,013,562 51.12 40,000,000 British colonies and de|)en(lencies (whits population 10,000,000, mixed 300,000,- „„. .,„ on, o,n ,>nn nnn 000) 712,054,131 71,205,413 8.97 310,000,000 §4,772,189,7.50 $477,218,975 60.09 350,000,000 France, Germany, Holland, and Belgium, 1,809,533,962 180,953,396 22.78 104, 000,000 $6,581,723,712 $658,172,371 82.87 Russia, Austria, and other European States, 482,379,273 48, 237.927 6.07 230, 00,000 $7,064,102,985 $706,410,298 88.94 China, Japan, and other countries in Asia not umU.r British rule 116.481,826 11,648,182 1.47 Africa not under British control .... 6,847,818 684,782 .09 Hawaiian, Philippine, and islands not Brit- ,.„,o-^ -/. ^icnnnnnn isli or Spanish 44,348,757 4,434,876 .n6 642,000,000 Small uncnumerated places 13,953,245 1,395,324 .17 $7,215,733,631 $721,57.^,462 91.23 South America, oraittin- British Guiana, 295,285,939 29,528,584 3.70 36,000,000 Spanisli and French West luilies, Ua.y\.\, ___ . and San Domingo 244,75.5,771 24,475,577 3.08 2,a00,000 Me4o ''"°"°-° ; :;::.... 113,517,519 11,351:752 1.43 12,000,000 ^^"S.s'™'""' °°^""'" """"" ".°"' 44,053,095 4,405,309 .56 3,-500,000 United States ". '. ". ". '. '. __• ^ _1^1^ __1 ^»'"'^'"'^" $7,943,346,955 $794,334,695 100 1,4.50,000,000 From the above table covering the export of ten (lU) years, ending June 30, 1894, it will appear that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and her colonies bought from us in round figures sixty (60) per cent, of what we had to sell ; France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands twenty-three (23) per cent. ; the rest of the world seventeen (17) per cent. ' Authority. Report of 1895, Bureau of Statistics, United States Treasury. 14 HOW TO INCREASE EXPORTS. In the fiscal years ending June 30, 1895, 181t6, and 1897, a slight change occurred, due to the increasing proportion of manufactures exported to other than British countries. In the fiscal year ending June SO, 1898, although bad crops created an exces- sive demand for the products of agriculture among European States, yet the increasing exports of manufactured products to all parts of the world changed the relative proportions of foreign i)urchases in a considerable measure. Table No. 2. Ezporls of the Tniled States for Ticelve Mouths ending June 30. 1S98. Per cent. L'nited Kingdom of Great Britain ami Ireland . . .$o40,860,lo2 43.92 British colonies and dependencies : (Gibraltar $304,829 Malta «4,.3o2 Bcnnu.la \)i)b,'M\ British Honduras .... o55,17'J Britisli Nortli America . . . 84,911,260 British West Indies . . . 8,382,740 British Guiana .... 1,792.912 .\ustralia 15, 603, 7(53 British Africa .... 12,027,142 British Asia 10,i)61,O55 135,602,173 11.01 Germany $155,039,972 France 95,452,692 Netherlands 64,274,622 Belirium 47,606,311 $676,462,325 54.9;i $362,373,597 29.43 Austria-Hungarv, Italy, Spain, and all other Kuropean States . ' . " 69,718,419 5.6G $1,108,554,341 90. o2 South and Central America, Mexico, and West Indies not British, including Cuba and I'orto Rico . 77,194,168 6.27 Asia not British 33,863,213 2.75 Oceanica not British, including Bhilippine Islands . 6,387,(>18 .52 Africa not Britisii 5,330,610 .44 $1,231,329,950 100.00 By this table it is made plain that in the last tisi-al year the l'nited Kingdom of (Ireat Britain and Ireland took from us a fraction under forty-four (44) per cent.; the Britisii colonies and dei)cn0.(t00) in number, far away, with industry as yet but slighlly developed, whose j)roduce ol wool we fine heavily, thereby reduc- ing their power of j)urcliasing our jjroducts, yet liought from us in excess of three dollars (!?:j) |)cr head. We may not measure the purcluises of British Africa and British Asia because the goods thereto sent are distributed among those who rely upon the English protection for their increasing prosperity, the greater part of our exports being to British Asia and Africa. Enoijsh Si'KAKi.ns THE Best Blyeks. Sutfire it, that either the Kngli>h spe. iking people themselves or those of other races who have come under the protection and just administration of the HOW TO INCREASE EXPORTS. 17 English law have developed the greatest purchasing power in respect to the excess of our own products. It would therefore be consistent vvilh the ordinary I'ules which govern the conduct of business that we should look to the people of Great Britain and her colonics for the greatest development of our exports, and in order to promote wider and increasing markets we might rightly remove the legislative obstructions with wliich we have attempted to restrict the import of the goods with which they might pay us for larger and larger quantities of our own products. Tiiere are about five million (5,000,000) in the Dominion of Canada, and there are somewhat in excess of five million (5,000,000) people in the State of New York. The people of the State of New York excliange the products of that State with the people of other States on the east, west, and south. No one can measure in terms of money the volume of trade for mutual benefit which unites the people of this country for mutual interest. One may be very certain that the volume of the exports from the State of New York to New England, to other Middle States and to the Western States, vastly exceeds the share of the exports of the State of New York to the people of the Dominion of Canada. It may be possible that all Canada consumes two ($2) or three dollars (.So) per head of the products of the State of New Y^)rk. How much does all New England consume, and all the other Middle States? Yet if there were no grotesque obstructions to the mutual service which the people of New York and Canada miglit render to each other, the trade with these two sections might be equal to the trade with the neighboring States with which 1 have compared it. Lauge Market in a Small Section. Reverting to the purchasing power of other States, the people of France, Ger- many, Holland and Belgium now number about one hundred and five million (105,000,000). They bought from us under the pressure of a great scarcity of grain in the last fiscal year at the rate of three doUars and a half ($3.50) per head. It will be observed that so far we have dealt with the purchasing power of the States which have applied modern science anil invention to a greater extent than the people of any other countries except our own. All that have been named, except Great Britain, are customarily deficient in the kinds of food which appear to be necessary for the development of the greatest physical energy, mainly animal fooil ; and in proportion to their deficiency, or we might say to their innu- trition, is the purchasing power of nations reduced. Yet in this relatively small section of the world with which I have dealt, we found our market for ninety (90) per cent, of our total export. Want of Good Government. Another prime factor in the develoi)raent of purchasing power or in its dimi- nuti) people of British North .\merica bought of us last year eighty-five million dollars'" ($85,000,000) worth of goods ; the thirteen 18 HOW TO INCREASE EXPORTS. million (13,000,000) people of Mexico bought only twenty-one million dollars' (§21,000,000) worth. The English speaking people of the Dominion nearly seventeen dollars (S17) a head; the Spanish-Americans of Mexico, the most pro- gressive State which has been under the evil influences of the Spanish rule, less than two dollars ($2) per head. No BonxTiES FOR SxEAMSiiii" Lines. I do not mean to raise any oljjection to every effort that can be rightly made looking toward an increase of exports to South and Central America, Asia, Africa, and the Philippine Islands. I do object to all the proposed artificial methods of bounties to steamship lines, and yet more to taking on ourselves the Inu'den of distant colonies. The only effective method of promoting exports is to promote imports from these non-machinc-using coimtries, and in that way increase their purciiasing power. It is often held in support of the policy called protection with incidental revenue that if we put a tax on a foreign product it does not always increase the cost to the consumer, but is sometimes paid by the foreign producer through a reduction in price. Such is sometimes the fact. ']"he price of the foreign prod- uct is reduced. IJut in such case the reduction in the price sia)ply reduces the purchasing power of the producer to buy our goods. It is doubtless true that by the imposition of a dut}- on the potatoes, oats, and hay of Canada, especially of the Maritime Provinces, the prices in Canada have many times been so much reduced that the products would not pay their cost. Therefore the growers of these products have not only been unable to buy the American goods which they desire, but vast numbers of Canadians have been forced to migrate to the United States season by season, in spite of contract laws, in order to get the means for supporting their families in Canada; thousands coming and going with every season, who might have thriven in Canada l)y supplying the people of United Stiites with fish, potatoes, oats, barley, and hay lo our great benefit, while them- selves enjoying an increasing measure of prosinnity in their own country. Invite Imports of Crude Products. Who would have suHered in this competition P Only a few railways would have been deprived of a part of their freight. The effect of these duties, especially on New England, being only to compel the people of New England to pay for a longer haul on Western food products, while losing a market for their goods in the Maritime Provinces, which by ever}' law of nature ami afiiiiity constitute a part of a family group of Slates lying south of tlie St. Lawrence and east of the Ihnlsiin River, whicii ought to be united by every possible bond of mutual service ant! mutual benefit, whatever may be the central government to which they owe allegiance. When the trallic is free from the oljstruction of heavy duties imposed for protection witli incidental revenue, and also freed from the media'val al)surdities of oiu' navigation laws, our flag will follow our trade to and from all our ports. We can have all the trade that the purchasing power of these countries and continents will pennit their own people to enjoy when we stop the humiliating cry of pauper labor, and invite the imports of the crude and partly manufactured l)roducls whicii, being absolutely free of taxation in (ireat Britain and nearly if not (juite free of taxation in other maiuifacturing countries, now serve to protect foreign manufacturers to the detriment of our own. Hut even if we have gains wliicli open ports in Asia. Africa, and Oceanica might give us in the next ten years, the larger market in these poor continents and States for our own products would be far less than the same policy would open for us among our kith and kin, the English speaking people of Great Britain and her colonies. HOW TO INCREASE EXPORTS. 19 We most Dip the Bucket, Too. We may well apply to ourselves the stovy which Booker Washington told when meeting the efforts of the Southern States to induce immigration. He told the story of the captain of the ship far away on the ocean who signalled a neigh- boring vessel for fresh water. The answer was: "Dip your bucket over the side." Again the urgent signal came : " We must have fresh water." Again the answer: "Dip your bucket over the side." Not until the third time was the reply comprehended, and when the bucket was dipped over the side it brought up the fresh water of the Amazon River, wliose current extended far beyond the land. The negroes are waiting for the recognition of the value of their service. The South is rapidly learning how to dip her bucket over the side. The com- merce of the English speaking people, who are our kith and kin and our neigh- bors, the whole world being to-day a neigliborhood, is waiting for its rapid devel- opment by the exchange of products by which all would benefit alike. Our nein, D.C, where the names will l)e enrolled, without liability to assessment, as memi)ers of the league, and the i)rotest presented to the President and Congress. " Submitted on behalf of the Kxecutive Connnitteeof the .\nti-lmperialist League, of which the lion, (ieorge S. Poulwell is Presid«'nt. " Ll{ViN(; WiNsi.ow, " Secrelan/. "HOSTON, Nov. 10, ISOS." Note. — 'I'hiK pninplilut i» iiiMiied on thv koIc ri'cponBibillty of tlu- iiiuiiTeiKiipdi the AnU-Impprlnll«t Lciiguu having iin rcHpoimlblllty. .Moii hoklliig wholly different view* upon financial i|ue»Uon8 are jolui'd in lliix j.i-aKiie. KI>W.\KI> .\TKI.NSON. PROTEST OF THE ANTI-IMPERIALIST LEAGUE. 23 V. Readers are requested to detach the subsequent protest, paste it on a sheet of suitable paper, procure signatures thereto as rapidly as possible, then forward to the Secretary of tlie Anti-Imperialist League, Washington, D.C., notifying Krving Winslow, Secretary, Boston, of the action taken, giving name and personal address. 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