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United States, the Domin
ion and England Stirred
by Agreement For
Reduction of Cus
toms Duties.
By JAMES A. EDGER.TON.
C ANADIAN reciprocity ns ngreoil
upon by President Taft nud the
Dominion government promises
to be one of the biggest ques
tions injected into American politics
for many years. Already it is ngitat-
lng the entire country, and especially
that portion of it along the Canadian
border, and is forcing new alignments
in congress. There is serious doubt
as to whether the president’s recom
mendation will be approved by both
houses at this session. It may not get
through either house. The general
opinion in Washington is that it will
be passed by the house of representa
tives, however, and will be hung up'
Without action in the senate.
Properly speaking, the agreement is
not a treaty at all. It is simply a rec
ommendation by the two governments
that their respective legislatures enact
Into law certain tariff provisions af
fecting the two countries. The bill em
bodying these recommendations must
take exactly the same course as any
other tariff measure. In the case of
our own congress this means that it
must originate in the hotase and be
passed by that body beforfe v it goes to
the senate. A majority vote in each
house will carry it to the president for
approval.
If the understanding were really n
treaty it would not go to the lower
bouse at all, but would require ratifica
tion only in the senate, which would
have to pass it by a two-thirds vote.
Under the circumstances it is extreme
ly fortunate for the reciprocity agree
ment that it is not a treaty.
| Senate Doubtful of Status.
There was u question raised in the
senate on this very point, and as a re
sult the president's message was taken
from the finance committee and re
ferred to the foreign relations commit
tee, which is the course a treaty would
have to take. It was understood, how
ever, that the foreign relations com
mittee would simply pass on this one
proposition, after which the mensure
would be returned to the finance com
mittee.
As the matter now stands a majori
ty of the Democrats favor the proposal
and many of the Republican, including
some of the insurgents, oppose it.
Champ Clark, who will be spenker of
the next house, came out flatfootedly
for Canadian reciprocity, and most of
his supporters cheered his declaration.
In the senate William J. Stone of Mis
souri has taken a similar stand.
Among the Republicans Hale, Hey-
burn, McCumber, Oliver, Toung and
other regulars are unalterably hostile
to the proposal. Beveridge, progres
sive, is for it, but some of the other
progressives are In an embarrassing
position.
On the one hand, Canadian mdproci-
ty represents a step in the".direction
of tariff reduction, which they have
long demanded: on the other, it takes
the tariff from wheat and other farm
products. These men come from agri
cultural states. Their contention is
thnt it is not fair to remove the tariff
from the things the farmer raises and
leave it on manufactured products.
They assert that- the only benefit the
farmer will receive from the arrange
ment is cheaper lumber. They also
fear that it will increase thPexodus of
American farmers into Canada.
j Price Reduction Predicted.
' The advocates of the mensure say
that it will reduce prices and at the
same time make it more difficult to
corner the necessaries of life, that it
iwill build up the market for-American
goods'across the .border nnd that it
■will lead to better trade relations and
more cordial feelings between the two
countries. The railroads running into
Canada and their connections in the
(United States are especially favorable
to the agreement on the ground that
It will increase their business.
Incidentally your Uncle Sam is some
what doubtful also. Canadian trade
looks good to him, and he needs or
soon may need those vast whentflelds
to help feed his millions. But when
he .thinks of his own farmers and. won
ders what the change will do to them
the old man falls into a brown study.
There is one comforting thought. We
are not the only ones in a quandary.
!The Canadians nnd the English are
also doing a bit of thinking. The Con
servatives in Great Britain are mak
ing a roar compared with which some
of ouc own objections ye mild.. They
POLITICAL ISSUE
Democrats and Progressive
Republicans Join With
Liberals In Support
of President Taft’s
Measure.
see the loss of Canadian trade, the
denrth of Canadian wheat, the stifling
of Canadian industries nnd the enter
ing wedge thnt mny ultimately mean
the annexation of the Dominion to the
United States.
England “Jollying" Canada.
In this dilemma they welqome the
selection of the king’s uncle, the Duke
of Connnught, ns the new governor
general of Canada. The Dominion Is
Just now assuming nn unwonted im
portance in their eyes. They are even
fpedlng the Canadians with large and
assorted varieties of verbal taffy. Here
is a sample: In fifty years the Domin
ion may so far outstrip the mother
country that the king himself will re
side in Montreal. This "sort of pabu
lum does not go far with the hard
headed Canadian farmer, however.
He smiles cynically ns he reflects thnt
in the past the Dominion has given
Great Britain everything nnd has re
ceived in return nothing but three
cheers.
The Liberals in England take a far
more composed view of the situation.
Many favor the proposal of Canadian
reciprocity with the United States on
the ground that it will be a step in the
direction of freer trade. The same-
general alignment is observed among
the Canadians themselves. The Lib
erals support the measure; the Con
servatives oppose. As the Liberals are
in control both at London and Mon
treal, the groanings of the opposition
will probably have little effect on the
outcome. It is not without significance
that it should be the Conservatives in
Canada and England who fight the
proposition and the standpatters who
are against it in the United States.
Many Important Reductions.
The articles made free under the
agreement generally cover foodstuffs
and the necessaries of life, including
all kinds of live stock, grain, fresh
vegetables and fruits, poultry, butter,
eggs, fish and sea food, cottonseed oil,
lumber and wood products, wire, some
kinds of machinery, coke, wood pulp,
print paper and other kinds of paper.
Articles not on the free list, but con
siderably reduced, with the same rates
applying to both countries, include all
kinds of meats, flour, clocks and
watches, automobiles, farm machinery
and building stone. Reductions are
also made on bituminous coal and oth
er articles, but with different rates be
tween the two countries.
There is confusion as to the wood
pulp schedule for the reason that some
of the Cnnadian provinces require that
timber cut from crown lands must be
manufactured into wood pulp in the
province. An effort will be made by
the Canadian government to have
those restrictions removed. John Nor-
! ris, representing the American News-
; paper Publishers’ association, believes
the agreement if ratified will material
ly reduce the price of print paper.
The part President Taft has played
in the negotiations has been notable.
It will be recalled that last year he
spent a memorable two days at Al
bany in consultation with the governor
general of Canada, the minister of
finance and other Dominion officials.
It was then that the general outlines
of the agreement were fixed, the com
missioners from the two countries
afterward working out the details.
Second to the president perhaps the
most important figures in the nego
tiations were W. S. Fielding, minister
of finance for Canada, and Philander
O. Knox, American secretary of state.
The president’s second big play was
his special message to congress recom
mending the approval of the agree
ment. The third move was his Mc
Kinley day speech, in which ho quoted
the dead president’s reciprocity senti
ments uttered the day before his as
sassination in Buffalo.
Will Mr. Taft’s next move be to call
a special session of congress? He 1ms
intimated that he is prepared to taka
that step if there is not a vote on the
proposition in both houses of congress
during the present session. He be
lieves that the longer the country has
to think over the proposal the more it
will favor it and that eventually the
agreement will be ratified. There is
no doubt that he is ready to make a
fight for the measure similar to that
which' he conducted for his legislative
program in the last session..
Success Seems Assured.
With the large Democratic acces
sions in both houses in the new con
gress there is a belief that the proposal
must ultimately go through. At least
a part of the progressives ure certain
to favor it, and It is even possible thnt
n majority will take that course. In
addition many of the regulars will also
line up with the administration.
The exact status of the agreement
seems to be tills: It must be ratified
ns a whole or rejeetdd as a whole.
There can be no amendments, it must
receive a majority In both houses of
congress. The new Democratic house
will pass it without question, nud It
is probable that the'present house will
do the snme. So far ns the attitude
of the present senate enn be arrived
at, it is hostile. The new senate will
be more favorable, the only question
being as to whether there will be
enough new accessions favoring the
proposnl to carry it.
There are two views ns to the ef
fects of Canadian reciprocity on Amer
ican farmers. One is thnt the tariff
on farm products is of little or no
benefit to the farmer - since he pro
duces a surplus above the amount
needed for home consumption nnd the
prices received are therefore, fixed in
the markets of the world. Advocates
of this theory believe thnt the adoption
of Canadian reciprocity will have a
negligible effect on our farmers. At
the same time it will not materially
reduce prices to consumers. 'It will
tend, however, to prevent grain corners
and stock market manipulations.'
The other view is that the free im
portation of Canadian- farm products
will reduce American prices and will at
tract hosts of American fnrmers to the
cheaper lands of the Dominion. Sup
porters of this idea aver thnt the/only
American beneficiaries of reciprocity
will be the consumer, the railroad nnd
the manufacturer. In the matter of
wheat; for example, the cheaper prod
uct of the Dominion will come to the
American mill to be ground.
On the free admission of live stock,
supporters of reciprocity assert that
the adoption of the agreement will ac
tually help American farmers. As
there is little corn grown in the Do
minion, Canadian range cattle will be
brought across the border to fatten.
Fishermen Object.
Farmers are by no means the only
ones objecting to the proposal. The
fishermen of New England are up in
arms. At Gloucester the flags were
put at half mast on the announcement
of the plan. The New England pulp
mills are also lip opposition. It seems
a foregone conclusion that most of the
senators from this section will vote
against ratification. Yet, strangely
enough, the man who is leading the
fight for reciprocity in the house is
^Representative Samuel W. McCall of
Massachusetts, a regular Republican.
Back of Cnnadinn reciprocity is a
larger question which everybody rec
ognizes, but which nobody talks much
about. In England it furnishes one of
the grounds for opposition to ratifica
tion of the agreement In America it
Is supplying just as powerful a senti
ment the other way. In Canada, if rec
ognized at all, it is brushed aside.
This is the question of Canadian an
nexation. Is it only a dream, or is it
a possibility of the near future? Can
ada is more nearly related to us than
to Great Britain. Her interests are
identical with ours. Her natural out
let and market are through the United
States. The natural course of trade is
north and south. Even Dominion poli
tics is rapidly becoming more Ameri
can than English. Is reciprocity an
entering wedge? Is the last great Eu
ropean possession in the western hem
isphere to sever her bonds?
BROOM MAKES ATHLETES,
Domestic Course at Girls’College Gives
Them Fine Records.
Domestic training, especially sweep
ing, makes athletes. Domesticity and
athletics are anything hut foes. Lake
Erie college at Painesville, O., fur
nishes proof of these statements.
The new official record of field ath
letics shows that Lake Erie holds five
women’s collegiate records, more, than
any other girls’ institution in the coun
try except Vassar, whicli has seven.
Lake Erie is the only college holding
records at which domesticity is a com
pulsory part of the course. At Lake
Erie practical housework holds a place
on the curriculum equal with literature,
art and science. Every girl at Lake
Erie must do thirty-five minutes of
housework every day.
MACHINE MADE PLUM PUDDING
F.M. BRANNON, W. S. WIGHT, Wh. SEARCY,
President. Vice-President. Cashier
CITIZENS BANE
Capital $50,000.00' Surplus and Undivided profits $22,000.00
Total Resources, One Quarter of a Million.
We pay 4 per cent interest Compounded Quarterly in our
Savings department. YOUR PATRONAGE SOLICITED
English Housewives Need Not Make
Trouble Any More.
English housewives may grow up In
ignorance of the secrets involved In
compounding the greatest of all Eng
lish dishes, plum pudding, but science
with its Ingenious mechanism will
keep the pudding supply up to the de
mand.
United States Commercial Agent
John M. Carson writes from England
that “plum pudding, so dear to the
English heart and so trying to the av
erage stomach," promises to become
of sufficient Importance in the foreign
trade of the kingdom to be specifically
named in official reports.
Notice to Farmers.
All parties wanting Planting
from my Fine Long Cotton can get
now. I only have a LIMITED ai
and the fir. t comes is the first serve?
Price for 'Planting Seed, selected
with great care, is $2.50 per bushel.
J. J. COPPAGE.
Better watch, be careful who you let have your
clothes to be cleaned and pressed, be sure that the house
that does your work is SANITARY and that no germ and
filth-laden negro’s clothes are piled on top of yours, con
taminating them and bringing disease into your home.
CITY PRESSING CLUB, a white club, by a white man for white folk
NO NEGRO WORK ACCEPTED /-**• f L
phone no. si. City Pressing Club 1
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Good for 25 VOTES
-U PIANO Contest.
This coupon will count as 25 votes in The Prog
ress Piano Contest, if cast before noon, Thursday
March 9, 1911. Every coupon clipped and sent in
will be counted.
Contestant’s Name, M
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Address Georgia
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about half the value improv
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Correspondence solicited.
R. C. Bell & Ira Carlisle
Attorneys-At-Law
CAIRO, - - GEORGIA.
w. J. Willie
Attorney-At-Law
Will practice in all Courts, State and
lederal. Collections a specialty.
Office in L. B. Powell building.
Phone 73. - CAIRO. GA
P- C. ANDREWS
Attorney-at-Law.
CAIRO, GA
Office in ParkerYinilding.
Have Your Family
Photographed
A series of pictures of the children
at different ages prove price
less as years pass.
I,<? me make them now while they
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E. WOODY
Studio Brvan St. Cairo, Ga
The Progess $1
R. C. BELL
ATTORNEY AND COUNSELLOR
IRA CARLISLE
Associate
General Practice: Office over Post of
fice. Five Year FARM LOANS prompt
ly negotiated at low rate of interest.
CAIRO, GA.
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THE PROGRESS. - - Cairo. Ga.
GEORGIA—Grady County.
Thereas r). Ljn.i Carry, ai.niu‘nfcrix
of W. J. Curry represents to the court in
her petition duly filed and entered on re
cord that she has fully administered W.
J. Currys estate, this therefore is to efte
all persons concerned, kindred and credi
tors, to show cause if any they can, why
said Administratrix should not be dis
charged from her adminstration and re
ceive Letter of dismission on the first
Monday in March, 1911. This February
,8th, 1911. P. H. Herrins.
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