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6 Conservative.
MOTHER-HEART.
Dear Mother-eyes
That watched while other eyes were closed in
Bleep ,
That o'er my sliding steps wore wont to
weep
Arc ye now looking from the Btarry skies ,
With clearer spirit-vision , love more deep ,
Undimmed by tears , while I my vigil keep-
Dear Mother-eyes ?
Dear Mother-hands
Tlmt toiltd when other hands inactive were ,
That , clasping mine , constrained mo oft to
prayer
For grace to run the way of God's com
mands
Arc yn now resting , or in realms more fair
Still find ye some sweet mode to minister-
Dear Mother-hands ?
Dear Mother-heart
That felt the good whore others found the ill ,
That loathed the sin , yet loved the sinner
still ,
And charmed his soul to choose the better
part :
Farewell a moment's lleoting space until
God reunites us when it be His will-
Dear Mother-heart.
John Henderson in Chambers' Journal.
TRADE WITH THE TROPICS.
BY GENERAL JAMES H. WILSON , U. S. A.
[ From his address before the American Free
Trade League , Nov. 9,1901. ]
1 believe that the greatest benefit con
ferred on the American people by the
Federal Constitution after creating the
machinery of government for a more
perfect nnion and providing for the com
mon defense , arises from the inhibitions
of the constitution , which forbid the
sovereign states and the congress alike
from levying or collecting any tax or ex
port duty on goods , wares , and mer
chandise sent out of the statesor out of
the country at large. I believe that the
free trade between the states , which re
sults from these inhibitions , has done
more than any or all other influences
combined to make not only the states
themselves rich and powerful , but the
United States , as a whole , the richest
and most powerful nation on the earth.
To this pbsolute freedom of trade be
tween the states is primarily due the
wonderful development of our steam
boat and railroad system , which in turn
enables the producer and merchant to
lay down our natural and manufactured
products at tide water at a lower cost
than those of any other country. If I
am correct in this generalization , it is
this absolute freedom of interstate trade
which , with equal ocean freight rates ,
is now giving us the markets of the
world.
Inasmuch as under the Monroe Doc
trine , which one of our most disting
uished statesman has declared to be as
much if not more commercial than it is
political , we have assumed the burden
of protecting the neighboring states
from foreign aggression , the question
naturally arises , why should we not try
to get some commercial advantage from
them which , while it may make them
richer and stronger , would , in 'a mens-
xire , compensate us for our trouble and
expense ? They are clearly under the
American hegemony , and , if the Mon
roe Doctrine is to be maintained , they
are clearly within the American system
of public law.
Under this aspect of our relations
with them , why should the United
States not say frankly to all the states
of North America , at least , we will
agree to absolute and reciprocal free
trade in natural and manufactured
products , between our country and all
its dependencies , wherever situated , on
the one hand , and all the immediately
neighboring countries on the other ,
under a uniform tariff to be agreed up
on by the parties to the arrangement ,
and to bo carried into effect as against
all other countries ? It would doubtless
be rejected at first by one or more of the
countries interested , and would certain
ly meet with the opposition of the pro
tected interests everywhere. Much dis
cussion would necessarily follow before
the public mind could be brought to
understand and accept it , but I do not
doubt that the time will come when
this measure , or some modification of
it , will be adopted by every North
American state and dependency. I do
not venture to suggest its extension to
the South American republics for the
present. Obviously , its immediate ef
fect would be to unite the countries ac
ceding to it into a commercial union or
zollverein , with an aggregate population
of something like 100,000,000 of people ,
about 85,000,000 of whom , now living
outside of the United States , would
henceforth sell their raw materials and
natural productions to us and buy most
of their manufactured goods and pro
visions from us. If this arrangement
were at the same time connected with a
stipulation on our part that the United
States would respect the political inde
pendence and the' territorial integrity of
the states entering into commercial
union with us , would it not also end
their apprehension of conquest and
benevolent assimilation , and to man
kind at large amount to a solemn dedi
cation of the entire continent forever to
the cause of peace ? Would it not great
ly enrich us as well as our commercial
allies , and at the same time become a
better common defense against the
European coalition with which we are
now so frequently threatened , than any
number of battleships we could build or
any army we could raise and put in the
field ?
Speaking from my own observation
and somewhat extended study of the
question , I have not the slightest doubt
that the white man can and does main
tain his social efficiency unimpaired , at
least in all insular tropical countries ,
and especially in the Greater and Lesser
Antilles. He is just as prolificvigorous
and industrious , class for class , in these
islands as he is in the country from
which he comes , and there is absolutely
no reason why he shouldn't bo. In the
first place the climate and temperature
of Cuba and Porto Rico are at all times
better and more equable than in any of
our States in the Missippi Valley south
of the Ohio and Missouri rivers. ' It is
warmer and more balmy iu winter and
cooler and more agreeable in summer in
those islands than it is in Tennessee ,
Arkansas , Louisiana , Texas , Mississippi ,
Alabama , Florida , Georgia , or South
Carolina , and no one can properly
claim , since the War of the Rebellion
and the economic reconstruction that
followed the abolition of slavery , that
the white man has physically degene
rated in any of our Southern States.
Cuba is the best country in the world
for the production of sugar as well as qf
high class tobacco. Its lands lie better
and are more fertile , while there are
more of them adapted to that industry
than can be found in any other islander
or country , yet to be brought under
cultivation. The area of Cuba is about
forty-three thousand square miles , or
twenty-seven million five hundred
thousand acres , the most of which is
suitable for either sngartobacco , coffee ,
fruits or cattle raising. It is one of the
most beautiful and fertile countries of
the world ; and I do not hesitate to give
it as my opinion that , with its varied
resources developed , it is worth more to
us than any equal area in the United
States except New York , Pennsylvania ,
Ohio and Illinois , and more than any
other country in the world except Can
ada. It is , indeed , one of the most
beautiful , healthful and inviting islands
under the sun ; and , while it lies just
within the tropics , it can hardly be
called tropical. Thrust out into the
ocean for seven hundred miles , its
climate is everywhere mitigated by the
trade winds and the balmy air of the
surrounding seas. Jt is commonly be
lieved that it can supply the whole
world with sugar , but this is undoubtedly -
edly an extravagant exaggeration.
While the laud is generally fertile , it
would be far from the truth to assert
that it is all good for sugar. From the
best evidence I can gather , its capacity
in that direction with the product
fetching two cents not is probably not
to exceed three million tons , and even
with the free entry of sugar into the
United States , it would be many years
before the limit could be reached. Its
tobacco , however , is the best in the
world for cigars and cigarettes , and
while there are several extensive and
widely separated regions adapted to its
cultivation , there is but one Vuelta
Abajo. Coffee flourishes in nearly
every part of the island , especially in
the hilly and mountainous sections , and
should it sell at or above twenty cents a
pound it would become a profitable
crop. The pasture and grass lands are
the best I have ever seen and will easily