Foster, Salaries. Foster, Need of Constitu tion, Art. I, § 8, cl. 3. Aim of commercial laws. Annals Am. Acad. Pol. Sci., 29 (1907), 470-477, 498-514. American people. The treaty of 1783 may be cited as a good example of the success of straightforward negotiation. Except at special ceremonies for which court dress is required of every one, our ministers are accustomed to wear "the simple dress of an American citizen." The salary paid an ambassador is $17,500, the average salary given a minister being about $10,000. As the United States does not own buildings in the foreign capitals, and social demands make numerous inroads upon a minister's purse, only men of independent means can afford to accept diplomatic positions. FOREIGN COMMERCE 232. General. Aside from the inability of the Confederation to obtain revenue, the principal cause of its failure was its lack of power to regulate commerce between the States and with foreign countries. Indeed, the pressing need of national control of commerce led to the calling of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 (§ 183), for the annoying laws made by the States regarding interstate commerce had caused much bitterness in some sections, and the varying state tariffs made it impossible to trade with Europe to advantage. All of this was changed when the Constitution gave Congress the right "to regulate commerce with foreign nations . . . and among the several States," and permitted the President and Senate to make commercial treaties. Regulations for foreign commerce may be said to be of two kinds: (1) those that aim to help commerce in general, and (2) those that seek to restrict certain lines of trade. Every nation wishes to do as much business as possible with other countries, provided it has the best of the bargain. This is thought to be the case if it sells abroad more than it buys,1 and consequently many governments make a special 1 In every country the exports and imports are likely to be equal, an increase or decrease of the one being followed by an increase or decrease of the other. Where there is a permanently favorable "balance of trade," tion, Art. I, effort to increase their exports, while almost all have tariffs Constituwhich limit the importation of foreign productions by rates that are often quite high. According to the Constitution of the United States, neither Congress nor the States may lay any duty upon exports, but Congress may tax imports if the rates are uniform throughout the United States and no preference is given to one part above another. Direct and indirect Cortelyou, Annals 233. The Promotion of our Foreign Commerce. As our success in trading with other nations is often taken as an index of our prosperity at home and our standing as a nation, Congress has passed many laws with the purpose of benefiting our trade abroad. Through the efforts of our consuls, and under the direction of the Bureau of Manufactures in the Department of Commerce (§ 431), information is being collected and distributed constantly which will aid in opening new foreign markets. The promotion of foreign commerce is accomplished chiefly, however, through such indirect means as commercial treaties, ship canals, and harbor improve- 441–449. ments. Pol. Sci., 24 Pol. Sci., Diplomacy, A nation cannot trade with any other nation it pleases, Commercial but must first arrange with foreign governments for inter- treaties. national commerce through ordinary commercial treaties, some of which contain a provision known as the most fa- Schuyler, vored nation clause, or by reciprocity treaties (§ 236). If a Am. treaty contains a most favored nation clause, and either power 421-424. making this treaty grants special privileges to any third nation, the other power secures for itself the same privileges without a special treaty to that effect. During the years following the Revolutionary War, we had treaties with France, Prussia, and Holland only, so were commercially at a disadvantage. Among later triumphs, that of Commodore Perry in opening the ports of Japan in 1854 is notable. as in the case of the United States, it is due to the fact that we exchange our exports not only for imports but for transportation services, money expended by travelers, or investments abroad. See Gide, Political Economy, pp. 291-301. of foreign commerce. Waldron, Volume and The foreign commerce of the United States amounts to more than distribution three billions of dollars a year, the average excess of exports over imports being about five hundred million a year. About sixty per cent of the exports are agricultural and meat products,1 about one half of which are sold to a single country, Great Britain. Manufactures of iron and steel exported amount to about the same as the exports of grain and flour, and the market is expanding constantly. Our trade with Latin America is increasing as we send our Southern neighbors each year about three hundred millions, chiefly of manufactures, and buy from them large quantities of sugar, coffee, rubber, and other semitropical products. Nevertheless, South America, the Philippines, and eastern Asia still trade with Europe rather than with the United States. quan, 31 (1900), 499-504. World's Work, 16 (1908), 10,59710,606. Panama Canal. 234. Special Improvements and Laws. The interoceanic canal at the southern extremity of North America is the greatest of the undertakings of the United States government for the purpose of developing commerce. After a half History, §§ 439-442. Ashley, Am. century of effort, arrangements were completed in 1903 which permitted the construction of the canal under American auspices. Since that time, good progress has been made with the work under the direction of the War Department, and the canal will be open for commerce in a few years. Harbor Every year vast sums are spent in river and harbor improvements by deepening channels, building breakwaters, maintaining lighthouses, patrolling the coasts, and using other means to make navigation profitable as well as safe. 1 Our exports of raw cotton for the year ending June 30, 1906, were $401,005,921, of live stock or meat products $251,376,410, and of grain and flour $166,161,160. One of the Rivers that are used for foreign commerce have been made Gage, L. J., in Cosmo- 358–365. Many governments grant subsidies or bounties to exporters for some Subsidies kinds of agricultural or manufactured products shipped abroad. For on exports example, Germany gives a bounty one third of a cent a pound upon all beet sugar exported. The United States has never used this artificial means of stimulating trade. Rev. of Revs., 21 (1900), 321-328. At the beginning of our history under the Constitution, Congress Navigation passed several navigation acts. These were intended to aid ship-build- acts. ers and commerce. They provided that no American could purchase ships abroad, neither could any American ship be owned in part by a foreigner. Foreign vessels were not allowed to compete in the coasting trade. They have been modified recently so that Americans may purchase ships abroad. Bills have also been proposed for subsidizing American ships, but the only ship subsidies ever granted by the United States were to two lines many years ago, and they were temporary. At the present time less than ten per cent of our foreign commerce is carried in American vessels, a fact which is objectionable to our national pride. 235. The Consular Service. Practice of Diplomacy, 216-220. We have representatives in Classes of all important foreign cities who look after American com- consuls. mercial interests, endeavoring to promote our foreign commerce. There are three important classes of these consuls. Foster, First, there are the consuls general, who are assigned to the largest cities, and have general supervision of the consuls near them, besides special charge of their own districts. The second class includes the ordinary consuls, who devote all of their time to the duties of their positions, and the third is made up of residents in small cities, who look after American interests while continuing their regular business. The duties of consuls are varied and exacting. They are Duties. obliged to report to the Department of State, giving infor Osborne, J. tic Mo., Selection. Williams, C. A., in World Fassett, J.S., Protective tariff. Ashley, Gide, Pol. mation concerning the amount of foreign commerce within their districts, including the character of the imports and the destination of the exports. They look after American merchants abroad who may need their services, take charge of invoices of goods shipped to the United States, aid travelers, and send special reports on subjects which any American citizen wishes to investigate. Among semibarbarous peoples, cases affecting citizens of the United States are tried in consular courts, because of the imperfect administration of justice in those of the country. During most of our history we were accustomed to change all consuls and consuls general with the incoming of an administration in Washington. This system of political appointment, of course, injured the service. The best of men cannot do satisfactory work for the first year or two in a position where the language and conditions are entirely unknown. When the tenure is brief, because a consulship is given solely as a reward for partisan favors, the result is disastrous. The reform of the worst evils of the consular system has been accomplished by granting larger pay, by training men for the service, by making appointments for fitness, and promotions for proved ability. 236. Tariff Restrictions. The right to impose duties upon imports was conferred upon Congress for the purpose of obtaining revenue, but, especially since the Civil War, it has been used quite as much to benefit industry within the United States as to gain money for carrying on the work of the government. In other words, our tariff now is, and for a long time has been, distinctively "protective." The custom 1 The effect of this "protection " has been to stimulate manufacturing to such a wonderful degree that in 1900 the value of our manufactured products was seven times as great as in 1860, although our population had but little more than doubled during the same period. The restraint upon foreign commerce exercised by the tariff and other causes is seen when we compare our imports with our exports, the former having been but seventytwo per cent of the latter during the year ending June 30, 1906, leaving a "balance of trade in our favor of nearly $500,000,000 in a total commerce of three billions. |