INTBODUCTION 



WE have recently been called a nation of Yankee 

 traders. This compliment, although not so in- 

 tended, classifies us among the most highly civilized na- 

 tions, which are those that excel in commerce, and signal- 

 izes our need of foreign markets. 



The great nations of Europe are apportioning the terri- 

 tories of weaker peoples among themselves for the purpose 

 of monopolizing their trade. Whether the United States 

 is to enter into such operations or not, we cannot say, nor 

 is it the purpose of this book to discuss the question. Our 

 future prosperity as a nation depends largely on the 

 equality of terms upon which our products can obtain 

 market abroad. Every square mile fenced in by tariff 

 laws of prohibitive nations is our commercial loss ; every 

 one opened is our gain. It was Spain's attempt to divert 

 the trade of Cuba from its natural channels by discrimi- 

 native duties that fomented the discord leading to the 

 present war; it was the protective barrier placed by us 

 against the sugar of the West Indian Islands which almost 

 paralyzed them. 



We are not only a nation of traders, but we are a nation 

 of Yankee tinkers, and it is our scientific expertness in 

 developing natural resources, in increasing the productive 

 labor of the individual, and in quickening transportation, 

 that has enabled us to develop wildernesses and to revive 

 countries which have grown old in conservative ways. 

 Our methods of industrial development are scientific, and 



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