13, 1900. With Portugal 32 in return for the concessions of the act, we received duties as low as those accorded to any other country (except Spain and Brazil) upon all flour (except wheat flour), agricultural implements, general machinery, mineral oils and pitch. It was further specified that the duties on these articles should, under no circumstances, exceed certain specified maximums. By an additional article, it was undertaken that, in case the United States should, at any time, impose a duty upon crude cork or coffee, or should give more favorable treatment to the concessionary articles when imported from some other country than from Portugal, the latter country should have the right to terminate the treaty upon three months notification. With Italy, a treaty was negotiated and put into effect July 18, 1900,33 by which in return for the usual concessions we gained free admission to that country for turpentine, natural fertilizers and hides and skins, while we received material reductions in duty upon our cotton seed oil, preserved fish, agricutural machinery, scientific instruments, sewing machines and electrical machines.

In addition to the treaties already described, it is customary also to enumerate as one of the results of the Dingley Act, a so-called treaty with Switzerland. No agreement had been negotiated with that country, and the acceptance of reciprocity relations with it, if such they could be called, was a curious diplomatic incident. After the Dingley Act had been passed, the claim was made by Switzerland that a treaty of commerce signed with the United States November 25, 1850, entitled her products to the same rates as those of France, under the reciprocity treaty with the latter country. As we have seen, the French reciprocity treaty had gone into effect June 1, 1898. The claim of Switzerland was acknowledged by the Secretary of State, and a ruling in accordance therewith was issued by the Secretary of the Treasury to customs officers.

32 Ibid., pp. 1974-75.

38 Ibid., pp. 1979-80.

In March, 1900, however, these clauses of the old treaty of 1850 were renounced by the United States, and Swiss products were charged the same duties as those of other countries.34

It may be considered somewhat strange that we had thus, in the case of Switzerland, receded from our traditional attitude in regard to the most favored nation clause as it had been laid down by a long line of statesmen. This was due to the

34 The clauses of the treaty of 1850, to which reference is made above, are found in the Convention of Friendship, Commerce and Extradition with Switzerland, concluded November 25, 1850, and proclaimed November 9, 1855. ("Treaties and Conventions of United States, 1776-1887," Washington, 1889, p. 1075.) They read as follows:

"Art. VIII. In all that relates to the importation, exportation, and transit of their respective products, the United States of America and the Swiss Confederation shall treat each other, reciprocally, as the most-favored-nation, union of nations, State, or society, as is explained in the following articles.

"Art. IX. Neither of the contracting parties shall impose any higher or other duties upon the importation, exportation, or transit of the natural or industrial products of the other, than are or shall be payable upon the like articles, being the produce of any other country, not embraced within its present limits.

"Art. X. In order the more effectually to attain the object contemplated in Article VIII., each of the contracting parties hereby engages not to grant any favor in commerce to any nation, union of nations, State, or society, which shall not immediately be enjoyed by the other party.

"Art. XI. Should one of the contracting parties impose differential duties upon the products of any nation, the other party shall be at liberty to determine the manner of establishing the origin of its own products, destined to enter the country by which the differential duties are imposed.'

Secretary Gage promulgated the news of the concessions to Swiss products in the following circular (T. D. 20,386) under date of December 5, 1898: "To collectors and other officers of the Customs:

"This Department having been advised by the Secretary of State that it was understood by the contracting parties that Articles VIII. to XII. of the treaty, dated November 25, 1850, between Switzerland and the United States secured to the products of the respective nations the benefit of the lowest rates of duty which either should thereafter grant, by treaty or otherwise, to any other country, you are hereby authorized and directed to impose and collect on the products of Swit zerland exported to the United States from that country, similar to those enumer ated in the reciprocal commercial arrangements made with France and proclaimed on May 30, 1898, in pursuance of section 3 of the tariff act of July 24, 1897, the rates of duty imposed and collected on such merchandise imported from France under said reciprocal arrangement.

"All entries of such products imported from Switzerland on and after June 1, 1898, which have been otherwise liquidated, will be reliquidated in accordance with the above ruling."

Assistant Secretary Spaulding, in 1900, terminated the treaty by the following circular (T. D. 22092):

"To collectors and other officers of the customs:

"This Department had been advised, under date of the 16th instant, by the Secretary of State, that the concessions made to France in the reciprocal commercial arrangement of May 28, 1898, under section 3 of the tariff act of July 24, 1897, will cease on March 23, 1900, to be applicable to like articles of Swiss origin, in consequence of the denunciation by the United States of the clauses in the treaty of 1850 with Switzerland, which secured to the products of the respective nations the benefit of the lowest rates of duty which either should thereafter grant, by treaty or otherwise, to any other country. You are therefore hereby authorized to assess regular duties on merchandise imported from Switzerland on and after March 24, 1900-i.c., the rates of duty which were imposed and collected on such importations prior to the Department's decision of December 5, 1898 (T. D. 20386). which is revoked accordingly."

peculiar wording of the favored nation clause as contained in the original Swiss treaties, which practically compelled us to grant the concessions demanded. As already shown in Chapter I, there are different forms of the favored nation clause, and the interpretation to be given that clause must depend in a measure upon the wording it contains.

On the treaties whose negotiation has thus been described, our judgment of Dingley reciprocity must ultimately rest, for no others were ever negotiated under it. In the following chart the course of trade (exports and imports) between the United States and the reciprocity countries has been traced. In the case of Switzerland it should be noted that the exceedingly small figures for exports, as compared with imports, are to be attributed to the fact that the statistics here used are based on the returns of the Treasury Bureau of Statistics at Washington, which acknowledges that it classifies exports to Switzerland passing in bond through France, as exports to France, so that the line representing Swiss exports on the accompanying chart cannot be considered representative.

Turning our attention to the French treaty which, as well as that with Switzerland, were the first to go into effect (June 1, 1898) it appears that from 1895 to 1902 there was a distinct and continuous growth in our imports, while, as regards exports, there has been at times a much larger increase followed by a similarly heavy falling off. All in all, however, the gross increase in our exports to France is as large as, or larger than the increase in our gross imports from that country. Imports were $61,580,509 in 1895, $67,530,231 in 1897, suffered a slight falling off in 1898, when they were only $52,730,848, and thereafter recovered rapidly, reaching $75,458,739 in 1901, and $82,880,036 in 1902. Exports rose from $45,149,137 to $95,459,290 in 1898, but declined heavily in 1899 to $60,596,899. They later recovered, reaching $71512,984 in 1902, though they had in the meantime gone even higher and then suffered a slight setback. In the case