t by
repeated rebuffs.

Meanwhile protectionist sentiment had grown stronger in Canada. The
opening of the West had given an expanding market for eastern factories
and had seemingly justified the National Policy. The Liberals, the
traditional upholders of freer trade, after some initial redemptions
of their pledges, had compromised with the manufacturing interests. The
Conservatives, still more protectionist in temper, voiced in Parliament
little criticism of this policy, and the free trade elements among
the farmers were as yet unorganized and inarticulate. Signs of this
protectionist revival, which had in it, as in the seventies, an element
of nationalism, were many. A four-story tariff was erected. The lowest
rates were those granted the United Kingdom; then came the intermediate
tariff, for the products of countries giving Canada special terms; next
the general tariff; and, finally, the surtax for use against powers
discriminating in any special degree against the Dominion. The provinces
one by one forbade the export of pulp wood cut on Crown Lands, in
order to assure its manufacture into wood pulp or paper in Canada. The
Dominion in 1907 secured the abrogation of the postal convention
made with the United States in 1875 providing for the reciprocal free
distribution of second class mail matter originating in the other
country. This step was taken at the instance of Canadian manufacturers,
alarmed at the effect of the advertising pages of United States
magazines in directing trade across the line. Yet even with such
developments, the Canadian tariff remained lower than its neighbor's.

In the United States the tendency was in the other direction. With the
growth of cities, the interests of the consumers of foods outweighed the
influence of the producers. Manufacturers in many cases had reached the
export stage, where foreign markets, cheap food, and cheap raw materials
were more necessary than a protected home market. The "muckrakers" were
at the height of their activity; and the tariff, as one instrument of
corruption and privilege, was suffering with the popular condemnation
of all big interests. United States newspapers were eager for free wood
pulp and cheaper paper, just as Canadian newspapers defended the policy
of checking export. It was not surprising, therefore, that reciprocity
with Canada, as one means of increasing trade and reducing the tariff,
took on new popularity. New England was the chief seat of