Mr. Reid to Mr. Blaine.
Paris, June 28, 1889. (Received July 8.)
Sir: With reference to your dispatch No. 16 of June 11, transmitting a copy of resolutions adopted by the board of trade of Chicago as to the prohibition by Germany and France of the importation of American hog products, and instructing me to seize an early opportunity for recalling the attention of the French Government to the subject, I beg leave to suggest that any steps taken in this direction at this moment would seem inopportune.
As has been seen in the correspondence of my predecessor, it is no longer contended that the importation of American pork is prohibited in France on sanitary grounds. The French Government is not opposed to the removal of the prohibition. On the contrary it rather favors it and has tried to secure it not only to comply with our wishes, but also with a view of favoring the laboring classes for whom American hog products would furnish a cheap food. But it could not be expected to press a measure of this kind at a moment when its own existence is involved in the result of the pending legislative election. The exhibition, the trial of General Boulanger, and the preparation for the new elections engage all its attention.
For these reasons I respectfully suggest that any action having in view the removal of the prohibition of American pork be delayed until after the new chamber is elected in the autumn.
I have, etc.,