 His time in the Senate allowed Blaine to develop his foreign policy ideas . He advocated expansion of the American navy and merchant marine , which had been in decline since the Civil War . Blaine also bitterly opposed the results of the arbitration with Great Britain over American fishermen 's right to fish in Canadian waters , which resulted in a $ 5 @.@ 5 million award to Britain . Blaine 's Anglophobia combined with his support of high tariffs when he initially opposed a reciprocity treaty with Canada that would have reduced tariffs between the two nations , but by the end of his time in the Senate he changed his mind , believing that Americans had more to gain by increasing exports than they would lose by the risk of cheap imports . 
