The Dominion. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1909. COMMERCE AND PREFERENCE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 622, 27 September 1909, Page 6

The Dominion. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1909. COMMERCE AND PREFERENCE.

.With the projected visit to'this country of the British-delegates to the Congress of Chambers, of Commerce we are likely to hear a good deal about preference. At the Congress held in Loridbn'in 1906 a resolution was passed favouringpreferoncc, concluding with- the' statement' that- the Empire .woujd thereby be "largely freed from. ~dependence on foreign countries for food and other supplies," A proforenco. resolution was carried at the Sydney Conference a few days .ago.. Wo touched on' one.aspect''of thp'.lquestibn..'at thc':.t|m'o,:■:■ that'was the propor .attitude pf the different parts of tho/Empiro'toward3 loach-, othor in this important matter. Unquestionably, there,are a,. great number, of pooplo who bolieve' in giving preferential treatment to the*. United Kingdom'.without any, regard to a 'quid pro quo, 'placing -as a set-off to .this preference the fact that Britain admits Now Zealand products frebly,.and oxterids her protection to; the Dominion.' "But there are .bt-hbrs who consider'.that the -Mother Country ■ should in -return- for proforential treatment accord, a like.favour to : .\tho oversea Dominions .by;imposing a.tax on fproign goods.-,. Sotting aside tho quostion of.thei impropriety tinder existing-condi-tions of attpmptin'g to 'force.the' Mother Country ...in any given direction must bo.regarded as a matter of domestic policy, {'it;,. I|t' - important, tbbwholo^qubstiohrto'carefully'analyso the. commerce' of, thc'ErapiriJ! l ';'; We "give bolpw, a summary of tho Empire's, trade iii, 1907,.complete figures for last'year not being, available.' •. From' the totals "of' oxports tho. prqeiofls'metals and;precious stones-arb oxcluded from tho roturns of the, 'United Kingdom' and somo' others, but' not from those .-.pi :■ Australia and South Africa, where gold is an important •prbdiict pf,'tho ; ;,country-.it6e1(. : ,-,- : The'figure's are' as' under/th6so : in'tho'first threo columns rcprcsonting.millions, and round figures boing uEed.for,«ipivy«nienco:'T-■■'''lMPdßi:S'-pF:TaE;EMPiBB-iN 1907; •

Total Empire : 178 ;: 206 532. .917,250,000 It will, bo soon from tho above.figurcs that iri .1907 tho. United Kingdom -imported £488,000,000 worth of goods from foreign countries,.and it'may be .asked why? Tho obvious answer js that tho colonies could not supply tho goods, and this can'bc readily understood. Take the case of butter alone, and for the year ended Juno 30, 1909, out : of, a .total of 4,201,359cwt. jniportod into the 1 United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and' Now Zealand together . contributed 634,710cwt.,, or '= just about 15 per cent. For England to placo a duty on the foreign article is in this case to tax* her own poople that.a'.comparativoly small number of dairymen ; inthfcjEmpire.might bonefit v . Then tako'tho case ol wool. The.production.of this-cora-mptUty/is greatly jp. excessof,thqrcquireraents of the Empire, arid a' preferential duty'would be of no practical.value,and, furthermore, ' { -' urile'Bs" ' 'pi efereuce' ; is *■ inteMed to raaka • the independent in regard to buying- and selling, .which! is a .line,ideal, such a commodity as wool, which; produced', W excess of • the .. requirements of; the 'Empire, could ; be used as a 'rod for pun'jshjng tho produce'rsiof that'commodity. Germany, ; France,' and the.United states are large consumors<of colonial wbql; and if; these countries !imppß6(i .a high tariff which checked imports the' wool-growers would feel tho pinch irhmediately. , .. '

It'is,' of course, riot intended by-those wha favour 'preferential,. tariff that ' a duty 'should bo imposed on' all commodities, but; only on such commodities as cbmeunto direct competition with' the products of foreign countries. Adhiittirig this -to bo a fair and reasonable proposition, then arises-the question af to tho amount of such duty, 'or; as' one writer state's it, the* measure of tariff power. The.preferential tariff, if it is imposed, will bo for a special object. An ongineer can trill:withsomo approach to accuracy thb amount of hbrsb-powor required to'dp a given amount of work, but can tho promoters arid advocates of tariff preference furnish any estimate of the.duty or tariff power requirod to effect' thoir purpbso'? After years,of protection in the United Statoß, ths manufacturers there aro wantUs "tCLort Jrotockioa't "and' tbi wine "'"ap;

plies to countries where duties havo beon 'iraposod to oncourago local industry. The basic law of commerce is to buy in the oheaposb market and sell in tho dearest— it is natural law, and the more it is tampered with the greater the complications. Pioforcnco within the Empiro may some day be an accomplished fact, but the majority of those who advocate tho cause aro not fully cognisant of tho difficulties first to be ovcrcoino. ■«*•■•.

' -al ■v : -Sd'"'§J ■■' "I a|f: sul sis. vsl T . ,,-.,■ "■' ■•£■.:■■" & ■£ - J5 ' United \ Kingdom —' 157 488 645,808,000 Australia ... .... 31 .6 -,J3,k 51,809.000 ',■:■+■ - : 2, > ;17 S S03,000 Canada ■',' r...„ la 3 53" 76,200,000' South iXI ijcu.,, i.v ■ 18 .: ■., "4 ■■■ ' .f*i..| 28,267,000 West. Afnca ., 5. . Wr a . j Wwtlndies'' .... S.foayi , .4, ,9,108,000 AU other :-* : ... U • g9, 21 ,'62,?99,0b0 Totaj-Empire' 170 221 625 1,023,963,000 v i EXPORTS OF THE EMPIRE IN 1007. '- : ''' : Isj "■■'*'' 'M '■ ' ' ■■ jl |-s Jb -J ■:' sg-.-gB S3 ■££ -. . ' JB . .£ 4 .£ United '.Kingdom:—, 447 370. 517,977,000 India ........ 32 31'1 .71 125,957,000 Australia- ... 33 . 13- v 25 72,824,000 New Zealand ' ... 10 2 9-lOth 20,069,000 Canada ';.'; .... 27 . 2 2? 57,557,000South 'Africa ... 46 .' ' l-5th 2 48,391,000 Wost Africa ... 4 ■ l-3rd 3 ' 8,084,000 West Indies ■ .... 2 (say).l' '6 ' 8,557,000 All other .., 15 17- 24 ■ '57,834,000