COMMERCIAL ITEMS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 79, 28 December 1918, Page 10

COMMERCIAL ITEMS

' Customß duties collected at tho port of Wellington yesterday amounted to £408 10a. 9d. !■ BSITISH TREASURY NOTES. ' Treasury notes were first issued by Hβ British Government at the time of the jrisie in August, 1914, -when the public and some of the banke "were hoarding gold. Fhe only form of lecal tender pappr then wa-s t,he Bank of England note, -which, was Dot iesued in denominations of less than £5. This new kind of paper currency constitutes the flret occasion in ite history when tho British Government made a free iieo of tho printing-press on its own account. No explanation has ever been jiven'why tho work was not entrusted to ihe Bank of England, which could have handled it -with perfect ease, as restrictions on its powers to issue notes had been suspended. It ie elated that originally Treasury notes were meant only to pe an advance to tho banks, but tho act jras very hastily drafted. To eave in;erest tho banke .paid for the currency £1 ind 10s. notes by a- draft on their credit balance with the Bank of England, and that was the means of incrcasitiß the isane without limit. The amount of notes and ;ertiflcates outstanding at the end. of September waa £273,000,000 approximately, and the redemption account showed gold £28,500,000. the balance being represented by Government securities. These increases in legal tender currency, states tho "Economist," have unquestionably beon an important couee of the rise of prices. ; -TARIFFS AFTER TIE WAR. ! Tho New York correspondent of the ''Daily Express" writes:— "Bcporte aro joining ba«k to America from London that freo-trado advocates aro spreading a fable ittributjpß resentment to the ' United

States because of the possibility that Great Britain will adopt a protectorate tariff after the -war.

"Nothing ia further from the (■'iourlils o£ Americans than a desire to interfere in tho slightest decree with tho fiscal systoniß of other countries. America, will not bo a- free-trade nation after tho war, and Americans will not put tboniEOlveain tho ridiculous .position of seeking to influence fundamental tariff legislation in other countries. That is not tho American way. Of course,- the United States ■will throw its inllucnco in favour of a joint policy by the leading Powers for the maintenance of peace; but. Americans in tnj-inass do not believe world peace would bo. furthered if the United States, in company with the reet of the world, were to become free-trade after the, war. "The demands of revenue alone will bo. sufficient to koop the American tariff at its present level at least. , Instead of decreases in tho schedules, it may well happen that certain ratOH will bo rained when the annual budgets have to be made up in the coming years of peace. Apart from tho revenue question, there ib no indication fli all that the niaes of Americans are turning' from .protection aa an economic policy to wolcome- Cobdcniem. "American Labour wants no intcrven. tion of the protection it .now enjoys. There is no question that tho Central Powers after the war would welcome a general policy of free trade on the .part of the Allies as in tho nature of a. victory. Americano have no intention of permitting German-made goods to flood their home markets. Tho only way to k'cep the German manufacturers out is by means of a, tariff, and it ia absolutely certain tha*. America, will do this. "A freo exchange of goods anions the Allies after the -war haa theoretical advantages, but it has also disadvantages, which Americans do" not hesitate to point out."