The Press. THURSDAY, "MAY 21. 1903. MR, CHAMBERLAIN'S PROPOSAL.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11589, 21 May 1903, Page 4

The Press. THURSDAY, "MAY 21. 1903. MR, CHAMBERLAIN'S PROPOSAL.

We observe that at Mr Ell's- "social"' la.v. night tho Hon. Sir Joseph Ward strongly supported Mr t'hambei'ain's proposal us to preferential tariffs between the Mtxher Countty and the c.-.donk.i, while Mr T. 11. Taylor opposed it. It, is a subject which is run- to cam: a diiference of opinion. The chief objection that we see is the practical difficulty of carrying it into effect, rather than any great question of principle. It Ls not vj* if v.v had free trade within the Empire, and it was tiropojcd to' abolish it in favour of protection. Practically all the colonies have fi'-t tip a wall of protection against- the Mother Country as well as against the rest of the world. It is in this respect that America hns s_ch a great advantage. It is true that a ring fence has be.en set up around tho Continent, but- there Ls no prohibitive tariff as between the different States, and the country in go "arge, it* dictate and soil, and conse.-j_fr.tly its products, arc so diversified, that in the freedom of interchange- between it<s constituent States it «.-njoys very nearly all the advanof complete free trade. If the British Empire were federal-:.-, with f;ce trade •Ti.bin it* borders, and protection against the out-ide world, it would be in an analogcus position. _Co doubt most of its wants

could be supplied from within its own boundaries. There are two great -tumbling blocks in the W3V of carrying out such a proposal. The first is the difficulty, if not absolute impossibility, of devising a tariff which -would fiuit. the varying circumstance? of all the different portions of this great Empire. The second difficulty lk« in the fact that by far the largest proportion of the raw material and food products consumed in the United Kingdom is derived from foreign countries, and if the exports from ihe latter are to be excluded or appreciably lessened, their price would be increased. Th? manufacturing supremacy of England is built up on cheap food and cheap raw material, so that in artificial!- raising ths prise of these two prime necessities, England, instead of benefiting herself might really b; cutting licr own throat. There is abo a grave political difficulty confronting the f'overEincnt in tho circumstance that any proprsa! which would have the effort of making f'.od dear is certain to arotife the district aud hostility of tiie -working classes. Even the. trilling registration duiy 011 irun was made a weapon of attack aanir-sfc the Government, in the Woolwich flection, a -.forking class constituency, for! which a labour candidate was elected. So far aa the colonies are concerned tho difficulty of adopting the scheme is not nearly so great an in the case of the Mother Country. Canada has already adopted the principle. Neither Australia nor New Zealand could afford any diminution of Customs revenue, but could give substantial preference to English good? by raising the duty on foreign articles, -whileretaining the present duties on Brit it h products. The same thing may be said of South Africa, where- the gold industry and tlis revenue derivable therefrom would enable greater liberties to be taken with ths Custom* 1 'iutias than Ls possible here or in Australia. We faX t<< see how the New Zealand working man would be injured for the lx-ne-Jit of the. English manufacturer, as Mr T. E. Taylor averts, by th? mere proecs of raising tho duty on got;ds of foreign make, seeing that the great hulk of our imparts come from England as it is. But what preference can ihe Mother Country give us? Will the English rr-.ar.'.'.fficturers submit to a duty on foreign grown wool, or will the working clnsr.es bo content to pay a halfpenny or a pinny a pound more for their frozen meat, their bulU-r, or their cheese? This is the crux of ;t_e situation, as -it Reams to _s, and we shall be interested to know how Mr Chamberlain proposes to get- over the difficulty. The: sentiment of the Empire is with him. Tiie departure from theoretical principles is hardly wider than that involved in the> preferential treaty with France which Cobde„, the founder of freetrade, negotiated in 1860. The practical difficulties of carrying the .proposal into effect, however, seem to us to ba very great.