The Dominion. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1909. THE TARIFF REFORM PROGRAMME

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 686, 10 December 1909, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1909. THE TARIFF REFORM PROGRAMME

r ,THKBE is doubtless a good deal more than intelligent newspaper conjecture in the Birmingham Post's forecast, printed in our cable columns yesterday, of the tariff:that will;be' introduced by 'the Unionists if. the/.Liberal Government is beaten at,the polls. The Tost is known to be the .official organ of Mβ. Chambek.l*in, so far as he can have an official newspaper, and its forecast. may therefore be aicepted as an unofficial but correct statement of i the Tariff Beform programmo.' Tho proposal is that raw material siall be entirely excluded from ;the general tariff that is contemplated, and 'that the dutiable goods shall consist of .threo": classes : of manufactured goods', according'to the state ■ of- manufacture, i.e., goods; upon which little labour has been expended, .goods' imported' in '.■'■ a nearly finished state,' and goods imported lin ■ a completely .manufactured state. On these, goods, there will be maximum duties of; 6 per cent;, .10 per cent.,vand 15 per I cent, respectively—a graduation in strict accord; with the Protectionist 'principle, though of course a graduation mild or severe as the viewpoint is extremely or conservatively In ■ addition, a duty of ■ 2s. a quarter, on foreign corn is contemplated,: a substantial rebate being allowed in.tho case of Empire-, grbwfl-.'corn. .Finally; it is'; expected that .this; programme will yield. a rovenue of between sixteen and twonty millions sterling perianrium. ; . -j'- ' ' : .-. ■'.

.No figures of any authoritative character are available—such multitudes of tables have appeared in-the last 6i years that we-cannot' say that.no figures of any sortarc available—which mako possible',the division of the ; last, year's, import:;figures'■.into tho.'three: classes -.-re-" .fcrre<l; to above. The -figures, for .1908 showed a fall compared .with 1907,' but with : reviving trade we:'• may . take the. 1907 .figures' as.representing.those, upon which a Unionist Government would :have to base its' calculations. 'The imports into the United Kingdom for the year 1907 are thus summarised: '.

■■■'■:.... , .. - '.'.;■;...■ .:'..::•-■ J* ■' ' ' Food, drink, and tobacco ...„..„.;.,.. 247 290 596 Kaw materials and articles mainly ' = unmanufactured ...;.......;......;..... 241,594172 Articles .wholly., or,.mainly manu- • . ■■ , factured-"' ; '........'.;......„... ...„■, 154558991 Miscellaneous (including Parcel Post) 2*364^163

■ ■■■;'■''.'■.•';.; '■■. '■■;/■ ;;'■".;;..■. ■ A duty of ;i5 per cent. on. the" articles wholly-:-.<»' mainly manufactured would yield £23,183,848, a duty of -10 per cent, •would,, yield £15,455,899,' and a duty of 5 per cent. £7,727,949. The average import .of ~: , wheat /and flour is .about :115,000,000cwt., of which about 75,000,000 ;cwti.' come from countries outside the Empire. A duty of 2s, a quarter, on the foreign product would "amount to £1j750,000. - Since the total revenue expected from the new tariff is 'between sixteen and twenty millions sterling, it would appear that the average duty oh goods will be slightly over 10 per cent. The total yield is expected to be\about the,'. same as , the amount which. Me. Lloyd-Geokqe proposes to raise by direct taxation, but it.is little use discussing the :rival advantages of direct and indirect lovies, since thait is certainly the very .last question that will be considered by the contending parties at Home. : If a tariff must be introduced—a question; that we do not intend to discussthere are many-reasons why it should bo as simple as possible. The'.Birmingham Post gives as the reason' why .."multifarious" rates of duty are- not contemplated, the fact that these would "throw open tho door to Parliamentary intriguo and lobbying." It is very satisfactory that the lesson of the recent" American tariff has been learned by! tho British Tariff Roformors. The scandalous,'.intrigues and brazen trickery,' that went .to the making of the new ischodules - in America were exposed very fully in tho low-tariff journals ■ of • America, and Britain is naturally extremely; anxious that her; public life "shall not beroroc corrupted,,: At.the, same time thero is room ipr:',log.r6Uii^: : .eribugh--ia'..;tha classifica-

tion of the goods according to the stale of manufacture. There will be many interests _ deeply concerned in tho goods that will bo very near to the border line between the 5 per cent, and 10 per cent, class, and between tho 10 per cent, and 15 per cent, class. By an interesting coincidence yesterday's cable news contained the substance of an interview with Sip. Albert Spiceii on his observations in Australasia as a delegate to tho Congress of Chambers of Commerce. Hβ fully confirmed what so many careful observers have said upon the conscrvatism_of British methods. . He noted that British trade suffers through "want of open-mindedness" in the British vendor. There is nothing new in this; it is pretty well established that British trade could Ik greatly expanded if British soundness were backed up by the vigour and attention to the wishes of the overseas buyer that enable America to spread her goods more widely than they sometimee doserve.