PREFERENTIAL TRADE.

Evening Star, Issue 11892, 21 May 1903, Page 4

PREFERENTIAL TRADE.

THE 'AGE'S' VIEW. JPxoh Association—By Telegraph—Copyright MELBOURNE, May 2L (Rewired May 21, at J2.35 p.m.) . The 'Age' says: "The Australian are not.likely to be moved by Mr Chamberlain's speech to the came degree of en-' thusiasm as the' Canadians. We view this preferential policy «ery cautiously, almostindifferently. So far as i her* has been any endorsement, it has been more for the solidarity of. the Empire an,d the benektof England than from any idea of reaping a great advantage from it ourselves. No one' in Australia would -dream of altering our tariff to give English exports a preference in pur own markets while the Mother. Country maintains her present attitude of stolid indifference to Imperial reciprocity. But a very different feeling might be generated with the • suddenness of an electric spark were the English statesman, to make a definite proposal for reciprocity. What we might do, and that quite willingly, would be to increase our duties so as to exclude all but imports from Great Britain. But Freetrade within the Empire, if Mr Chamberlain favors it, is, for the present, only a dream.' Australia has her own industrial development to look after,. and not even the sentiment of Imperial reciprocity would induce our people to depart from this principle. Consistently with that, Australia would be delighted, whenever Great Britain seriously wishes it> to negotiate a scheme for fiscal preference to the Mother Country."