The Imperial Fiscal Question.

Southland Times, Issue 19133, 25 August 1903, Page 2

The Imperial Fiscal Question.

; » ' ' ■' - .»• THE PROBLEM. EXPERIENCE IN FRANCE. Per United Press Association. By Electric Telegraph.— Copyright. OTTAWA, Aug. 23. Speaking at the Imperial Commercial Congress banquet at Montreal, Lord Brassey said the .problem for Britain was whether it was possible; by adding some taxes and removing others, to maintain the revenue of the Motherland and do something advantageous to our dominion, without increasing the cost .of living. Sir Wilfred' Laurier said the. Motherland and colonies : equiEilly_loa;tned the idea of abandoning the systems under which they. had prospered immensely. He did not agree with -the Duke of Devonshire's suggestion of the 20th July, that preference could only be secured by something in the nature of bargain. "If," continued Sir VV. Laurier, "concession depended on giving an equivalent, and involved the surrender pf some oplitical rights, it would be an evil thing if the colonies consented to relinquish any legislative independence." LONDON, Aug. 23./ '- Sir Edmund Monson, British Ambassador in Paris, has prepared: an official return showing that higher duties on food in France since 1892 had not affected prices. Beef had dropped a faxthing per itji, and mutton and bread' were stationary;' The extra duties fall on the producers, and wages show a steady' increase. The Executive Committee of North and North-East Lancashire Cotton Spinners' and Manufacturers' Association haye resolved, before judging the fiscal pi i d^s*alsV'''to''riefer'''Uie.inat''' ter to local associations. LONDON, Aug. 124. BIRMINGHAM'S VOICE. Received 25th, 0.56 a.m. In a Birmingham Tariff Committee's leaflet, the speakers declare that Mi' Chamberlaih f s plan begins .with the establishment of an Imperial federation as the only possible foundation of a fiscal union: and commercial reciprocity ; arms Britain with the means of securing better treatment for * her manufactures abroad, t»nd stimulates colonial farming. .