29 in the House of Commons, but the Lords threw it out, and a general election followed in January, 1910. The Unionists in this election accepted tariff reform as an issue, but the Liberals were returned, although with a majority substantially less than that they had gained in their tremendous victory in 1906. The two Houses again failed to come to an agreement, however, and in December, 1910. the Liberals once more appealed to the people in a general election in which tariff reform was made an important issue by the Liberal The Unionists, however, feared that this issue endangered their chances of success in the election. Balfour, therefore, declared that the election did not turn on the question of tariff reform and agreed to submit the question to a popular referendum for decision if his party should be returned to power. The Liberals were again reelected. with almost precisely the same majority as in the previous election In November, 1911, Mr. Balfour resigned the leadership of the Unionists. At the same time, Mr. Austen Chamberlain, a son of Joseph Chamberlain and one of the leaders of the party, abandoned the referendum policy. "Tariff reform," he declared, "is now part and parcel of conservatism, without need of further mandate, sanction or approbation. The moment the Unionist Party are returned to power they will set about converting their tariff-reform propaganda. their principles of imperial preference, and of fair and equal treatment for their own people, into a statutory form." 30 Mr. Bonar Law was chosen to succeed Mr. Balfour as leader of the Unionist Party In December, 1911, Mr. Austen Chamberlain declared that the Unionists proposed to levy taxes on foreign foodstuffs and manufactures with reductions or remissions of duty on colonial product But a few days later Mr. Bonar Law said that his party if returned to office would call a conference of the Dominions, and only if they requested it would the Government impose taxes on food. I Canada there was resentment against this attempt to shift upon the colonies the responsibility of deciding the domestic fiscal policy of the mother country. In November, 1912, the Unionist Party definitely abandoned the referendum policy, and committed itself without reservations to tariff reform, including taxes on foodstuffs. There resulted some opposition from the free-trade wing of the party. In order to maintain the unity of the party, most of the Unionist members in the House of Commons pledged themselves to a tariff on manufactures with preference to the colonies, and left the question of food taxes to future decision, in consultation with the colonies. This compromise on the question of food taxes was to the more enthusiastic tariff reformers a severe blow. It was generally acknowledged that, without taxes on food, preference to colonial products could not be made of great value to the self-governing Dominions. THE IMPERIAL CONFERENCE OF 1911. In 1911 another conference of representatives of Great Britain and the colonies was held in London. In conformity with a resolution passed at the colonial conference of 1907 the title of "imperial con 29 Upon the resignation of Mr. Bonar Law in April, 1921, Mr. Austen Chamberlain was recognized as leader of the Unionist forces in the Coalition Government. 30 Cobden Club Pamphlet: A Decade of Tariff Fooling, p. 39. erence" was assumed. The British representatives at the conferce were determined not to permit a repetition of the "preference ebate" of 1907, and succeeded in keeping preference off the proram. The conference confined itself to the discussion of such maters as the improvement of cable services and of shipping facilities etween the various parts of the Empire. IV. SUMMARY. In the forties and fifties of the last century Great Britain adopted a horoughgoing free-trade policy. She abolished practically all her ustoms duties, including the preferential duties on colonial products, nd she opened to foreign vessels even the coasting trade of the United Kingdom. Until nearly the end of the nineteenth century he British held so firmly to free trade that they did not even accede o the desire of certain colonies to establish preferential tariffs in avor of British trade. None the less, from about 1880 the nationalstic and protectionist trend of world opinion began to manifest itself n the fiscal policies of the Dominions and in the political discussions of the mother country. The trend of opinion in Great Britain may be seen in two closely related phases-protection and imperial preference. The protectionist idea was dominant in the "fair trade" discussion of the eighties, but for a dozen years after the Ottawa conference of 1894 public attention was given rather to the imperial and preferential aspect of the fiscal question. But the agitation which Joseph Chamberlain initiated in 1903, with preference to the colonies as its main purpose, gradually developed into a movement for protection to British industries with preference to the colonies as an incidental feature, included largely because it gained for "tariff reform" adherents who could not be converted to protection for its own sake. Up to the outbreak of the war the preferential-protectionist movement in Great Britain had won only unimportant successes in the way of legislation or of political action. In that country practically all legislation proceeds from the cabinet representing the dominant. party, and tariff reform had not been adopted as part of the program of a dominant party, since the Conservatives adopted it only after their disastrous defeat of 1906. While the Conservatives were in power, from 1895 to 1905, they gave no formal approval to imperial preference, though the only tangible successes of the movement before 1914 were obtained at this time. They may be enumerated as follows: (1) In 1897 Great Britain denounced her treaties with Belgium and the Zollverein which had stood in the way of the establishing of preferential tariffs in the Dominions. (2) In 1898 and 1899 limitations upon the tariff rates upon British products were included in the charters of Rhodesia, and these later produced a differential tariff in that colony. (3) In 1902 Great Britain signed the Brussels sugar convention. This resulted in her paying a higher price for beet sugar, to the advantage of her colonies; but the convention pledged her to the policy of granting no preference upon sugars produced in her colonies. (4) In 1903, reversing the policy pursued for half a century, the British Government assented to the introduction of preferential tariffs in the Crown colonies in South Africa and of differential duties upon tin ore exported from the Federated Malay States. Indeed, the British Government seems to have been an active agent in establishing the preference in the South African customs union. It may be considered a fifth success of the preferential movement that the British Government threatened to retaliate in case Germany penalized the British Empire for the prefer ential tariff policies of the Dominions. But in this case, as in the four others, there was, in fact, no departure from the free-trade and nonpreferential tariff policy so long enforced in the United Kingdomunless the condemnation by the Brussels convention of bountied sugar be considered a departure from free-trade principles. Up to 1914, therefore, it may be said that the preferential-prote tionist movement in Great Britain had won the Government to the support of preferential tariffs in the colonies but had had no effe upon the tariff in force in the United Kingdom. Whatever tangit successes the movement had obtained were won while the Conserva tive Party was in power, but from the end of 1905 to the beginning of the war the Liberals were in control, and they were so hostile the they prevented even the discussion of the subject at the imperial conference in 1911. None the less the movement made distinct headway in these years and scored a notable success in that the Conservative Party committed itself definitely to "tariff reform. though it left the scope of the promised reform uncertain. (Bibliography on page 832.) VII. Other preferential provisions-Con. "Bona fide" British products.. Preferential aspects of the Canadian Effect of direct shipment on entrepôt Sections of the customs act establish ing a preference on imports from Great Britain.. VIII. Most-favored-nation treaties and Cana- The position of Canada with respect to The right of separate adherence... The right of separate withdrawal. Treaties especially on Canada's behalf. Countries entitled to most-favored-nation treatment in Canada.. IX. Summary................. Pare The Dominion of Canada, because of the character of its population and because of its proximity and of the volume of its trade, is of much greater importance to the United States than any other Dominion o colony. In 1920, indeed, Canada bought American products to a value which exceeded that of the purchases of all other colonies combined. And because it is the oldest, largest, and richest of the Domin ions, and because of the independent leadership shown in its com mercial policies, Canada has been more influential in shaping the com mercial policy of the British Empire than has any other Britis dependency. I. TARIFF HISTORY TO 1879. REPEAL OF EARLY PREFERENCES. In the preceding chapter reference has been made to the preferential trade relations existing between Canada and the mother country the early part of the last century, whereby Canadian timber and whea and certain other products enjoyed special privileges in the British market, and whereby, under the application of the navigation acts. Canada enjoyed a prosperous trade with the West Indies. In the forties, under the influence of free-trade views in England, these trade advantages gradually began to disappear. It was at this time also that the colonies were granted the right to determine their own tariffs By 1853 all of the preferences except those on lumber, food, wine. and spirits had been abolished and in 1860 the last, those on timber and wine, were repealed. In 1849, moreover, the last of the navigation restrictions was removed and trade between Great Britain and the colonies was opened to the vessels of all nations. With her recently won autonomy Canada in 1847 proceeded to reduce the tariff1 on manufactures of the United States, and to raise the rates on British manufactures in the hope of securing closer commercial relations with the United States. But the American duties on Canadian products were not lowered in response to the Canadian At that time Canada consisted of the two Provinces of Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Carta is (Quebec). Nova Scotia followed the example of Canada and abolished the tariff preferences. The Prov ince of New Brunswick, on the other hand, retained in her tariff of 1848 preferences to British goods amounting in some cases to 75 or 80 per cent of the ordinary duty. Prince Edward Island likewise esta lished a preference on British goods. |