287

A.—s

Ninth Day. 1 May 1907.

Sir WILFRID LAURIER : We do not. Dr. JAMESON : In South Africa we give a certain amount of preference. We charge your whisky from here 215., and an excise on our own article of only 6s. We are quite prepared to modify that. Mr. ASQUITH : That is giving preference to yourself. Dr. JAMESON : Exactly. You generally begin at home and then extend to others afterwards. Mr. DEAKIN : I think in our treaty with you we do give a preference to alcohol. Sir JOSEPH WARD : We do, I think, in reference to wines. Mr. ASQUITH : As between yourselves ? Sir JOSEPH WARD : Yes, with South Africa; not spirits but wine. Dr. SMARTT : Canada gives a preference on wines also, I think. Sir FREDERICK BORDEN : No. Dr. JAMESON : For brandy the ordinary rate of duty in Australia is 14s. per gallon, and the rate to colonies under the South African Customs Union is 10s. 3d. to 13s. per gallon. I believe the proposition before the Conference is—l know it is the proposition of Canada—that we give, irrespective of the United Kingdom giving anything at all, a certain preference, but when the United Kingdom reciprocates, then we are all prepared to come forward and give more. Paragraph 2 of the Cape Resolution is " The " Conference, while adhering to the principle of preferential treatment of " the products and manufactures of the United Kingdom, desires to impress " upon His Majesty's Government the opinion that the continuance of such " preferential treatment to the producers and manufacturers of Great Britain " is largely dependent upon the granting of some reciprocal privileges to " British Colonies." I wish to say at once, and emphatically, that there is no question of a threat there at all. What we are doing is giving a warning from our own experience. lam giving my experience that I have had at the Cape that the majority, as evidenced by the Customs Union, are in favour of preference. I know that in my Cape Parliament there is a minority who were not in favour of it, and in fact spoke against it, but at the same time that minority brought forward an amendment saying that no preference should be given unless there was reciprocity. Therefore, lam justified in saying that the whole Colony, with any reciprocity whatever from the United Kingdom, would be unanimously in favour of preference. Mr. DEAKIN : We have the same minority. Dr. JAMESON : I only wanted to emphasise that it was not a threat at all, but only that we might not be able to hold things together, that the minority might become a majority later on, and we, who believe that this is one of the most important links between the various portions of the Empire, are very anxious to say that our various Colonies are absolutely in favour of

Preferential Trade.