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Now I have listened and listened carefully to everything that was said by Mr. Deakin, and by Dr. Jameson, and others, and I cannot now make out, and do not at this moment know, whether part of the proposal made is that we should give a preference to Colonial raw materials. I have heard no answer to that question. I have often put it myself. I thought we should get enlightenment upon it in the course of these discussions. Mr. F. R. MOOR : Are you including Canadian wheat in that ? Mr. ASQUITH : Yes, certainly—in the food, not in the raw material. Sir WILLIAM LYNE • Do you say only 5 per cent, of manufactured articles came from the Colonies altogether ? Mr. ASQUITH : 5,500,000/. It would be more than 5 per cent. « Sir WILLIAM LYNE : What struck me was, if you get such a small proportion as that, you have a tremendous margin where you could give preference on, say, wheat. Mr. ASQUITH : That is just what lam coming to. It is obvious it is no use giving preference on these manufactured articles. They are a mere bagatelle—a mere drop in the ocean. Therefore, any preference to be really effective and at all evenly distributed between the Colonies must be on food or raw material—one or both Raw materials, as I point out, come first in bulk —32i millions. Is it, or is it not, part of the proposition that we should give a preference on raw materials ? Mr. DEAKIN : May I point out that I expressly put aside that question upon the general principle, in which I thought you concurred, that what you would give, the kind and form and extent of your preference, was entirely a matter for yourselves, and it was not for us to attempt to suggest its character ? That was my reason. Mr. ASQUITH : I quite appreciate that, and perhaps I ought not to put it in the form of a question to you, and I will not. But I will put it in the form of a question to myself and I will suppose I am trying to construct a tariff. I think you are quite right in saying that this is a matter which, if the Imperial Government resolved to give preference it would have to settle for itself So, as Imperial Chancellor of the Exchequer, having got a mandate from the country to give preference to the Colonies, I am trying to construct a preferential tariff which is to be fair to the Colonies, which is not to introduce a new and much more objectionable form of preference—l mean preferring one Colony to another Colony—which is not to introduce another and equally objectionable form of preference, namely, the preferring of particular interests in particular Colonies to other interests. But Tarn trying to construct a preferential tariff which shall be really fair and just, What do I find? What materials have Tto go upon? First of all it is perfectly clear my tariff must be a tariff which will impose discriminating differential duties against foreign importations of raw materials and of food. T cannot do it without including both raw materials and food. I will take just one illustration, which will show the gross unfairness which would result from not doing so. Take the Cape, represented by Dr. Jameson, what is the condition of things there ? The Cape sends us, including all their wine, of which we heard yesterday, 28,000/. of food, drink, and tobacco, but the Cape sends us 10,281,000/. of raw material, very largely diamonds and wool. How

Tenth Day. 2 May 1907.

PrEFERFNTI \l. Trade. (Mr. Asquith.)