377

A.—s

it would make will be seen for each particular year by comparing the market in our country with the market in any other country. Now, let us take Germany. I forget who said that the price of wheat in Germany had not been affected at all by the duty which had been imposed by the German Government on imported wheat. The gazette price of British wheat in the year 1902 was 28s. Id. Mr. F. R. MOOR : Is that per quarter ? Mr. LLOYD GEORGE : Yes. The gazetted price, the official average price of wheat in Prussia for the same year was 355. 9d That is, the price was higher in Germany by 7s. Bd. per quarter than it was here for that year, the amount of import duty in Germany being 7s. IKd. Take France for the same year, the official average price in France for that year is 38s. Od. per quarter. That is higher than the price in the United Kingdom by 10s. 5d., the amount of import duty being 12s. 2d. We have been told repeatedly that 2s. on corn would make no difference at all. I take a year in Germany when the duty was only 25., and that really ought to operate as a warning to us. What we are more afraid of than merely a Is. or 2s. duty on corn is that it will not stop there. A 2s. duty on corn would not help our agriculturists very much. They would soon realise that, and pressure would be brought to bear on the Government. lam certain no Liberal or Conservative standing for an agricultural constituency could face his constituents if once you started that system of putting up a tariff against all commodities that come into this country, unless he could pledge himself to raise that 2s. to 35., and 3s. to 45., and so on, until yon would end at a figure which would enable them to grow wheat at a profit — which they cannot do now. The example of Germany is a case in point. Germany started in 1879 with the small import duty of 2s. 2d., which is practically the proposal which is now made for the United Kingdom She went on to 65., she went up to 10s., then there was a drop to 75., and now they have gone back to a still higher figure. That is really what we are afraid of here. But take the last year when the duty was only about 25., and in that year I find the price of wheat in Germany was in excess of that in the United Kingdom by 25., the duty being 2s. 2d. So really, Tdo not think, having the experience of Germany and France in our minds, we can posiblv say that the duty will no t, somehow or other, be an element in the consideration of the price. Probably not to the same extent, because the fact that you would give a preference to the Colonies would in my judgment, I agree, affect the price, arid would to a certain extent break down the price quoted for the wheat in the market, but after all you are not supplying enough for us by millions of bushels. lam not sure that I cannot say tens of millions of bushels—and you could not do it for years to come. After all you are dependent upon climatic conditions. In Canada, for instance, we had a great failure a short time ago, and we had to fall back on the Argentine, on India, on Egypt, and on Russia. Australia has, owing to drought failed to supply us with wheat, That is a very serious thing for our poor people; and that is what I want to press more than anything upon our Colonial friends. We are not refusing to meet you I can assure you. We are anxious in our hearts to do it, but we have have here a poor population that you know nothing of. Here numbers of our poor people are steeped in poverty and we have to think of them. It would be wrong of us, it would be cruel of us, it would be wicked of us, if we did not do it. lam sure if you realise that it would mean 2s. more for people who are already short of shillings to buy the very necessaries of life, you would be the last people in the world to come and beg us to add to the troubles of this poor pormlation of ours. That is really why we are hesitating.

49—A. 5.

Eleventh Day. li May 1907.

Prefer en 11 a, Trade. (Mr. Lloyd George.)