A—s

416

cattle, I know this to be a very serious matter. lam speaking only for myself and not in the least for the Government when I say that in my character of a Member of Parliament, not as a Minister, I have over and over again urged the argument which Sir Wilfrid Laurier has been urging now, in the same direction and with the same object, concerning Canadian cattle. That was in my private capacity, when I was not in a position of responsibility. As he has indicated, there are a number of conflicting views and conflicting interests here, and I will undertake to bring everything he said to the attention of my Right Honourable friend, the President of the Board of Agriculture, and I will assure him of its importance. Mr. LLOYD GEORGE : We fought it very hard when we were in Opposition. Sir WILFRID LAURIER : Fight it hard, then, now you are in the Government. Mr. LLOYD GEORGE : It shows the difficulty of upsetting a thing when once it is established. Mr. ASQUITH : It is a very serious question. We do not at all minimise the gravity of it. Sir WILFRID LAURIER : It is serious; and the discontent will grow in intensity in Canada. Mr. DEAKIN : Lord Elgin and gentlemen, there is a House of Commons' paper which appears in the " Times " of this morning relating to Imperial trade — No. 133 — which appears to be pertinent to the subjects before us. Perhaps it might be included in our Proceedings. It shows the values of the trade of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and British South Africa, in 1906. Mr. ASQUITH : It was moved for by your friend, Mr. Harold Cox. Mr. DEAKIN : The mover is immaterial, but the facts are of some interest, and they might as well be added. Mr. ASQUITH : Put it on the Minutes, certainly.* Mr. DEAKIN : Yes, it shows the rather curious circumstance that Australia must be an importer to the Mother Country of an exceptional amount of dutiable goods, or, as you would call them, taxable goods. Practically, Canada imports the same as we do. They send 28,000,000/. to our 29,000,000/. Mr. ASQUITH : Yours is wine and rum. Mr DEAKIN : Canada pays in duty 15,000/., and we pay in duty 106,000/., as against South Africa, 16,000/ So that ours is an exceptional position, which I do not think is quite realised.

Twelfth Day. 7 May 1907.

Preferential Trade. (Mf. Asquith.)

* For this Return, see puge 441.