GREAT BRITAIN: Canada's Cards

A record for elaborate bluffing was the only accomplishment of the Imperial Economic Conference at Ottawa at the end of its second week. Some of the delegations, from Britain's eight constituent commonwealths, began to complain among themselves, then to hint tactfully to their hosts that too many parties were interfering with the business of the conference.* Canada promptly laid on the conference table its first hand of cards, a proposal to shift something between $100,000,000 and $200,000,000 worth of Canadian trade from the U. S. to Great Britain.

Canada's proposal contained four offers and a stipulation. Offers: 1) to maintain existing free lists in respect to Britain and to increase their value by imposing against foreign countries duties on products at present free to all; 2) to place on the free list with Britain many articles in which Britain competes with other countries, maintaining the duties against the other countries; 3) to increase the preferential spread in Britain's favor by a) lowering the present preferential duties paid by British commodities or b) by increasing the duties paid by foreign commodities, or both; 4) to facilitate British competition with certain domestic industries.

Canada's stipulation was that these concessions be contingent upon stabilization of the British currency, "regulation" of Russian imports to Great Britain, corresponding preferences to Canadian natural products.

The list of 200 items in the Canadian proposal was withheld, but it was certain that it was made up chiefly from the following groups: iron & iron products (U. S. exports to Canada during the year ending March 1932, $81,000,000; British, $13,000,000), coal (U. S. exports, $30,000,000; British, $5,000,000), glass & glassware (U. S. exports, $3,000,000; British, $670,139), chemicals and allied products (U. S. exports, $20,000,000; British $4,000,000), electrical apparatus (U. S. exports, $12,000,000; British, $1,000,000).

British reaction to the proposal was clearly unfavorable. The stipulation that Britain must stabilize her currency was alone considered enough to defeat it. Next His Majesty's delegates examined the Canadian figures of $100,000,000 to $200,000,000 in trade offered them, found the estimate to be around $70,000,000. Furthermore, the British were dissatisfied with the number of products placed on the free list. Finally, the Canadian Government admitted that it could not guarantee that consumers would purchase British goods even after they were given preference. Net result of the proposal was that a concrete offer had been made and the delegations now had something to dicker with.

Australia and Great Britain at another end of the table began dickering for an agreement whereby Britain would receive free entry of her manufactured goods in exchange for a guarantee of Australia' refunding loan on her two-and-one-half billion dollar debt.

¶ Seven delegates from the Workers Economic Conference of Unemployed called on Prime Minister Richard Bedford Bennett, were warned that if they started trouble he would "smash them." A few minutes later 400 more gathered in Customs House Square, a quarter-mile away, were charged by police, dispersed with much pate-thwacking.