17 JUNE 1899, Page 2

In the Commons on Thursday Sir Henry Fowler urged that

the imposition of a countervailing duty on bounty-fed sugar by the Indian Government should be disallowed, and insisted that the Iudian Government did not move of its own free will, but that its action was directly prompted from Whitehall. He further showed that the alleged cause of action was in- adequate. The Indian sugar trade, which was three million tons, was threatened by an importation of two hundred thousand tons, and special legislation was asked for to pena- lise seventy-four thousand tons. In the course of the debate Mr. Maclean strongly backed up the view that the Indian Government's policy was a dictated policy, and due especially to the Colonial Secretary, but this was vehemently re. pudiated by Lord George Hamilton, who dwelt upon the chorus of approval with which the duties had been received in India. Lord George will always find that the producer discovers that he is being protected far more quickly than the consumer that he is being penalised.