Our own view is still that Imperial Preference remains as
economically unsound as any of Mr. Joseph Chamber- lain's proposals for Tariff Reform. His schemes all sprang originally from the Imperial idea, and he found that the taxation of food, wool, &c., was an inevitable part of his whole. This has been dropped by the present Government and the residue is not of vast importance. It may be worth while indulging in some false economy for the sake of Imperial sentiment, and we do not under- rate the desire to carry out the proposals which were agreed upon at the last Imperial Conference. But we doubt whether Imperial sentiment will be fostered in the long run by bargaining over tariffs which invite irritation. .Reciprocal Free Trade throughout the Empire is an ideal worth pursuing, but Mr. Harney, the Member for South Shields and formerly Member of the Australian Senate which framed the first Commonwealth Tariff, was quite frank on that point. He said in effect that a preference for British imports over foreign was not intended to make any tariff less protective of Australian industries against British, and that these small matters under debate, excluding food and wool, were futile and unwise.
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