On Tuesday Mr. Fielding, the Dominion Minister of Finance, delivered
at Montreal an important speech on Canadian fiscal policy. There were differences of opinion, lie said, in every province on the tariff question, but there was always the danger of a broader line of cleavage,—between the Western farmers and the manufacturing interests of the East. Clearly a compromise must be found, and he had tried to persuade the East that a policy of high Protection was impossible. The real policy was to look far ahead, and fill the North-West with prosperous and contented settlers. At the same time, he had tried to induce the Western farmers to be reasonable, and to realise that a certain tariff was necessary to protect the industries of the East. What he sought was a moderate tariff "which will give a measure of protection to our commercial life, but yet will not be heavy enough to antagonise the great consuming masses of the country." Mr. Fielding is handling adroitly a difficult situation,—a situation which must always arise under Protection when specific interests have to be considered and such interests are diametrically opposed.
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