25 OCTOBER 1930, Page 1

Meanwhile there is no doubt that Protectionists are less in

love with Mr. Bennett's proposal than they were at first sight. His first ambiguous language encou- raged the belief that he was making a more generous offer than it now turns out to he. He was supposed to be offering a ten per cent. Preference to Great Britain over foreign competitors, but it is now known to be only a three per cent. Preference. That is to say, the Canadian tariff would be raised by three per cent. against foreign imports, and the tariff against British imports would remain as it is. As the anti-British tariff is extremely high already it seems that the British voter might soon be saying to any leader who accepted Mr. I3ennett's scheme:" You obtain very little for us, and in the process of getting it you raise the cost of living all round. Foreign

food and raw. materials would be taxed. The disadvan- tages would quite outweigh the advantages."