29 AUGUST 1903, Page 17

THE TAXATION OF RAW MATERIALS.

•

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]

SIR,—You say in the Spectator of August 22nd: "We have always said, and say still, that Mr. Chamberlain has com- mitted himself to a policy which must in the end compel him to tax raw materials." This forecast seems remarkably con- firmed by the speech of the delegate from Hobart, Tasmania, Mr. W. D. Peacock, at the meeting of the Congress of Chambers of Commerce at Montreal on the 19th inst., as reported in the Times of Friday week. He is reported to have said :—"His country wanted equality of opportunity. Why should the Australian wool merchant not have preferences as well as the Canadian wheat grower P "—I am, Sir, &c.,

J. H. R. S.