§ MR. LABOUCHERE (Northampton)To ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in any of the communications that have taken place between all or any of the self-governing colonies, they, or any one of them, have expressed their willingness to surrender their complete tariff autonomy, or to forego the recognition of the custom that has arisen in all recent commercial treaties concluded between this country and any foreign State of inserting an article empowering the self-governing colonies to adhere or not at will to the treaty; whether the self-governing colonies have been informed if it is in contemplation to grant preferential treatment to their natural products or only their food products by the United Kingdom; whether the view expressed in the Report of the Colonial Conference between the Colonial Secretary and the Premiers of the self-governing colonies that, if the colonies cease to be granted most-favoured-nation treatment by any foreign country owing to such country giving a preference to our goods, they have a remedy in their own hands, is still that of the Colonial Secretary and of the Colonial Premiers; and, if so, whether he will state what are these remedies; and whether the self-governing colonies have ever, in any communication addressed to the Colonial Office, suggested that they should be protected against hostile action on the part of any foreign State in regard to their imports into that State, by the imposition of duties on its imports into the United Kingdom.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Chamberlain.) No suggestion has been made by His Majesty's Government or by any of the colonies that the self-governing colonies should surrender their liberty of framing their own Customs tariffs, or that any alteration should be made in the existing practice in the negotiation of commercial treaties, of leaving it to them to decide whether or not notice of adherence on their behalf should be given by His Majesty's Government. The nature of the remedy which the colonies have in their own hands in the event of their being penalised by a foreign country for granting tariff preference to British 789 produce and manufactures is sufficiently indicated by the paragraph of the Report of the Colonial Conference to which the hon. Member refers. There have been no communications with any colony on the subject since the Conference, nor has any colony at any time considered it necessary to indicate to His Majesty's Government the manner in which they should protect the fiscal freedom of the Empire.