§ SIR FREDERICK MILNER (Nottinghamshire, Bassetlaw)To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the fact that since the denunciation by Lord Salisbury, in 1897, of the Treaties of 1862 and 1865 with the German Zollverein and Belgium, British goods have been admitted into Canada with a rebate of 25 per cent., which was increased in 1901 to 33⅓ per cent., he will state the total value of exports of British and Irish produce to North American Colonies in 1897, 1898, 1900, and in 1902 after the rebate had been raised to 33⅓ per cent., and in 1903.
(Answered by Mr. Gerald Balfour.) The 25 per cent. rebate given by the Dominion of Canada began on 1st August, 1898, and the 33⅓ per cent. rebate on 1st July, 1900. I give below the particulars required for each year since 1897, inclusive.