§ MR. BENNTo ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn to the Report of the Select Committee of the Cape Colony on Colonial Industries (May, 1905), which recommends a general increase of tariffs, including the raising of the duty on imported English furniture from seven and a-half per cent, to twenty five per cent.; and whether he will take any steps to direct the attention of that Colonial Legislature to the damage to an English industry if these proposals are carried.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Lyttelton.) I have seen the Report referred to. I do not propose to take the action suggested. The proposals could not be carried out except with the concurrence of the other parties to the South Africa Customs Convention.