170 PREFERENTIAL TARIFF 



adopted by, or in the interests of, different parts 

 of the Empire show a steady and continuous 

 movement in the direction of Empire trade con- 

 solidation. Canada adopted the policy of pre- 

 ference in 1897 that is, she gave special tariff 

 concessions to the United Kingdom and to the 

 Empire as a whole, and under the successive 

 changes of the tariff, Canada and the rest of the 

 Empire have been drawn together in ever closer 

 relations. Canada was followed by New Zealand 

 in 1903, South Africa in 1906, Australia in 1907. 

 Furthermore a series of inter-Colonial preferential 

 arrangements between Canada, New Zealand, 

 Australia, and South Africa have been concluded, 

 and to these has now been added an arrangement 

 between Canada and the West Indies, which in some 

 respects is more remarkable than any which have 

 preceded it. Thus the self-governing portions of 

 the British Empire excepting alone the United 

 Kingdom and Newfoundland have gradually 

 formed a network of Imperial and inter-Imperial 

 preferential trading arrangements. The British 

 Empire may be said to be regarded as consisting 

 not of an aggregation of separate entities with no 

 mutual relations to each other, but of a family of 

 States animated by a common family purpose. 

 Each State in the first instance organises its tariff 

 and its policy to suit its own financial and eco- 

 nomic needs and gives an Imperial sanction to its 

 policy by granting to other parts of the Empire as 

 large a measure of trade advantages over foreign 

 countries as is consistent with its own economic 

 development. 



The preferences in the tariffs of the self-governing 

 Dominions, while differing in detail, have certain 

 general features in common. The tariffs have 

 for their main objects the production of Govern- 

 ment revenue, the protection of Home industries, 



