l'"0 APPENDICES. 



I think, he derives the larger part of his profit. Then I 

 propose to put a smaller duty of 2s. a quaxi;er ou every 

 other kind of foreign corn — with one exception — barley, 

 oats, rye, and so on. The exception is maize. Whether I 

 am right or not, it is for those who are more learned in 

 agriculture than I to say. But my proposal is based on 

 this — namely, that in any scientific tariff wo must try to 

 keep raw materials as cheap as possible; and therefore I 

 myself should not propose to put any duty on maize, which 

 is an important feeding stuff. Neither should I put any 

 duty at all upon manure, whether it be natural manure 

 or artificial manure. At the same time, I propose a duty 

 of 5 per cent, on foreign meat and dairy produce. I propose 

 a similar duty on foreign poultry, eggs, vegetables and 

 fruit. (Cheers.) I believe that these duties will help 

 especially the small farmer — the holder of small quantities 

 of land — ^to make his cultivation more profitable. When I 

 consider that, excluding meat altogether, we are actually 

 importing at the present time something like ,£40,000,000 

 of dairy, vegetable and other by-prodticts of agriculture, 

 I cannot help believing that if we are to keep even a 

 portion of that trade for our own people, our own growers 

 and labourers, we should do a great deal to make farming 

 more profitable and to benefit the condition of the working 

 man. 



" What will be the result of these proposals ? They may 

 slightly raise the price of the articles affected. It does 

 not at all follow that because they raise the price of the 

 Taw produ6e — of whaat, for' instance — iliat they will 

 necessarily raise the price of the mamifactured article — 

 of bread — but they may raise it somewhat, although only 

 to a very small extent; and that will, besides giving the 

 farmer a slightly better price for his produce, help Iiiiu 

 to increase his production and to cheapen the cost of it. 

 I base my argument upon the experience of foreign coun- 

 tries. It may be wise sometimes to take a lesson from the 

 foreigner. 



The Case of FRANca. 



" I cannot help thinking that our neighbours in Fi'auce, 

 for instance., manage these matters better than we do our- 



