Niagara Groovers Want More Tariff 



AT an important meeting of the Niagara Pen- 

 insula United Fruit Growers' Association, 

 held in St. Catharines, Jan 18, it was de- 

 cided after a spirited discussion to ask the Federal 

 Government to increase the duties on certain 

 fruits. The increase asked is identical with that 

 decided upon at previous meetings held in 

 Winona and Grimsby and published in the 

 January issue of The Can.\dian Horticultur- 

 ist, viz.: '^ 



On peaches from 1 cent a pound to 2 cents. 

 On pears from 20 % ad -valorem to 1 cent a lb. 



specific. 

 On i^lums from 25 % ad valorem to 1 cent a lb. 



specific. 

 On apples, from 40 cents a barrel to 75 cents a 



barrel. 

 A large attendance gave evidence of the interest 

 taken in the tariff ([uestion. Different opin- 

 ions were voiced and three different proposals 

 were submitted to the meeting. Mr. W. H. 

 Bunting, of St. Catharines, seconded by Mr. Chas. 

 Lowry, St. David's, moved the adoption of the 

 following: — "Resolved, that we believe the 

 maintenance of the tariff on foreign fruits is 

 necessary to the encouragement of the fruit 

 industry of this country, that the tariff at pres- 

 ent in force has a beneficial effect, and has not 

 to any appreciative extent increased the cost 

 to the consumer; we would, therefore, respect- 

 fully urge upon the Government that no reduc- 

 tion be made in this tariff but that a specific 

 duty of 1 cent a pound be substituted when- 

 ever an ad valorem tariff is at present in force." 



In amendment to the above Mr. Jos. Tweddle, 

 of Fruitland, seconded by Mr. W. A. Emory, of 

 Aldershot, moved that the Government be asked 

 to adopt an open and closed season as requested 

 by a majority vote at a meeting held in Burling- 

 ton on Jan. 2, with the following proposed 

 schedule of rates, the Government to regu- 

 late the tariff during the open season for revenue 

 purposes : 



Strawberries,4 cents a lb., May 15 to July 1. 

 Raspberries, 2 cents a lb,, July 1, to Sept. 1. 

 Blackberries, " " " " 



Gooseberries, " " " " 



Currants, " " " " 



Grapes, 2 cents a lb., Aug. 1 to Dec. 1. 



Cherries, 3 cents a lb., July 1 to Sept. 1. 



Plums, 2 cents a lb., July 1 to Nov. 1. 



Peaches, " 



Pears, 2 cents a tb., July 15 to Jan. 1. 



Apples, 75 cents a barrel July 15 to Jan. 1. 



After a lively discussion on this question of a 

 sliding tariff, Mr. Jonathan Carpenter, of Win- 

 ona, supported by J. W. Smith, of Winona, 

 moved in amendment to the amendment that 

 the Government be asked to increase the duties 

 on a flat rate basis, as outlined in our opening 

 paragraph. This was put to the meeting and 

 carried by a larg'e majority. 



THE BURUNGTON MEETING. 



A meeting of the Burlington Horticulturist 

 Association was held in BurUngton, Jan. 2, 

 Messrs. E. D. Smith, M.P., and J. W. Smith, of 

 Winona, were invited to attend. 



The members present were unanimously in 

 favor of an increase in the duties on fruits, but 

 differed as to the best means of adjusting same. 

 Some favored a flat increase; others proposed 

 and supported the idea of a closed season. 

 There was some talk also of asking for a revenue 

 tariff on bananas as it was thought that the 

 enormous consumption of bananas in this coun- 

 try interfered with the desire and sale for do- 

 mestic fruits. Finally it was decided to appoint 

 a committee — J. C. Smith, and A. W. Peart, 

 Burlington, W. A. Emory, Aldershot — to draw 

 up a schedule for a sliding tariff, same to be the 

 voice of the meeting, with the alternative of a 

 flat rate increase. Same committee later met 

 delegate from AMnona and Grimsby, and de- 

 cided upon the schedule above mentioned. 

 Such was presented to the mass meeting at St. 

 Catharines and defeated by the advocates of a 

 straight increase. 



THE DISCUSSION AT ST. CATHARINES. 



At the St. Catharines meeting the positions 

 taken at meetings held at BurUngton, Grimsby 

 and Winona, were submitted to the growers 

 and thoroughly discussed. Mr. Robt. Thomp- 

 son, of St. Catharines, said that the idea of a 

 sliding scale was absurd and impracticable. 

 Closed season in this district would not be a 

 favorable closed season in the Northwest. 

 During open season consumers would buy their 



supply of fruit in advance of our season, both for 

 table use and for canning. In reply, the advo- 

 cates of a sliding tariff contended that before 

 the first dates of closed season fruit could not 

 be bought cheap enough for profitable canning 

 and only the few could afford to buy it even for 

 table use. 



Mr. W. H. Bunting and others of St. Cathar- 

 ines were not in favor of either proposition for 

 an increase in the duties except in the case of 

 pears and plums, which should be changed from 

 ad valorem to a specific duty of one cent a 

 pound. Mr. Bunting said that he was strongly 

 of the opinion that if the Association presses for 

 two cents a ]»und on peaches that it will be so 

 strongly opposed in the Northw-est that our 

 petition will be swamped. The Northwest is 

 not in favor of our peaches and fruit, generally 

 speaking, and we must go easy if we are to com- 

 mand our share of that market. If we can 

 secure a five days' transportation service to the 

 Northwest, we need not fear so much the com- 

 petition from over the line. 



Regarding the idea of a sliding tariff on fruits, 

 Mr. E. A. Lancaster, M.P. for Lincoln, said that 

 he believed such was feasible. The present 

 tariff provides for an open and closed season 

 for some kinds of manufactured goods. 



Mr. E. D. Smith, M.P., of Winona, spoke in 

 favor of an increase. The more he thought of 

 the closed season idea the more favorably dis- 

 posed he was towards it. 



An increase in the duties is necessary: from 

 the growers' viewpoint a sliding tariff would 

 be the most satisfactory; from the Govern- 

 ments' viewpoint a flat increase may seem the 

 most feasible. For apples an increase was asked, 

 not so much for growers in the Niagara district, 

 but in the interests of growers all over the Prov- 

 ince. "In the case of peaches," said Mr. 

 Smith, "if we can get the Government to put a 

 duty of 2 cents a potmd on them and thereby 

 keep out California peaches, we can find a 

 market in the Northwest for thousands of 

 bushels that we cannot send now." As we 

 have found the way to put our peaches in the 

 Northwest in sound condition, and as we can 

 grow the fruit, we should not be denied the 

 market for want of an increase of one cent in 

 the duties. — A. B. Cutting. 



TKe West Wants Tariff Reduction 



THE action taken recently by the Niagara 

 District Fruit Growers in demanding a 

 higher duty on fruit from the United States 

 brought forth the following editorial from the 

 Winnipeg Free Press, which may have been in 

 part inspired by the Winnipeg commission deal- 

 ers, and which is to a certain extent the reply 

 of the West: 



"Wholesale fruit houses of Winnipeg have 

 dropped thousands of dollars in the attemjit to 

 handle Ontario peaches. Ontario shippers have 

 not succeeded in sending peaches to the West in 

 good condition. As for Briti-sh Columbia peaches, 

 they are not early, and have appeared here as 

 yet only in limited quantities, and of those that 

 have appeared a considerable proportion have 

 been lacking in carrying quality. Plums and 

 pears of British Columbia are also late, not being 

 ready before the end of July or early in August. 

 British Columbia, Uke Ontario, po.ssesses areas 

 of the finest fruit-growing lands on the continent, 

 but they do not produce fruit all the year round, 

 nor have Ontario or British Columbia fruit-grow- 

 ers succeeded in producing fruit of a sort to 

 Stand transportation in comparison with the 

 Strawberries of Oregon, which come to Winnipeg 

 in prime condition. The problem of the 'car- 

 • rying quality' of fruit which is both a problem 

 of fruit production and a problem of fruit pack- 

 ing, is one which has not been solved, especially 

 in regard to strawberries, either in Ontario or 



British Columbia. But if it were solved, why 

 should peoijle living in Prairie Provinces be 

 heavily taxed, as Mr. Ernest D'IsraeH Smith, 

 M.P., advocates on fruit brought in from across 

 the boundary in months when neither Ontario 

 nor British Columbia have any fruit to offer? 



"Fruit is not so much a luxury as a necessity 

 to health. 



"The question of the tariff taxation of fruit is 

 a vital one to the people of the Prairie Provinces, 

 and in view of these demands of the Ontario 

 fruit growers, as also of the demands that were 

 made by representatives of the British Columbia 

 fruit growers, who appeared before the Tariff 

 Commission a couple of months ago, some figures 

 of what is paid out in the way of customs duties 

 on fruit claim attention. During the months of 

 January and February, strawberries from the 

 United States arrive in Winnipeg in express 

 lots at the rate of some 20 or 25 cases weekly; in 

 April and May, 100 cases weekly. In the latter 

 part of May and on through June they arrive 

 in car lots, mainly from the famous Hood River 

 plantations in Oregon. 



"The only fruits which Ontario can send to 

 the West in satisfactory condition are apples, 

 plums and grapes, also tomatoes. Apples from 

 across the boundary pay 40 cents a barrel duty. 

 They cannot begin to compare with the apples 

 either of Eastern Canada or of British Columbia, 

 but we get them two months earlier. They do 



not in any way compete with Canadian apples, 

 and nobody imports them once Canadian apples 

 are to be had . 



"The West wants tariff reductions, not tarifl 

 increases. The West will not stand up for any 

 tariff increases, and least of all for tariff increases 

 on fruit. If any indication is given of an in- 

 tention to alter the tariff in the manner demanded 

 by the Niagara Peninsula Ignited Fruit Growers' 

 Association the Government will find it met by 

 a protest from the West that will be anything 

 but- perfunctory in its character." 



In a communication dated December 20, to 

 the Trade and Commerce Department, Mr. 

 Chas. Kittson, Canada's commercial agent in 

 Africa, states that a recent shipment of Canadian 

 apples consigned to Cape Town, was seriously 

 infested by scab, and also by codling moth, some 

 barrels to the extent of 60 % in case of the former, 

 and 40 % in case of the latter. He points out 

 that Canadian shippers were warned that fruit 

 so affected was liable to confiscation on arrival, 

 without compensation to shi[)pers or consignees, 

 and it has lately been authoritatively stated that 

 unless Canadian shippers refrain from shipping 

 diseased fruit to South Africa the importation 

 of fruit from the Dominion will be prohibited by 

 the Cape Colony Government. 



