Canada and the West Indies. Ill 



He asked to be pardoned for making a suggestion wiih regard to what 

 was their own private affair. How they proposed te raise their revenue 

 was a matter for themselves and not tor the Canadians, and he hoped 

 that they would pardon him for appearing to butt in. There was another 

 form of relationship to which he would like to draw their attention, and 

 that was an absolute Customs Union with Canada. 



The Example or Porto Eico. 

 In the case of Porto Rico the full American tariff was collected on 

 all goods going into Porto Eico from everywhere except the United 

 States There was not $1 of import or export taxes between the United 

 States and Porto Rico, and the amount collected on goods went into the 

 Island Treasury — the higher rate on the smaller amount gives sufficient 

 revenue. The result had been that Porto Rico has been bounding ahead 

 in prosperity. She had been increasing in population and in wealth and 

 what was more significant of all American enterprise and wealth had gone 

 right down into the Island and was making it right over. The question 

 arose as to whether the Canadians could do anything of the kind for the 

 British West Indies. He could imagine hearing them say that Canada 

 had 9 millions of people but that in the United States there were over 

 100 millions, but did they ever realise that in the population of the 

 United States there is included a great tier of Southern States — Florida, 

 Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Southern California — the popu- 

 lation of which consumed West Indian products ? Moreover that popula- 

 tion produced things which the West Indies produced and were competitors 

 with Porto Rico in the markets of the United States. They should 

 remember that Canada's population was exclusively Northern ; there was 

 not a 6trip of country there competing with this colony. It was all 

 Northern country and their Northern markets were wealthy. He was 

 amazed at the progress Canada had made, and when he was thinking of 

 the population as 7,500,000 he was surprised to see from the last census 

 that it was 8,850,000. If they linked up with Canada they linked up 

 with a country that was not only Northern and wealthy but growing at 

 an enormous rate. He did not advocate political annexation with Canada 

 (Hear, hear). There was a time when he advocated such a union but he 

 had later thought that the people of the West Indies had not been 

 sufficiently educated to want it. (Laughter). This was a matter that 

 might wait. 



Continuing, Mr. Macaulay illustrated how Porto Rico had joined up 

 politically with the United States and remarked that three-quarters of the 

 people's time was afterwards taken up with the question of settling the 

 way to govern the island. He did not think they need now bother with 

 a political union at all. They were doing well as they are at present, and 

 he suggested nothing more than a commercial union. The question was 

 really whether they could not get into as close relations as existed be- 

 tween Nova Scotia and the Dominion. One result of such relations 

 would be that the people would get all Canadian foods tuffs in free, and 



