Canada and the West Indies. 115 



percent, preference as he suggested, there would be nothing coming from 

 the Old Country, and they would not get enough revenue. That was a 

 problem they had to face in Canada and furthermore they had to face the 

 question to keep their own markets for themselves. If they had these 

 arrangements with Canada, they would need to have them on the same 

 lines as dealing with the Mother Country the imports of which had a 

 preference of 33£ per cent., but if they abolished it altogether, they 

 would not be able to raise the revenue, and Canada would not be able to 

 feel that she had as great an interest in the place. It was however for 

 them to decide which of the two things they wanted. If they decided 

 that they did not want to go further than to have the 50 per cent, pre- 

 ference in which the mother country would share, it would be a great 

 advance. Vv as it an unfair or unpatriotic thing to suggest ? When the 

 various provinces of Canada wishing to deal with each other, made a 

 partnership among themselves, the mother country could have objected, 

 but they now had a prosperous Canada, and the mother country sold a 

 great deal more to United Canada than she would have sold to the scattered 

 provinces, — and they were now talking of bringing in Newfoundland. 

 All that he was suggesting was that two members of the Imperial Family 

 should form a partnership. It might be said against his argument that 

 Newfoundland and Canada were nearby but instead of saying that it was 

 an argument against it with respect to British Guiana, there was a great 

 deal to be said in favour of it because it would be seen that it was far 

 better to link up two distant provinces with different products than to 

 link up two near places with the same products. 



He had first had his attention drawn to this situation in connection with 

 the Bahama Islands which were suffering a great deal because they were 

 British, If they joined with the United States they would have the tariff 

 against their fruits withdrawn at once, but they wanted to remain British, 

 and as a consequence they were poor. Canada would give them a market 

 like the United States, but perhaps they might say that British Guiana 

 was not as poor as the Bahamas. British Guiana was however, an un- 

 developed country, and were they going to say that it was for the good of 

 British Guiana, the good of the Empire, and the good of the world that 

 British Guiana should remain undeveloped. Was it a bad thing for two 

 members of a family to form a partnership so that they could help one 

 another ? Was it British to remain undeveloped ? He thought they would 

 do the mothsr country a great injustice to think that she had any 

 such ideas. As a matter of fact the mother country in the past had been 

 too unselfish and as far as he was concerned they could not make him do 

 anything that was not to the advantage of the motherland. It was for 

 them to say which of the two solutions appealed most to them, but what- 

 ever they decided they in Canada would give their support to. 



