Arizona republican., 1899-12-25
To Bind the British En-
 pire More Closely
CANADA'S PREFERENCE
It Is Only Sentimental and Not Busi- nesslike and Cannot Have Slight est Effect Upon the Trade Re- lation of Canada and This Country. Canadian Chambers of Commerce are Working at it Though.

are WorKlng at 1t In0ugn.
 Quebec, Canada, Dec. 24.-The va rious chambers of commerce and boards of trade of Canada that are to be represented next June at the Con- gress of Chambers of Commerce of the British empire in London have about arrived at an understanding as to the scheme of preferential imperial trade to be presented by them. They firmly believe that the outlook for the success of their plan has greatly improved since the last congress of the kind. Some of the Canadian boards have yet to be heard from, but there is every indication that there is an almost en- tire unity of sentiment among them on the subject.
 At the last congress of this kind Joseph Chamberlain said that the main object in view was to bring about con- mercial union within the empire, which carried with it the question of i'm perial defense. Since that time Canada has given Great Britain a so-called preference in her markets, and the British manufacturer has had a prac- tical illustration of what Canada meant by a preferential tariff on Brit ish goods.
 The present Canadian idea of pro cedure in the matter is to secure the appointment of a committee of home and colonial delegates to devise some scheme of mutual interchange which could be urged upon the governments
 the mother country and the colonies =slch a body of representatives would constitute a conference of experts com potent to deal with the question: The leaders of the movement in Canada ad- init that although the present ten dency of the world is toward consoli- dation and confederation, yet they say that if a great imperial spirit is to be built up within the British empire it must have some other bond to supple
 
 exists.
 The most surprising part of this movement is the apparent confidence that characterizes it, though its orig1- nators cannot be ignorant of the inop- erative and farcical nature of the al- legged Canadian preference in favor or Great Britain. The resolution which the Toronto delegates will move at the London congress. which is approved by almost all the Canadian chambers of commerce, sets forth that it is gen orally recognized that an advantageous commercial bond is one of the strong links in national unity; that the main tenance and strengthening of trade IS the keystone of a states successful de- velopment; that the stability of an em- pire is largely dependent upon the raa- terial prosperity of its people, and that in the opinion of this congress the bonds of the British empire would be materially strengthened and the union of the various parts of her majesty's dominions greatly consolidated by the adoption of commercial policy, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, whereby each component part of the empire would receive a substantial ad- vantage in trade as the result of it's national relationship. It is proposed that in order to make the resolution operative the chair shall appoint a representative and prOportionate com lnittee of home and colonial delegates to devise a scheme of this nature to be forwarded to the home and colonial governments concerned in the propo- sition Colonial sentimentalists and British imperialists will doubtless be very much delighted at the adoption of this resolution, which, however, it is safe to say will never have the slight est effect upon the trade relations of Canada and the United States.