The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-03-15
TREATIES BETWEEN POWERS
GERMANY AND FRANCE RESUME
 RECIPROCAL NEGOTIATIONS,
Through Treaty With Us Under the Dingley Daw-The Expiration Period Under the Law Is Urging Foreign Countries to Complete the Work.

OOuutAACs sO NOAAPAGtC lAo sSVIAs
 Washington, March 14.-Negotiations
 for reciprocity treaties with Germany
 and France have been resumed, and
 there is still a prospect that a treaty
 may be negotiated with Great Britain
 covering the British West Indies. These
 treaty negotiations were interrupted
 some months ago because MT. Kasson, obliged to give his attention to the
 Canadian commission. As its work is closed, MT. Kasson Is free to resume the
 negotiations with the other countries.
 Ambassador Cambon returns from Paris with the earnest hope of carry ing through a treaty under section four or the Dingley law On the part of France it is proposed to give to the United States the minimum" tariff list. The French tariff has two rates, a maximum and minimum. Countries specially favored by France get the
 minimum rate, while those having no arrangement pay the maximum rate, 25 per cent higher. The effect of this is to place higher duties on American goods than on those of England, Ger many, Russia andF some thirty-one countries with which France has made commercial arrangements. In the ne- gotiations with MT. Kasson this mini mum rate is conceded, the only ques- tion being as to what the United States will grant in return. The law permits 20 per cent reduction of duty on des- ignated articles, but no arrangement has been reached as to what these ar ticles shall be- The French contention is that the list should be liberal as their minimum list covers the entire tariff list. They also contend that the average of French duty on American goods is about IA per cent. ad valorem as against about 50 per cent. American duty on French goods. M. Cambon is awaiting further statistical information and it Is expected that active negotia- tions will proceed in about two weeks.
 The German negotiations have been resumed on a rather broad scale. Sec- retary Hay himself is carrying the mat ter forward, the detailed work on sched- ules not having been taken up as yet by MT. Kasson. Whether negotiations will prove satisfactory it is too early to predict, although both sides. Darticu- larly the Germans, express the hope that a treaty will result within the next three months
 The British negotiations reached an advanced stage and then collapsed en- tirely. They were managed by Sir Julian Pauncefote and MT. Kasson, who together outlined the articles to be covered by the proposed treaty. The document was about ready to sign last summer, when the London authorities announced that they were considering the advisability of granting counter vai1ing duties to the sugar producers of the British West Indies, in which case there would not be the same need of reciprocity arrangement. The im- perial government has done nothing on countervailing duties, but no progress on the subject of reciprocity has been 1 attempted of late. If Sir Julian goes to the disarmament congress at the Hague | in May he is not likely to conclude the | reciprocity negotiations before he goes, and after that the two years period for | negotiating reciprocity treaties under | the D.ngley bill will have expired.
 The expra tion of this period on July "A next is urging all foreign countries to hasten their negotiations. It is said, k however, that if they fail of completion by that time it will not necessarily end all the negotiations as the president has the constitutional right, indepen- dent of this specific law, to negotiate treaties by and with the consent of the senate.
 The negotiations with Peru have not proved successful, as that country was not willing to grant a reduction on the articles which this government consid- cred should be covered.