The daily times., 1922-03-02
WITH UNITED STATE.
The United States Passed a Re-
ciprocity Agreement in 1911,
s but at That Time Canada
Blocked Such Proceedings
:. Between the Nations; Can
ada Now Has Different View
@ (By David Lawrence.
Copyright 1922 by The Daily


NOOPy yAAoAS NOS8 W anu O0AAy
Times.)
Washington, Mar. Canada to-
day made her first move to forestal
unfavorable action by the American
congress in tariff relations between
the two countries. w. S. Fielding,
Canadian Minister of Finance, and
one of the men who negotiated the
ill-fated reciprocity agreement of
1911, has taken up with the Depart
ment of State here through the good
Offices of the British Embassy the
question of arriving at an under
standing on reciprocal trade.
Mr.. Fielding himself does not dis
cuss his visit preferring to make his
inquiries Informally and without pub
Lefty. But the situation which brings
Mr.. Fielding here is of the greatest
to the relations of the two
countries and is comparable indeed to
the events of 1911 when President
Taft following the precept of another
Republican president, William Nc
Kinley, offered Canada the hand of
Friendship through a reciprocity trade
agreement The American Congress
ratified that agreement, passing law
providing for reciprocity but through
a series of misunderstanding inside
Canada, the Canadian parlia nent fail
ed to do it's part.
Inasmuch as it was Canada which
blocked reciprocity in 1911, the feel
ing of the Liberal party which has
Just come in power at Ottawa under
Mackenzie King is that Canada
Ishould make the first move in show
ing her willingness to go through
with the 1911 agreement.
Curiously enough the act of 1911
was never repealed and remained on
the status books of the American
Congress. The House of Representa-
|tives once passed a bill proposing a
repeal but. it never passed the Amer
lean Senate. So if Canada should do
now what she failed to do in 1911,
the reciprocity agreement would
promptly go into effect between Cam
ada and the United States. j
But under the terms of the original
understanding, each country was to
pass concurrent legislation and it is
hardly likely that the Canadian par
lpeared that the American Congress
might repeal the Reciprocity Act as
indeed is now proposed in the Ford
iney Tariff bill. That bill would auto
matically repeal all previous tariff ar
lrangements but would empower the
President to negotiate new recipro-
city agreements with any nation.
Canada's viewpoint is that it would
be far better to make an exception
F! of the act of 1911 and leave it on
the statute books so that the Parlia-
ment at Ottawa might put it into ef-
| feet than to negotiate a new agree
ment involving the reopening of all
| sorts of questions.
The desire for reciprocity in Can
ada is now intense. heifarmer group
and the Liberal Party go hand in
hand on that issue and together they
control majority in the Ottawa Par
lament.
But the viewpoint of the agricul-
tural bloc in the American Congress
is bound to be influential. Senator
Capper of Kansas, leader of the agri-
cultural bloc, told this correspondent
today that he had not had an oppor-
ltunity to study the effects of the re-
ciprocity agreement of 1911 but it
was likely there would be some op-
1position from Ehe border states on
the northern b4 4pndary.
..The wheat powers of Minnesota
land North Dako9e< /" said Mr.. Capper
s. iifiI VI -