The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-03-02
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
{ Special Dispatch to The Reformer.t
Copyright 1922.

Special Dispatch to The ketormer.l
Copyright 1922.
WASHINGTON, March 2.-Canada
today made her first move to forestaH un- !
favorable action by the American con
ereSs i'm tariff relations between the two
countries. w. s Fielding, Canadian min
lister of finance. and one of the men who
negotiated the Inflated reciprocity agree
ment of 1911. has taken up with the de-
partmcnt Of state here through the good
offices of the British embassy. the queS-
ton of arriving at an understanding on
reciprocal trade.
Mr.. Fielding himself docs not discuss
his visit. preferring to make his inquiries
informally and without publicity. But
the situation which brings Mr.. Fielding
here is of the greatest Importance I" the
relations of the two countries anu II COM
parable indeed to the events of 1911 When
President Taft following the preGep,I. %
another Republican president, Nllllahi
Mckinley, offered Canada the hand OF
friendship through az reciprocity trace
agreement. The American congress r;lu-
fed that agreement. passing law proNld-
ing for reciprocity but through series OF
misunderstanding inside canada lne
canadian parliament failed to do its part.
InaSmuch as il was Canada when
blocked reciprocity in 1911. the feeling OF
the Liberal party which has Just come III
power at Ottawa under MaclAenZle-l\thE
i that Canada should make the first
move in showing her Willingness To go
through with the 1911 agreement
Act Never Repealed.
Curiously enough the act of 1911 was
never repealed and remained on the stat
ute books Of the AMERICAN congress. ! ne
house of representative once passed Il
hin promising repeal. but II never
naS~Cd the American senate. 50 III ian
ada should do now what she failed tn 90
lin 1911 the reciprocity agreement would
promptly go into effect between 'anada
and the United STATES.
But under the terms of tile original
understanding each country was to pass
concurrent legislation, and 1t IS hardly
likely that tie Canadian parliament would
take action if il appeared that the Amcri-
can congress IafSht repeal the reclproctty
act aS indeed Is now proposed IN the Ford
lncv tariff bill That bill would automat-
ically repeal 2ll previous tariff arrange
lmentS bat would empower the president
Ia negotiatP new reciprocity agreements
with any nation
Canada's viewpoint is that il should he
, far better to make an exception of the act
! Of 1911 and leave e ON the statute books
! 80 that the parliament at Ottawa might
/ put il into effect than t. negotiate new
/ agreement involving the rcopening of all
sorts Of questions The desire for reel
procity i'm CauaSa * now intense. The
farmer group and the Liberal party 90
hand i'm hand on that issue and together
they control Il majority in the Ottawa par
| Lament.
How About Agricultural BlOc?e
But the viewpoint OF the agricultural
bloc in the American congress il bound To
be influential Senator Capper of Kan
sas, leader of the agricultural bloc, told
this correspondent that he had not had an
opportunity to study the effects Of the
reciprocity agreement of 1911. but it was
likely there would be some opposition from
the border states on the northern boun-
dairy.
The wheat growers of Minnesota and
North Dakota" said Mr.. Capper, will
want protection. They have been asking
for it as against Canada and the interests
of these states viii naturally be our first
consideration"
The reciprocity question. however, is
not entirely local. 1t relates closely ia
the whole question of trade relations be
tween the United States and Canada.
Discrimination against Canada would not
be swallowed without protest by the Ca
madam people. Already there has been
talk about the necessity of buying goods
from countries other than the United
States because the Canadian dollar sold
at a discount here.
With the Improvement in Canadian eX-