Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-23
BY PAUL r. MARTIN.

CORNER BROOK, Newfoundland
What appears to be the greatest need Of
the little island dominion Of Newfound-
land at present is a sort of economic
Sherlock Holmes who, by method of
deduction or otherwise, will be able to
unravel the snarls in the tariff laws and
tentative trade agreements which affect
the commercial relations of Newfound-
land and Canada, her immediate Brit
ish neighbor. Although a so-called
flair trade agreement" was negotiated
between the two dominions no longer
ago than the close of 1928, this has
failed to function, and efforts are now
being put forth to arrive at new
agreement which will be of benefit to
both countries.
In the matter of fair trade agree
ment between Newfoundland and Can
ada, the United States is likewise in
volved indirectly, for many Of the COM
modities imported by Newfoundland
from Canada are of American manufac-
ture. These are sold through Canadian
agents and enter Newfoundland as
Canadian goods, therefore coming
within the terms of any trade agree
ments which these British dominions
may make between themselves. And
in all the discussion which has waged
for more than a year concerning the
trade pact proposed by the former cab
met, The United States has been men
toned many times.
Position Is Peculiar.
The agreement tentatively arrived at
on January 81, 1928, was the result Of
negotiations between Sir John Bennett,
then colonial secretary of Newfound-
land, and the Hon. j. A. Robb, finance
minister of Canada. It was known as
the Bennett-Robb agreement and on its
face appeared to be simple enough. But
NeWfoundland'S trade relations with the
world have long been, more or less in
yolved, due largely to the fact that
while its basic policy has been one of a
uniform tariff applied to imports from
every country regardless of whether they
formed a part of the British Empire,
there has likewise been the necessity
for certain preferences because of the
peculiar character of Newfoundland's
commerce.
Sir Patrick McGrath, late president
OF the Legislative Council of Newfound-
land ard for years an outstanding fig
ure among the economists Of the Do
minion, supplied me few weeks before
his death with a brief explanation Of
the Historical background" of the at
tempted Newfoundland-Cana agree
ment, and it Is this Historical back
ground" particularly as it applies to
| commercial relations with Jamaica,
likewise a British possession, that has
given rise to most of the misunder-
| standings which have now so seriously
affected reciprocal relations with Can
ada.
Buys Most From England.
cit must be borne in mind" Sir
Patrick told me, that Newfoundland
does the greater part of its buying
| from Britain, Canada and the United
| States, but that We sell principally to
the countries of Southern Europe, the
West Indies and Brazil. Our greatest
export commodity is dried Goldfish.
which is In heavy demand among the
countries along the Mediterranean. A
similar demand exists among the native
population of Brazil and the West
| Indies. In 1909 we made a slight
departure from our uniform tariff policy
! by granting a concession to Greece,
| giving free entry to her currants and
| raisins in return for a reduced duty on
hsh. This pact is still in operation.
I'm 1914 we, together with Britain
and the Irish Free State. granted GER
tain concessions to Portugal, for we
needed their salt for the curing Of our
fish. Spain was favored in 1922 and at
the same time we made an agreement
with Jamaica, through which we
granted this little country IS per cent
reduction in our tariff rates on all
Jamaican products in exchange for a
special rate on our fish. However, this
has but little effect on our revenue, as
our Jamaican imports amount to only
q few thousand dollars annually"
Disagreement Results.
It seems, however, that these trade
agreements, although comparatively in
significant as factors In international