Evening star., 1932-07-30
More Pay to Commodity Pro-
duCerS Held First Move
for Relief.
u. S. WATCHES AFRICAN
DICKERING WITH CANADA
Sales Last Year Totaling $45,-
100000 to South Atlantic Do.
minion May Be Curtailed.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
OTTAWA, July 30.-A general agree
ment that the most necessary task Of
boost the general price levels Of basic
commodities pervaded every special
committee today.
The Committee on Monetary and
Financial Questions brought the queS-
ton to a head after "a hours of talk.
AS long as it takes twice as much
of any commodity to pay off a debt
as it did when the debt was contracted,
the committee decided, there could be
no basic stability Of money, trade or
tariffs or any attempt to equalize values.
The committees announcement came
almost simultaneously with reports that
Canada and Great Britain were believed
to have agreed in principle on a wheat
preference plan.
Canada Asks Wheat Tariff.
One Ottawa newspaper definitely an
nounced that the Canadian government
had demanded a preference tariff rate
of 4 cents a bushel in British markets
and that it would make no deals at all
unless it got it.
The market for Canadian wheat in
Great Britain would at best be no more
than 110, 900, 900 bushels year and with
normal production that would leave at
least $50 100000 year that CANADA
would have to sell in other markets.
Those who are opposed to the prefer
ence plan expressed the belief that II
was hard to imagine Great Britain pay
ing more for her wheat than it could
be bought for in the open markets Of
the world. The net result of any such
plan, they said, might be to substitute
Rotterdam or Antwerp for Liverpool as
the premier European wheat market,
with the result that Canadian exporters
would receive no more than the world
price.
Other Preferences Sought.
There was no indication that the
Monetary Committee had wheat pref
erence in mind in discussing the neces-
sity of boosting commodity prices to
stabilize financial conditions. In the
United States during the last session Of
Congress the question of higher COM
modify prices was associated with cur
rency imitation and defiation of gold.
There also were reports that Great
Britain would ask Canada to reduce
approximately one-third her present
duties on cotton and cotton cloth. the
British preferential on woolen and
worsted cloths, one-third. and demand
free entry or further preferences on
chemicals imported from foreign coun-
tries and on electrical equipment, ma
chinery, porcelain ware and coal.
American interests considered, how
ever, that it is unlikely Canada could
afford to increase the price of American
anthracite in a country which needs
stove fuel so many months in the year
and which thus far is getting from the
Welsh mines only enough to supply a
portion CT the Atlantic seaboard.
U. S. Watches African Trade.
OF all the definite developments, the
chief concern of the United States was
over the approaching bilateral trade
agreement between Canada and South
Africa. Last year American sales in
South Africa amounted to $45 ,000, 900,
against $6,000,000 of purchases.
The proposed preference for Canadian
products involves possible loss of the
market for American lumber, automo-
biles, electrical equipment and agri-
cultural machinery.