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This committee declare that, in their opinion, the industries essential to the safety of the nation in which Jamaica is specially concerned are those of the supply of food, dye stuffs, and tobacco, and that the leading products coming under this head are fruit (bananas, citrus fruits, and coco-nuts), sugar, coffee, cocoa, dye-woods, dye- wood extracts, tobacco and manufactures thereof.

2. That the exports of citrus fruits would be materially stimulated by a prefer ence being secured in shipments to the United Kingdom, British possessions, colonies, and Allied countries which do or may impose import duties on such fruits.

3. That an increasing industry may develop in the manufacture of copra (dried coco-nut meat), and that care should be taken that admission of coco-nuts and of this product on most-favoured-nation terms to Allied countries is made secure.

4. That preferential tariff treatment would be essential to, and would probably induce, very considerable development of the sugar industry, but that also counter- vailing duties should be arranged as a protection against bounties if and when these are again given by foreign countries.

5. That the production of coffee would be stimulated if preferential treatment 18 generally given to British possessions and colonies, and Jamaica is admitted to share therein.

That the sale of coffee, cocoa, and other products to French markets has been often unduly hampered by the tariff arrangements of that country, which demanded a heavy surtax when coffee was shipped by a steamer which called at any Euro- pean port before reaching France; and that it would be a material assistance to trade with that country if this regulation could be altered.

6:

That this committee desire to direct attention to the anomalous position occupied by Jamaica produce in regard to French Customs duties, whereby Jamaica products come under the maximum tariff.

They appeal to His Excellency the Governor to bespeak the attention of the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the matter with a view to putting Jamaica produce on the most favourable terms possible.

7. That whereas in the suggested lines of action the Conference of the Allies undertook to adopt measures for facilitating the exchange of products by the estab- lishment of direct and rapid land and sea transport services at low rates, this com- mittee represent that this would especially assist Jamaican exports, and should be supported so far as possible, but that any subsidies given to steamship lines should be strictly dependent upon-

(a) Control of freight rates by the Government granting the subsidy, and by

the fixing of maximum rates from time to time.

(b) The prohibition of the formation of any conference or combine.

(c) The prohibition of the granting of rebates dependent on the restriction

of business to certain lines.

(d) The provision of suitable accommodation for the safe conveyance of fruit

or other perishable cargo.

8. That this committee represent that the tariff of this Colony has hitherto been framed with a view to the raising of necessary revenue, but that there would be no objection to the principle of preferential treatment to importations from the United Kingdom, British possessions and Colonies, and to Allied nations being adopted provided that such treatment becomes the practice of the British Empire generally; but that nothing should be done to prevent similar arrangements with other friendly nations who grant reciprocal terms.

Enclosure 2 in No. 15.

COPY OF A LETTER FROM MR. B. DONALD, Brussels, to CAPTAIN D. S. LIST,

JAMAICA.

DEAR MR. LIST,

Brussels, 19th September, 1912. MR. ACKERLEY has requested me to write you on the subject of French Customs duties on Jamaica produce.

France has a system of maximum and minimum duties, the latter being enjoyed only by such countries that have a commercial treaty with her. The treaty between Great Britain and France of somewhat ancient date and makes no mention of British Colonies, the result being that Jamaica, in common with other Colonies, comes under the maximum tariff.

61

The British Chamber of Commerce in Paris, when questioned on the subject, stated that they had on more than one occasion made representations to the Home Government, the reply in each case being that No representations had been received from the Colony in question."

This would seem to indicate that no move will be made unless the Home Govern- ment are badgered by the various Colonies interested.

The absurdity of the present state of affairs may be illustrated by the case of the Transvaal Republic, which, before the war, having a treaty with France, paid minimum duties, but to-day, as part of the South African Federation, come under the higher tariff.

On the two items in which we are principally interested the duties are:-

Oranges, maximum 150 franes per 1,000 kilos

minimum 50 Bananas, maximum

minimum 30

+

"#

51

"

50

11

22

"

事事

"

$1

"

Spain (including Canary Islands) and Columbia, having treaties, pay the minimum, but Jamaica, for reasons stated above, pays maximum, which, in the case of oranges, is almost prohibitive.

Any further information you may require I shall be pleased to obtain, but meanwhile I trust you may be able to get the Jamaican Legislature to move in the

matter.

Captain List, Jamaica.

16112

(No. 28.)

SIR,

No. 16. MAURITIUS.

Yours truly,

B. DONALD.

THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 28th March, 1917.)

Government House, Port Louis, 31st January, 1917.

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your predecessor's Circular despatches of the 25th of September and 24th of October last,* relating to the commercial and industrial policy to be adopted after the War.

2.

Those despatches have been referred to the local Chamber of Commerce,

and I attach a copy of a letter expressing the views of that body.

3. The sugar industry is the predominating interest of this Colony, and all questions affecting trade and commerce are viewed almost entirely from that stand- point. The enclosures to this despatch show that those who are at the head of trade and industry in this Colony are strongly in favour of protection against the unfair competition of State-aided foreign sugar in the markets of the Empire. They consider that sugar grown in British colonies should receive preferential treatment within the Empire over sugar of foreign origin, and, in a greater degree, over sugar produced in countries with which we are now at war.

4. The Chamber of Commerce associates itself with the recommendations that have been made, in this connexion, by the British Empire Producers' Organiza- tion, and is in favour of :-

(1) A comparatively low Customs duty on Empire-grown sugar;

(2) A higher rate on sugar from Allied countries

(3) A still higher rate on sugar from neutral countries; and

(4) Prohibition for a period of five years against sugar from enemy countries, and thereafter a tariff rate fifty per cent. in excess of the highest rate then current on sugar from other sources.

5. The Chamber also expresses itself as being in favour of granting prefer- ence to imports into Mauritius of British goods, and of prohibiting the entry of goods of enemy origin for a period of five years.

*No. I, and 45879: not printed.

E 2

.5:

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

C.O.

Reference :-

885/25

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TOPage 511

481

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6. The views of the Chamber of Agriculture were set forth in a resolution passed by that body at a meeting held on the 9th March, 1916, and which was transmitted to you under cover of Mr. Middleton's despatch No. 89, of 24th March, 1916.* The opinions then expressed are practically in consonance with those of the Chamber of Commerce, and a copy of the resolution will be found appended to the enclosure mentioned in my second paragraph.

7. I and my advisers are in general accord with the opinions and recom- We believe that, given a mendations submitted by the Chamber of Commerce. reasonable degree of protection within the Empire, the sugar industry of this Colony would be placed on a firm and satisfactory basis, and that a considerable increase of production would result therefrom. We are also of opinion that the preferential treatment of the Colony's sugar in the markets of Great Britain should be reciprocated by the grant of a corresponding degree of preference in the Customs duties levied on British goods imported into Mauritius.

I have, &c.

H. HESKETH BELL,

Enclosure in No. 16.

Governor.

SIR,

Chamber of Commerce, Mauritius, 21st December, 1916. I HAVE the honour to submit the views of the Chamber on the commercial and industrial policy to be adopted after the War in respect of Mauritius.

2. The question of trade after the War, in so far as Mauritius is concerned, practically hinges upon the treatinent to be accorded to sugar, upon which product the prosperity or otherwise of the Colony depends, and for which there is no prospect of any other industry being successfully substituted.

3. This being so, the Chamber is of opinion that, in order to safeguard the prosperity of the sugar industry, and, therefore, of the Colony, it is essential that it should be secured against the competition in the markets of the Empire of State-aided sugar, and against all attempts at capturing British markets, either by dumping or organized underselling.

The Chamber entirely endorses a resolution of the Mauritius Chamber of Agriculture passed on the 9th March, 1916 (see annexure), praying that the sugar colonies, including Mauritius, should be granted preferential treatment within the Empire over sugar of foreign origin, and in a greater degree over sugar from countries at present at war with the Empire.

4. Further, as one of the recommendations of the Paris Conference was the development of natural resources so as to render the Empire independent of enemy countries, and as, in this connexion, the War has brought out vividly the vital importance of producing within the Empire all its requirements of sugar, the Chamber submits that this desideratum can only be attained if capital be attracted to colonial sugars in the Empire's markets.

5. As regards the extent of such fiscal preference, the Chamber heartily associates itself with the recommendations which the British Empire Producers' Organization has already laid before the Secretary of State in this connexion, and with the scale of differential duties suggested therein, comprising :-

(1) A comparatively low Customs duty on Empire-grown sugar: (2) A higher rate on sugar from Allied countries:

from enemy

(3) A still higher rate on sugar from neutral countries; and (4) Prohibition for a period of five years against sugar

countries, and thereafter a tariff rate fifty per cent. in excess of the highest rate then current on sugar from other resources. Considerable quantities of goods of foreign origin are necessarily imported into Mauritius, and, in connexion with these, the Chamber suggests that certificates of origin be required to be produced. and that a preferential tariff be established on the lines suggested above for sugar, including the prohibition of the importation of goods of enemy origin for a period of five years.

6.

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RESOLUTION MOVED BY THE HONOURABLE J. J. GIBSON, AND UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED BY THE CHAMBER OF AGRICULTURE AT A MEETING HELD ON THE 9TH MARCH, 1916.

THE attention of the Chamber having been called to the danger of German and Austrian beetroot sugar flooding the markets of the British Empire on the conclusion of peace,

The Chamber begs to bring to the notice of His Honour the Officer Adminis- tering the Government of Mauritius, and of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the claims of the sugar colonies to be protected against the consequences of the uncontrolled competition of such sugars in the home markets and other markets of the British Empire.

The Chamber views with alarm the prospect of the renewal of such competi- tion, which was carried on for so many years in the past by the aid of bounties and cartels and other forms of State assistance, overt and veiled.

The Chamber recalls that, after a long period of ruinous depression, resulting from the unfair competition alluded to, a brief period of revival was enjoyed by the sugar colonies as a consequence of the operation of the Brussels Convention; That this Convention established a fairer treatment for British colonial sugar in the markets of the United Kingdom;

That in 1912 the Imperial Government deprived the sugar colonies of such security as the Brussels Convention guaranteed by withdrawing from the Con- vention, and that in so withdrawing the Imperial Government intimated that they would not give preferential treatment to British colonial sugars in the British markets without previous notice to the remaining parties to the Convention;

That the Imperial Government recognized this decision to be contrary to the interests and views of the sugar colonies, as shown by the telegram addressed by the Secretary of State to the Governors of the various sugar colonies, dated 2nd August, 1912, as follows:-

"His Majesty's Government sincerely regret that in the interests of this country it should be necessary for them to adopt a policy which does not commend itself to the inhabitants of the sugar-producing colonies"; That, notwithstanding this withdrawal of such protection as the Brussels Convention afforded the sugar colonies against bounty-fed competition, the Imperial Government has, since the outbreak of war, turned to the sugar colonies for supplies of sugar, and has, in fact, commandeered colonial sugar crops, and particularly those of Mauritius, at arbitrary prices fixed by the Royal Commission on the Sugar Supply;

That this action of the Imperial Government is a recognition of the importance to the Mother Country of the sugar colonies, and that it has recently been shown that those colonies, if developed under the guarantee of favourable fiscal arrange- ments, could supply all the sugar requirements of the Empire:

That, moreover, such favourable fiscal treatment in the home markets would

be only the logical sequence of the Imperial Government's interference with the free disposal of their crops by the Mauritius planters; and that a precedent for such preferential fiscal treatment is to be found in the protection of £2 6s. 8d. per ton at present enjoyed by beet sugar grown in the United Kingdom.

For the foregoing reasons, and also with a view to forestalling and frustrating the reported intentions of the enemies of the Empire to organize a commercial campaign against the British Empire, this Chamber respectfully prays that measures may be taken by His Majesty's Government to secure to the sugar colonies of the Empire, including Mauritius, preferential treatment in the markets of the United Kingdom over sugar of foreign origin, and in particular over sugar from countries at present at war with the Empire.

The Honourable

The Colonial Secretary.

*28838: not printed.

I have, &c.,

ARTHUR J. BROAD,

President.