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COMMERCIAL  INTELLIGENCE  COMMITTEE  :

We  have  here  to  refer  to  two  matters  which  do  not  stand  altogether  on
the  same  footing  as  those  to  which  we  have  hitherto
Salt.  alluded.  The  first  is  in  regard  to  salt  (No.  278  of
the  proposed  tariff),  At  present  imports  of  salt  into
Germany  by  sea  pay  only  the  internal  duty  of  12  marks  per  100  kilogs.,
being  thus  placed  on  equal  terms  with  salt  of  native  production,  while
imports  by  land  pay  a  duty  of  80  pfgs.  per  100  kilogs.  in  addition  to  the
internal  duty,  i.e.,  12  •  80  marks  per  100  kilogs  in  all.  The  effect  of  the  new
proposal,  if  enacted,  would  be  to  place  all  imported  salt  on  the  same  footing,
whether  introduced  by  land  or  by  sea.  The  imposition  of  this  duty  of  80  pfgs.
per  100  kilogs.  on  sea-borne  imports,  equivalent  to  8s.  a  ton,  amounts  to
about  ò0  per  cent,  upon  the  delivered  price.  The  importance  of  salt  as  ballast
is  well  known,  and  we  are  assured  that  a  large  part  of  the  export  trade  of
the  Baltic  ports  will  be  hindered  if  the  tonnage  now  employed  in  salt  ceases.
The  export  of  salt  to  Germany  is  principally  to  the  ports  of  Danzig,  Königsberg, ­
  and  Memel,  from  which  ports  exports  are  alleged  to  be  in  excess  of
imports,  so  that  outward  tonnage  is  necessary  for  German  trade.  Moreover,
the  importance  of  cheap  salt  as  being  necessary  to  all  classes  and  as  a  raw
material  needs  no  argument.  If  the  proposed  tariff,  as  is  generally  alleged,
is  intended  to  benefit  the  German  agricultural  classes,  a  prohibitory  duty  on
the  article  seems  inconsistent  with  this  object,  as  salt  of  moderate  price
and  of  the  highest  quality  free  competition  can  render  available  is  essential
to  prosperity  in  butter  making,  curing,  and  other  agrarian  pursuits.  We
are  informed  that  there  has  always  been  a  demand  in  Germany  for  English
salt,  especially  for  dairy  purposes,  English  quality  being  superior  to  German.
This  latter  statement  is  supported  by  the  fact  that  a  fair  trade  in  salt  is
being  carried  on  with  Germany  at  the  present  time,  although  in  addition  to
the  excise  duty,  chargeable  on  British  and  German  salt  alike,  the  British
salt  has  to  pay  freight.  The  increase  in  the  duty,  if  enacted,  will  of  course
virtually  kill  this  trade,  and  its  stoppage  will  not  only  injuriously  affect
the  German  butter-makers  and  other  users  of  salt,  but  also  that  part  of
both  the  British  and  the  German  shipping  industries  engaged  in  the  carrying
trade  between  the  two  countries.  And  beyond  this,  it  has  been  estimated
that  the  increase  in  the  German  revenue  from  the  additional  tax,  even  should
the  present  trade  be  undisturbed,  would  be  less  than  9,000¿.  per  annum.
The  second  matter  is  in  regard  to  straw  plait,  and  in  this  case  the  duties
are  proposed  to  be  reduced.  Straw  plait,  whether  in
Straw  Plait.  the  raw  state  or  bleached  or  dyed,  now  pays  10  marks
per  100  kilogs.  when  imported  from  countries  entitled
to  most-favoured-nation  treatment  in  Germany,  and  18  marks  per  100
kilogs.  when  imported  from  non-treaty  countries,  the  raw  product  of  a
non-treaty  country  (e.g.,  China)  being  admitted  at  the  conventional  rate  of
10  marks  per  100  kilogs.  if  bleached  or  dyed  in  a  treaty  country  (e.g.,  the
United  Kingdom).  The  treatment  proposed  by  the  draft  tariff  is  that  straw
plait  in  the  raw  state  shall  be  admitted  free,  without  regard  to  its  origin,  and
that  the  bleached  or  dyed  article  shall  pay  8  marks  per  100  kilogs.  Aided  by
the  present  tariff  provisions,  a  considerable  export  trade  to  Germany  in  plait  of
Chinese,  &amp;c.  origin,  dyed  or  bleached  in  this  country,  has  sprung  up  in  recent
years.  The  free  admission  of  unbleached  and  undved  plait  proposed  by  the
new  tariff  will  do  away  with  the  advantage  under  which  this  trade  has  become
possible,  and  it  is  urged  by  those  interested  that  this  will  not  only  be
inconvenient  to  exporters  in  the  United  Kingdom,  but  that  it  will  injuriously
affect  German  hat  manufacturers  also  by  lowering  the  quality  of  their  raw
material  and  restricting  them  to  the  few  bleachers  and  dyers  in  Germany
concerned  in  the  straw  plait  business.  It  is  asserted  that  the  great  body
of  opinion  among  straw-hat  makers  in  Germany  is  in  favour  of  a  retention  of
the  system  of  uniform  treatment  of  raw  and  of  bleached  or  dyed  straw  plait.
In  putting  forward  the  foregoing  observations  we,  of  course,  fully  recognise
that  the  proposed  tariff,  besides  being  subject  to  amendment  by  the  German
Legislature  on  points  of  detail,  is  to  be  considered  as  being  largely  in  the
nature  of  a  tarif  de  combat,  and  that  a  good  deal  of  bargaining  with  other
nations,  such  as  Austria-Hungary,  Italy,  Belgium,  and  Switzerland,  and