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COMMERCIAL  INTELLIGENCE  COMMITTEE  :

With  regard  to  woollen  and  worsted  yarns,  it  has  been  represented  to  us
.,  _  „  that  the  proposed  increase  of  duty  on  yarns  made  up  for
Worsted 1 yarn,  retail  sale  (hio.  424)  is  unnecessary  from  any  point  of  view.
As  a  measure  of  protection  it  is  not  required,  and  as  a
means  of  increasing  revenue  it  would  almost  certainly  defeat  its  own  object.
As  to  carded  woollen  yarns  (Nos.  422  and  423)—«which  are  not  mentioned  in
the  appended  statement—it  is  pointed  out  that  German  spinners  can  now
produce  these  as  cheaply,  if  not  more  cheaply,  than  British  spinners,  and  that
it  is  probable  that  even  if  the  existing  duties  on  such  goods  were  entirely
abolished  there  would  be  little  or  no  increase  in  present  exports  thereof  from
the  United  Kingdom  to  Germany.  If  it  be  assumed  that  one  object  which
the  German  Government  have  had  in  view  in  framing  their  proposed  tariff
has  been  to  favour  their  manufacturers  by  levying  only  moderate  duties  on
the  raw  materials  for  their  industries,  it  will  appear  as  though  the  existing
duties  on  such  goods  as  these  yarns,  if  not  reduced,  ought  at  least  not  to.be
increased,  and  that  it  would  be  mistaken  policy  to  add  to  them.
As  to  woollen  and  worsted  fabrics  we  are  informed  that  the  duties  leviable
under  the  tariff  in  force  on  heavy  woollen  cloths  are  all
Worste^ráS-ics.  ^iit  prohibitive,  and  that  any  increase  would  make  them
entirely  so.  Particular  exception,  however,  is  taken  to  the
proposed  increase  on  the  class  of  tissues  comprised  under  Tariff  No.  430(6)—.
“  tissues  weighing  more  than  200  grammes  and  up  to  700  grammes  to  the
“  square  metre."  It  is  asserted  that  there  are  almost  no  woollen  tissues
imported  into  Germany  under  200  or  over  700  grammes  per  square  metre;
and  the  view  is  taken  that,  as  Germany  imports  few  woollen  goods  from
other  countries  than  the  United  Kingdom,  the  proposed  increase  is  aimed
principally  at  this  country,  which  alone  among  the  nations  continues  to
take  large  quantities  of  German  woollens  duty  free.  The  proposed  increase
of  duty  is  from  135  marks  to  175  marks  per  100  kilogrammes,  equivalent
to  30  per  cent.,  and  representing  in  English  weights  and  money  a  rise
of  per  lb.—from  about  l\d.  to  9^d.  per  lb.  It  cannot  be  expected
tnat  tnis  increase,  if  adopted,  will  improve  the  revenue  from  import  duties  :
on  the  contrary,  the  probability  is  that  imports  will  diminish  in  greater
proportion  than  the  rise  in  duty.  As  to  the  requirement,  from  the  manufacturers' ­
  standpoint,  of  increased  protection,  this  point  has  already  been
effectually  dealt  with  above.  But,  in  addition  to  the  remarks  we  have
already  made,  we  have  to  direct  attention  to  the  further  facts  that  German
textile  machinery  is  now  equal  in  productive  power  and  excellence  of  output
to  any  m  use  in  this  or  any  other  country,  while  in  the  process  of  dyeing  the
Germans  have,  thanks  to  their  technical  skill,  an  undeniable  advantage.
German  woollen  manufacturers,  therefore,  instead  of  being  at  a  disadvantage
in  their  home  markets,  possess  considerable  advantages  as  compared  with
their  British  competitors,  a  fact  which  is  amply  corroborated  by  the  decrease
of  British  woollen  exports  to  Germany  even  under  existing  tariff  conditions.
Moreover,  we  are  informed  that  there  is  a  considerable  body  of  opinion  even
in  Germany  itself  against  this  proposed  increase,  especially  among  merchants
who  deal  in  imported  goods  of  the  character  referred  to,  and  whose  business
would  be  injuriously  affected  by  the  suggested  change..
Coming  to  cotton  yarns,  it  has  to  be  observed  that  reductions  of  duty  are
Cotton  Yarns  P ro P osed  ™  respect  of  some  of  the  coarser  counts,  of  which
practically  no  English  spinnings  are  sent  to  Germany.
Having  in  view,  however,  the  progress  of  cotton  spinning  in  Germany  of
late  years,  both  as  regards  the  extent  of  the  industry  and  the  fineness  of
the  counts  spun,  it  might  have  been  expected  that  the  whole  scale  of  duties
on  cotton  yarns,  and  not  a  minor  part  only,  would  have  been  reduced.  The
proposed  increase  on  the  finer  counts,  from  No.  60  upwards,  as  set  out  in  the
appended  statement,  will  be  prejudicial,  not  only  to  English  spinners,  but
also  to  the  German  weavers  who  use  such  yarns.  The  natural  consequence  of
tue  increases  in  question,  if  adopted,  will  be  that  German  manufacturers  of
tne  finer  descriptions  of  cotton  goods,  owing  to  the  additional  cost  of  the
3'am  which  they  use,  will  be  less  able  than  formerly  to  compete  in  the  trade
m  such  goods  in  foreign  markets.  /  -mu:.