THE PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN Threp oc appemng. "Fresh from the Gardens7' Jjtish Tariff Experts Cannot Find Solution sting tariffs Against Imports United States Too Low: Relief pire Trade Agreements Bar y to General 10% Reduction in Duties on. Mar. 6—British tariff ex-lave been puzzling over the >m cf finding tariff concessions [might be offered to the Un'tcd j in connection with concessions j respect to the British war debt. »is not a case of their being unwill-\\o bargain, for even Neville Cham-i the chancellor of the ex-•r, has expressed entire will?ng-.0 negotiate a tariff agreement ilhe scope of the Ottawa treaties. simply that, looking at Anglo-ncan trade as a matter of give ike. the British fear that they . offer enough to satisfy Ameri-opinion or even make an ap-i2b!e difference hi the world's iff problem. Br:ish have studied recent £ments of Senator Cordell Hull. y of state.. In particular, they jve bein examining his proposal for DO per cent cut in tariff rates, but bi it as almost useless in the case [Anglo-American trade relations. In eyes it is as if Britain and were to hold a conference to vea 10 per cent reduction in the (tti of the British and Dutch Iris. The two simply are not com-ble, and neither are the British . Amercan tariff walls. i the British see* it, the one-sided -of their trade balance with the States and the great differ-between the two tariff systems .make the conclusion of any give jteke agreement difficult, if not ible. More than one-third- of I American exports to Britain already j free or subject to a 10 per cent pile' tariff, entirely unaffected . by I Ottawa agreements. Over this large j?e of products the British Relieve can hardly do better for Amer-o?de than .they are doing rpw. other commodities, includn^ im-at raw materials, Britain's hands [tied by the Ottawa pacts, and for j she cannot reduce these [2s without the consent of the do- it ii possible, of course, that this obstacle could be overcome 3e world economic conference, at P Canada and, the other domini "'-11 be represented. Until the c conference is under way, how-l no chance of revising the Ottawa - epts, unless Premier R. B. Ben-1 should have a change of heart or ^ral ministry appear suddenly !n And without revising &he •^ pact Senator Hull's 10 per cent «ca would be useless, ge remains the method "of re- negotiations' wliich Senator s endorsed and which the platform recommended at the moment when the Brifeh government embarked on a series of reciprocal negotiations with more than twenty nations,, particularly Argentina and the Scandinavian states. The method, which Ls a sort of tarff barter, is slow and cumbersome and has noi yet .produced significant results snywhere. If tried between Efitain and'the United States, the net result might not affect more than 1 or 2 per cent of Che total exports of the two countries. What, then, can be acireved in the way of an early tariff agreement between Britain and the United States? The most practicable opening, in the opinion of .observers here, is a declaration of a tariff truce by Washington. with a proviso, of course, guarding the United States against further currency depreciation. Such a move would be negative and would not bring dowri •tariff walls immediately ,but it would be welcomed, even by the present protectionist government of Brita'n, and migiht pave the way to a positive all-round reduction later at the world economic conference. COLLECTIONS SHOWED BIG IMPROVEMENT IN VANCOUVER Vancouver. Mar. 7—What Ls regarded ; as a hopeful s'gn was the marked im-, provement in this city during the , month of February in the collection of j municipal water rates. The collections J for the month were $230,922. the highest in the h'story of the city. Collections for February, 1932, were $220,-957, and for February, 1931, the total was $168,109. The other side of the picture is shown i:i the statement of l eiief expenditures. For the * month they rose to $84,000, of which amount j the city must find $29.9!8. wr.th the remainder. $54,127. ciivid