Excerpt from Report of the Minister of Finance on the Reciprocity Treaty With the United, 1862 The undersigned can have no hesitation in stating to your Excel leney, that in his opinion the project of an American zoll-verein, to which the British Provinces should become parties, is one wholly inconsistent with the maintenance of their connection with Great Britain, and also opposed on its own merits, to the interest of the people of these Provinces. It requires no great foresight to perceive, that a zoll-verein means the imposition of duties by the confederacy, on articles produced outside of the confederation, coupled with Free Trade among its members.' In other words, Canada would be required to tax British goods, while she admitted those of the United States free, a state of things that could only accompany a severance of all the ties of affection, nationality and interest that now unite Canada to the Mother Country. It would also be essentially against the interests of Canada - Great_ Britain is to a far greater degree than the United States, the market for Canadian produce, and commercial relations should therefore be extended with her, certainly not interfered with. Besides in the consideration of the rate of duties to be levied on imports, the United States, as being the more powerful Country, would necessarily impose her views upon the confederation, and the result would be a Tariff notas now based upon the simple wants of Canada, but upon those of a Country now engaged in.a'colossal war, which must for many years demand enormous contributions from the people, among the means of obtaining which Customs duties will cer tainly rank as an important source of revenue. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.