Hon. W. S.@
Fielding Returns-Tariff Conference at Albany ends in most Friendly Manner-Reported that probability of Tariff War has receded and a Settlement regarded as likely-Conference occupied Whole of Yesterday but no Conclusion was reached, says President Taft. Canadian Minister has left for Ottawa and may go to Washington the end of month.
(Special to the ' Citizen/)
Albany, N.Y., March 20.-There will probably be no tariff war between the United Mr. ARTHURS
States and Canada. The prospect for commercial peace with the Dominion is more favourable to-night than it has been at any time since the president caused it to he understood that the situation was critical.
By joint agreement between President Taft and Hon. W. S. Fielding, the Canadian Minister of Finance, the following statement was given out from the state executive mansion this evening for publication:-
' The President and Mr. Fielding were in conference in respect to the tariff to-dav for several hours. No conclusion was reached, hut the situation remains that of friendly negotiations/
Despite the late hour at which the University Club dinner ended Mr. Fielding and Mr. Charles M. Pepper, who is here from Washington as the representative of the state department, were at the executive mansion at half past nine o'clock this morning. They immediately went into private ' conference with Mr. Taft and remained closeted with him until he had to leave them to keep his engagement to attend church with Governor Hughes. The Canadian minister and Mr. Pepper returned together to the Ten Eyck hotel, chatting in a manner that indicated amicable relations, but they returned to the governor's official residence in time to resume the conference with the president after luncheon, to which Earl Grey and Mr. Fielding as well as the president had been invited as the guests of Governor and Mrs. Hughes.
After luncheon the conference was resumed, and it continued until four o'clock in the afternoon, when the president, by reason of an appointment of long standing, kept an afternoon tea engagement at the house of his friends, Mr. and Mrs. Ward. Mr. Fielding and Mr. Pepper again returned to the hotel. They repaired to the apartments occupied by the Dominion Minister of Finance and busied themselves in going over certain of the tariff schedules with a view of reaching some basis agreeable to both sides whereby the president would he justified in withholding the operation against Canadian imports of the maximum tariff as prescribed by the Payne-Aldrich law after March 31.
I wish to ask the Minister of Finance whether that statement is substantially correct and whether there was a conference between the President of the United States and our Finance Minister in Albany yesterday (Sunday) re tariff matters, as alleged in the despatch read? Was the invitation of the president, which was accepted by the government, for a Sunday conference?