The question of extending Imperial Preference under the Government’s Tariff plan to Palestine is not yet decided, the J.T.A. understands, and the matter is still under consideration by the Government.
When Mr. Neville Chamberlain; the Chancellor of the Exchequer, outlined the scheme in the House of Commons on Thursday, he used the phrase – we propose that all produce from all colonies, protectorates and mandated territories shall be completely exempt from either the general or the additional duties.
The position of Palestine, as being under the “A” Class of Mandate, appears, however, to be one of difficulty, owing to the operation of the Most Favoured Nation Clauses contained in various Treaties of the Imperial Government, and the Government is not clear whether, Imperial Preference can be extended to Palestine.
This point was dealt with (as already explained in the J.T.A. Bulletin of the 5th. inst.) in the Report of the Palestine Joint Survey Commission, which said that “the Power to grant Imperial Preference has been questioned on the theory that the so-called Most Favoured Nation Clauses contained in the Treaties of the Imperial Government stand in the way”.
It would seem, however, the Report contended, that these Clauses are inapplicable to Palestine. They refer to “other” Foreign States or Nations or Countries or Powers, but Palestine does not properly come within any of these designations. It is not in reality “foreign”. The language of the Clauses in question cannot properly be stretched so as to apply to Palestine, over which His Britannic Majesty’s Government is the Mandatory. The relations created by the Mandate are of the most intimate character. Although Palestine is not constituted British territory and cannot be said to be a Protectorate, yet its affairs are under the supervision of the British Colonial Office. While not, strictly speaking, a British Colony, nevertheless in some aspects it partakes of the character of a Colony. Comprehensive duties towards Palestine have been imposed upon the Mandatory by the Council of the League of Nations. Even though such Preference be not an absolute right, the conferring of it would be justified by considerations similar to those obtaining between a guardian and his ward.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
