A Bill revising the Japanese Customs' Tariff was finally passed by the House of Representatives last week, and is now before the House of Peers. The list of the changes made by the Bill published by the "Jepan Chronicle" shows that the revision is downward except in the of citric acid, santonin, iron pipes and tubes, brass and bronze bars, a large number of articles being placed on the duty free list. In the course of his speech on the Bill, Mr. Kato, Parliamentary Secretary for the Finance Department, said that the Government had been convinced of the necessity of encouraging the development of domestic manufacturing industry by making use of the Customs Tariff, and of regulating the export and import trade. Existing circumstances had made this more nece sary than ever. The Government was of opinion that the duties on goods that could not be manufactured in the country and on those that had no prospect of export owing to rather higher duties were imp on goods the manufacture of which offered prospects of development, it would be very beneficial for the growth of home industries and the export trade. Further, it was proposed by the Government to reduce or abolish the duties on raw materials which were necessary for the development of domestic industries.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.