Ottawa, May 6.
In the course of the debate on the Budget in the House of Commons to-day, the Premier, Mr. W. Mackenzie King, announced that a general election in Canada was being held in the antum 2 The announcement, which took the House by surprise, was contain ed in a brief statement in reply to the leader of the Conservative Party and of the official Opposition, Mr. R. B, Bennett, who moved an amend: ment involving a vote of non-confidence in the Government on the general ground of its alleged insincerity regarding the tariff changes embodied in the Budget.
Mr, Bennett asserted that the proposals made by the Minister of Finance were completely at variance with, the Government's "dedan polic Mr, Mackenzie King replied that the Government was armed with the people's mandate and that it should represent Canada at the Imperial Economic Conference, It is expected that-the gene election will be held Into in August or early in September, It may be recalled that important changes in Canada's fiscal—tant? volley were announced by Mr. Dunning when he presented the budget for the coming financial sar in the House of Commons on fay 1 'The Minister of Finance announe= ed x surplus of $44,500,000 and enumerated a long list, of tariff changes mainly designed to increase British preference, to encourage Empire trade and' considerably restrict Imports from the United States.
Enlargement of the British preference, he declared, affected $200,- 000,600 worth of goods nnd inclu:
jous iron and steel manu. machinery, electrical apparachinaware, This, said the Minister of Finance, could be taken indication of the spirit which Canada will approach the forthcoming Imperial Economic The Budget also contained a prow vision for the free entry, under the British preference, for tea imported direct from a British country and purchased in the United Kingdom,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.