“ANYTHING IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE COLONIES.”

Ashburton Guardian, Volume III, Issue 535, 16 January 1882, Page 2

“ANYTHING IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE COLONIES.”

“ Expressly manufatcured for ex portation only ! ” Colonists should fight shy of any import bearing the above words, which mean, in most cases at least, that such goods would not obtain sale in the English markets, and that “ anything is good enough tor the colonies.” Reviewing the statistics of accidents on railways, an English authority says : —“No more shameless illustration of the way in which English manufacturers have been meeting competition can be shown. Bad iron, illworked steel, and scamped workmanship -these are the chief causes of the failures in tires, axles, and rails.” Regarding exports, generally, he goes on to say that only the most rubbishy articles are sent out to us, articles expressly manufactured at Home for the colonial market, and which would be wholly unsaleable in the places where they are produced. Pianos and furniture are very noteworthy instances, and also a quantity ofmiscellaneousgoods are “run ud by contract ” at Home, and sold in our large towns by auction. In the matter of food, again, w r e suffer severely. Wines, spirits, groceries, and almost everything that can be mentioned, are of a coarse, inferior quality, and, in some cases, are adulterated to so great a degree as to be positively dangerous to health. The outside of the package, bottle, or tin, is exquisitely got up, bearing beautifu ly printed labels, in gold and other colors, and often stamped as a genuine article. The frauds of trade are so easily perpetrated, and exposure so extremely difficult,, that dishonest manufacturers can carry on their nefarious practices with impunity. Nor do these remarks apply to British manufactured goods

only. If we look a little nearer home we shall find that the evil practices are carried on just as shamelessly. Take the common article which passes for Tasmanian jam. A writer, evidently well up in these matters says :—“ The markethere(Melbourne) is deluged with what is known as Tasmanian apple jam and combinations, in which the jamapple of Tasmania plays an important part. Does it ever occur to the consumer that this Tasmanian apple is really no apple at all, but a worthless, flavorless, species of melon that grows on any soil to an enormous size, and which is so common that it is only used in the country for pigs’ food ? Why, boiled turnips would be a far more wholesome and just as palatable an article as this artificial jam prepared from pie melons, acidulated with chemicals, flavored with lemon, and sweetened in the usual way. The worst of the matter is that such an article is not only destitute of nourishment, but, owing to the chemicals employed, it is positively dangerous to health, and particularly so when administered to children.”