INDIAN WHEAT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1682, 8 October 1887, Page 3

INDIAN WHEAT.

In our issue of Tuesday k<st we 100 occasion to warn the tanners that they wished to preserve the Ne< Zealand and intercolonial market fc the disposal of their wheat, that the must urge their representatives to brin pressure to bear on any Governmer that may he formed, to impose a prohib tive duty upon its importation into th colony 3 and at the same time we als warned them that no time should be loi m doing this. We recur to the subject because w find that an excess of caution has lei us to greatly understate the case rathe than overstate it. In glancing ove our exchanges yesterday, we came upoi the following paragraph : — " Here is i very pertinent question put by a corres pondent of the Christchurch * Star,' anc which it behoves our farmers seriousl] to consider : ' Like many more younj men who take an interest m politics, \ should like to know how it is Free traders manage to avoid the following question : Seeing that a first-clas! quality of wheat can be bought m Indu at gd per bushel, and landed ir Lyttelton at 3d per bushel extra, thai is, is per bushel, how do the Freetraders propose to save our wheatgrowers from ruin ? I have just arrived from India, and know the price I have mentioned is correct.' " Our object m reproducing the extract is not lo discuss the question propounded, but to deal with the facts stated, by the writer. If these be correct, and the writer vouches for their correctness, having just returned from India, the situation is much more serious than we anticipated ; and we cannot too stiongly impress upon our farmers the necessity of taking immediate action. Meetings should be called m every farming electoral district for as early dates as possible, at which meetings resolutions strongly urg'ng their members to take action m the matter m the direction we have indicated, should be passed ; such resolution would greatly strengthen the hands of their respective representatives. We must again impress upon our renders the necessity of immediate action. The latest Press Association telegram states that " a belief is generally expressed that by Tuesday morning, at the latest, the new Ministry (Atkinsonian) will be sworn m." We' venture to express an opinion that this is known m India already. We must remember that Canterbury, by returning such an united phalanx of Protectionists, has exposed herself to retaliation, and we should not be surprised to learn that some Freetrade merchants would have no objection at all to killing two birds with one stone — retaliating on Canterbury and enriching themselves — by importing cheap Indian wheat, and clearing a profit of 150 or 200 per cent. So long as it was uncertain whether Major Atkinson would be able to form a Government, they would not deem it prudent, but now that it seems that a Ministry will be formed inimical to the farming interest, the imputation may prove too great to be resisted. The question of its stability would not enter their thoughts, m fact, to hint the impossibility of forming a stable Ministry from any one party m the House, as at present constituted, would be to mortally wound their loyalty and their amour firopre. For these reasons we feel compelled to urge immediate action.

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