EXTRACTS FROM "HANSARD."

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1915, 11 August 1888, Page 2

EXTRACTS FROM "HANSARD."

DUTY ON BINDING TWINE.

In the Home on Jane 26th \rhen the Customs Duties Bill, was, under consideration Sir John Hall, member .for Belwyn, spoke against the proposed duty , on twine for binding, aa it had been a great grievance to the farmers. /i Mr Walker add he; was astonished .i,^ the action of the honorable member foeo Solwyn, who wan evidently stillng under false colors ; for If his argument meant anything It meant that Protection was a bad thing for the ohief industry of theojlony, and that although he professed to be a Protectionist. He (Mr Walker) contended that the tariff was entirely m the interest of the farmer, because it would bring about a better sate of trade. His honorable friend should not have voted for the seoond .reading of the Customs Duties Bill, bat obould have sat on the other eide of the House If he held such opinions aa he had jaat expressed, ' This particular duty, had operated right along m favour of the farmers, beoause the competition between the local factories had kept the. price down, aadit was.npw,. from ldto' l£d-a pbuad below the; p*toej>#l the Imported article. I£±he honorable gent'eraan had conaultecSlthe chairman of «ha 00-operaUve ' Aosiiclatlon he wonld have found that, they were at present importing twine at* nominal price simply to keep the market open ; so that if the Houae should strike the duty off they ' ooald come .m and get the trade.' On the other hand the local manufacturers . had been steadily lowering the price ; and so far from there being only -'two factories, there were sir or seven If the honorable gentleman relied on the ipfornvatlon contained m the letter which he had quoted he was afraid .the honorable Igentleman was likely to be led astray, fur he endorsed what the honorable member t for Llnooln had said, and believed the source of Id*,' formation on which the honorable member for Selwyn apparently relied was not trustworthy. He believed the chairman of that importing agency would do all that he could to Influence the honorable member for Selvryn or anybody else •gainst Pro'eotion. He trusted the House would not be led astray by the arguments of the honorable member, but would adhere to this duty In the .interest of the whole oblony,. the farmers Included. .; Mr Buohanan said the honorable paem-i ber for Ashburton professed to seek legislation m favor of the farmer ; but, surely, if the importer was competing with the local manufacturer, and got a share of the trade m this article, then If the duty were knocked off they would have the Importer bringing the price down by 15 percent, and the farmer would In that case benefit, for the looal manufacturer 'would ba compelled to sell at a lower price than he did at present. There was, however, another phase of the question which had not been touphed upon, and that was that while the the local manufacturers pro* f eased to anil twine altogether Composed of maollla, it was largely mixed with New Zealand flax; If that was the caBB the farmers were induced to bey an inferior article. He hoped the Premier would consent to strike this duty off. Mr Fish hoped the Premier would noi* strike this duty off. The evidenoe was overwhelming m proof of the fagt that since twine had been locally manufactured the prlpe had been reduced enormously^ The effaot of taking the duty off would be that two or three fhurisbing factories would be obliged to shut up, and the farmers would then be ptaced In the hands of the Importers, who, it wasj notorious, combined against everybody, having no thought but for themselves. In Dunedln there was a large faptory, and the proprietora had informed him that they had Imported machinery worth £500 or £600 to improve their work, and if this duty were knoojeed off they would have to shot up. He could hot understand how the ; honourable member for Selwyn, who professed to be a Protectionist, could vote agalnet this duty. There was no desire

to oppress the farmers, and they had been very liberally treated m this tariff. He disliked tljls ory of " the oppressed farmers" being eternally dinned In ttieit ears. shoald not the farmera bontrlbate to the revenue "ad well iH other olasaea, particularly as they had boei so falTy, and no doubt very properly: orb. tooted by this tariff? ' ' " fi - 'X *

Mr Buxton moat aay that he differed very tnnch from the honorable gentlemen who had just eat down (Mr Duno&n) though they both claimed to be farmer a. He, too, had received letters imtraoting and wishing him to vote against this part of the tariff ; but he failed to see the propriety of the request. It appeared to him that it would not ' benefit the farmer if this doty were removed. For hla own part he would rather see the l< lmportation stopped than th'e colonial Industry stopped! He had ased: both kinds of twlneyWd liked the colonially-maaufsctured twjqe better than the Imported, If tfiey 4ld not make qqlte bq g*oo 3 an artiqle t$ thf opinion of aome people, he thoqght It wag time they had Protection to enahle them to make it as- good aa they wished it to be, , T , ha ftett WM retained at 15 par qqqc