TARIFF REVISION

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 61, 6 December 1926, Page 18

TARIFF REVISION

MORE LIGHT WANTED. "The appointment of the Tariff Revision Commission is timely,” said Mr. H. Jenkins to a Dominion reporter on Saturday, “but I do not think that the personnel selected indicates a desire upon the part of the Government to deal with this great and pressing problem in a radical manner. There are three officers from the Customs Department and one from the Department of Industries and Commerce. With all respect to these gentlemen, can we hope that they will deal with a matter' which involves considerations which touch the whole of our taxation system ? I may be wrong, but I_ do not entertain the hope that they will. "Further, I think that the Government should give the commission some direction, for ‘to inquire into and report upon the revision of the Customs tariff is vague indeed. ‘To what end ?’ I ask. ‘ls it with a view to obtaining further revenue, for removing anomalies to grant further protection to our local industries, or for withdrawing protection from those industries which have proved themselves to be inefficient?’ The wage-earner will want to know whether he is to suffer further reductions in real wages to help infant industries, and the primary producer is sitting up attentive as to whether the tariff is going to be fashioned to increase or to decrease its drag upon the plough, or whether he is to be loft to face reduced prices for his products without any alteration touhis present tariff burden. Upon these matters the Government should make pronouncement.”