The Daily Telegraph. THURSDAY, MAY 1, 1884.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3987, 2 May 1884, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. THURSDAY, MAY 1, 1884.

We generaly have to go from home to learn news, so we are scarcely surprised to read in tho Melbourne papers that Major Atkinson spoke strongly in favor of federation at Hawera. Well, tho general opinion expressed in the colony has been that the Premier, having felt the public pulse, not by addressing them, was not at all anxious j to say much about tho subject, but has quietly dropped it, as we know he has dropped some of his fade, when public opinion as expressed in the press was yery i

much against him. The paper which published the above telegram in the same issue gives us a foretaste of what its idea of federation is. Speaking as the mouthpiece of Protection hi Victoria, it says that the party it represents is quite willing to have y free trade between the colonies provided there is protection, according to the Vie- ' torian tariff, against the foreigner. A few weeks ago we hazarded the statement that the protectionist party in Victoria would accept no other terms, so we are not at all surprised at the declaration. Free trade between the colonies, with protection against the rest of the world, would suit Victoria admirably, and, prosperous as Melbourne at present is, it would be much more so if such a programme could be carried out. The journal in question has recently shown that the manufactories of Victoria have far surpassed those of the sister colony of New South Wales, and that, while the great bulk of the exports of the latter colony as regards its intercolonial trade, are. either transhipments of foreign goods or raw materials, the exports of Victoria in the same trade are manufactured articles. This of course need not be denied. Victorian manufacturers, fostered by a home market in which they can levy duties on the public of from 20 to 40 per cent, have so pushed their industries that the wall drawn around Victoria is not sufficient to keep their machinery going, and hence it is that surplus stocks are thrown on th« markets of the other colonies, to be sold for what they will fetch, so that the home market may be preserved at protectionist prices. As an illustration of this we need only mention the fact, well known to all commercial men, that while protection has secured the Victorian market to two or three candle makers by an import duty of 30 per cent, on foreign candles, New Southi Wales always reaps the benefit, as tifif Aj)ollo candles made in Melbourne are sold wholesale in Sydney after paying freight and charges at a penny per lb less than in Melbourne. A pretty illustration of protection, and if we wish another we have only to look at the share list of the Apollo Company, when we find that shares costing 50s each, on which only one dividend has ever been paid, and which it is now thought should never have been declared, cannot find purchasers at 20s. Of course, it is easily understood that the compact little colony of Victoria, with no land worth taking open for selection, has busied herself by means of a tariff in forcing her inhabitants into industries for which the country is not adapted, while her neighbors have been studying the question of how to : settle people on their extensive lands. Agriculture in all new countries must precede manufactures, and that is whore;: Victoria's advantage : has come in. Practically speaking her agricultural troubles as regards the settling of the lands are over, while her neighbors' have only begun. It must be admitted that in manufactures Victoria is two decades ahead of all the other colonies, and if the programme advocated by the Age could only be carried out, for Victoria it would be a good thing, but it would be a good thing at the ex* pense of all the other colonies, and t those colonies are not foolish enough to favor the pushing'colony's selfishness. At any rate, there is but little doubt that New Zealand is not prepared to accept intercolonial free trade on such terms, nor is this colony so enamored of federation that she would be at all likely to accept it on any such conditions. Agricultural settlement with us has not yet reached such a stage that the progress of our manufactures should be our main concern. If left alone they will grow of themselves naturally, but there is no intention to force their growth by any such delusive scheme as protection, which can only be described as robbing, the many for tho i benefit of the few, making ths rich richor and the poor poorer. So it seems that the great Conference will result, as SO many previou»ly have done, in nothing. The delegates had an enjoyable trip, talked largely of what they would each do at the proper time when they got home; tho country pays for the little trip, and that is all the result that will ever be achieved.