The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 1870

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2164, 13 April 1870, Page 2

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 1870

As a consequence of the “ circum- “ stances of a new Colony ” with all the resources of the land in which they dwell undeveloped, Colonists must necesrily be dependent for manufactured articles upon other communities. The labor of the colonists is expended in the first instance upon making such provision for their immediate wants as is afforded by the materials in possession or attainable. First attention is given to the production of raw material, and the interest *f the colonists is to obtain for this in return, as great a quantity as possible of what - other countries can supply on cheaper terms

than they can make it for themselves. It is a very good thing to be able to make cloth and machinery, and in every department of labor to do our own work. But what colonies have to do is to put the labor of every man to its most profitable occupation, and if by producing or gathering raw material better wages and more profit can be obtained than by manufacturing for a limited market, at high prices, it is ■waste of time, labor, and capital to attempt it. It is the object of protection to equalise conditions of production. and by taxing the cheaper produce of other countries, to make them as dear on their sale here as if they had been grown or made by ourselves. The amount of the tax required to bring imports up to this point is the measure of the value of the unprofitable labor spent upon this endeavor to compete with countries more advantageously situated for the production of the protected article, and consequently the measure of the national loss of doing for ourselves what could be so much more cheaply done by other people. Were individuals to act upon such a principle they would soon find their way into the Bankrupt Court. To nations the loss is spread over the pockets of tens of thousands, or perhaps millions, of people, and being so diffused, though not the less real, is not perceived. So far as an import duty on cereals is concerned, it can for a very little time affect New Zealand \ perhaps, honestly speaking, it may for a few years benefit a class in Otago and Canterbury in this wise: both these Provinces produce more than sufficient for their own consumption ; while there are districts in the North Island where no attention is given to agriculture. These districts must be supplied from without by imports ; and if it should be the case that notwithstanding distance, they can be more cheaply supplied from San Francisco or Australia than from these Southern provinces, a duty on foreign produce equalises the price. But we must again point out that, although a class is benefitted, it is at the expense of the community ; for to enrich them, everybody else, even their own workmen, have to pay a higher price for their bread. We are sometimes told this is not true, but if not, for it is not worth seriously dealing with such an objection, it is quite sufficient answer—why meddle with the matter at all, if the professed object is not gained 1 When all the provinces of the Colony provide more than is sufficient for their own consumption, they will have to seek an outside market, and a corn duty will be a dead letter. There cannot be a more emphatic condemnation of a protective policy than that it tends to the unprofitable employment of capital at a loss to the revenue. There are trades that have sprung up under heavy revenue duties that must very soon seek an export trade if they are to continue to prosper. Perhaps no Colony is better fitted naturally for the production of beer than Otago. Its climate and water are favorable \ its soil is fitted for the production of barley and hops. The heavy duty gave sufficient margin of profit to induce brewing, and several large establishments have grown up in consequence. They have nearly excluded English beers from consumption, but the revenue is comparatively nothing, and in course of a very short time, in consequence of increased production, they must compete on equal terms with English brews in Australia and India, and with each other for Colonial consumption. In consequence of favorable natural conditions, we haveno doubt of their success, but it would not do to expect the same result in instances less propitious. The trade would have grown up had there been no duty at all. It has been anticipated a few years by the import duty acting as a protection. We are glad to say that those who embarked in the enterprise have profited thus far; but it would tend much to do away with serious misconceptions if a clear calculation of the cost to the community of establishing browing could be given. It would tend to prove that the most economical way to encourage new industries is not by protective duties but by a handsome bonus.