DUTY ON CEREALS.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2198, 24 May 1870, Page 2

DUTY ON CEREALS.

To the Editor of the Evininy Star. Sir,—Our venerah'e fathers in the Provincial Council have been discussing the propriety of levying a duty on imported corn, and wish an almost unanimous voice have agreed to petition our Legislative Assembly to carry their wish into effect. One venerable Cuhden alone, whose enlightened advocacy and powerful exertions in tho cause of free trade can never be too gratefully remembered, atqqd up in opposition to the general will. I hope, sir, that the more enlightened men who compose that Upper House will, on the principles of true political economy, disdain to stoop to be the framers of so unwise an Act, but treat this petition with that contempt which should be its just merit and ought to be its only doom. I thought, sir, that I felt the breeze of self-interest passing by when this motion was brought forward by the honorable member for Matau. With one or two exceptions, are not the members of our Provincial Council all wealthy fanners, who in the early Stages of our country’s history had alinqst slicked, the life’s blood from the heart of our prosperity by the preposterous prices they obtained for their corn, and when within this last year or two prices have fallen considerab'y, yet not too low (no thanks to them, however), by the introduction of foreign produce, they would like again to apply the leech, and drain away from us what wc have saved by the consuming of LlSljtiOO wovth of another nation’s goods. Looking with an envious eye upon South America and Australia, they consider what these nations gain by trading With us as their own loss, and consequently the individual desire in the heart of each of them is nothing more or less than an extension of the wish which may probably be entertained by several persons who carry on the same trade in the same street, and each of them would like the others to be extinguished, so that his individual business might ho thereby benefited. Dp Smith gays—-* Tl t c speaking arts of Underling tradesmen are thus erected into political maxims for the conduct of a great empire, for it is the uvst underling tradesmen only who make it a rule to Bmp’oy chiefly tlieir own customers ; a great trader purchases his goods always where they are cheapest and best, without regard to any little interest of this kind. The modern maxims of foreign commerce, by aiming' at tho imiioverislpuent of- all our neighbors, so fay as they aye capable of producing their intended effect, tend to vender that very commerce insignificant and contemptible, That commerce which ought naturally to be among nations as among individuals a bond of union and friendship, would become the most fertile source of discord and animosity. The violence and injustice of the rulers of mankind is an ancient evil, fqr which I am afraid the nature of human’affairs can suai-cly admit oy a remedy, But the mean rapacity, the mloilopolising spirit of merchants and manufacturers, who neither are nor ought to he the rulers of in nkind, though it cannot perhapis be corrected, may very easily be prevented from disturbing ybq tfUjiciiiiUty oj: any buy tlpepnselves.’? Where trade and barbel; tali'e place, every nation qn the certainty qf procuring wlpa’t it wqnts vyill employ its lands aipl industry jq j)lm inqst rpivautageuus manner, and mankind pi general pyove gainers by A Such are the foundations of the general obligation incumbent on nations reciprocally to cultivate commerce. Lord Palmerston, in his celebrated speech on the Corn Laws, says—“ Why is the earth on which we live divided into ?opeg and clmjatcs ( Y, r hy ( I ask, do differents countries yjeiil different productions tq' people experiencing similar wants Why are 'they 'intersected with mighty riveys, the qaturql liigh, tyay qf nqtiqns i Why awi tRe lajuls most distant from each qthey brought almost into contact by that very ocean which seems to divide them ? Why sir, it is that man may be dependent upon man. It is that the exchange of comodities may he accompanied by the extension and diffusion of knowledge, by the interchange of mutual benefits, engendering mutual kind feelings, multiplying aqd continuing fyiqndiy yciatiom,-. It is tjiat' commerce 'may ‘go freely fortH; leading civilization with the one hand and peace with the other, to render mankind happier, wiser, and. better.” But bow gtan(]s the cai,e sir, is it hot something like this ? The farming aristocracy at prosept fqriu onr Provincial Council, Wealthy sqmq q£ them worth thousands iu tho year, derived

from the dividing and |sub-dividing of the broad and long acres of which they are the happy possessors into small farms, and from these they derive such enormous rents, that it is the wealthy farmer’s tenants that I pity most, who, having large rents and heavy taxes to pay, cannot well cope with those who sittting rent free, and deriving a competency from the leased portion of their ground, and producing sufficient for their own wants on the rest, sit now in State and rule that we must tax all imported corn. Sir, there is no question of secular politics of such vital consequence to the great mass of the community as the taxation of corn. The state of society, not only in its moral, but even in its religious aspect, must be affected in no ordinary degree by the full or limited supply of articles essential to the support of life. Although abstractly, it is difficult to see the wisdom or expediency of subjecting to taxation, the greatest necessary of life, it is not difficult to understand how, in the complicated re'ations of an artificial state of society, such a policy may be pleasantly defended. A disastrous harvest and consequent prospect of scarcity, have dispelled the mists of sophistry as with a sunbeam. Thousands are now convinced who were sceptical before ; and in other countries, how often has the verdict gone forth from a united nation that the trade in corn must be free. Sir, I do hold that taxation upon corn is impolitic, because cruel and oppressive, and therefore sinful to enhance by taxation an article of indispensable necessity to the very existence of the poorest classes. Six-, 1 believe that in supplying the exigences of a nation, the food of the common people is the very last thing on which an enlightened Statesman or Christian Legislator should lay his hand. lam sure that in this land no circumstance of necessity has ever arisen strong enough to justify the enactment, much less thejmaintenauce and perpetuation of this ungracious law, that it is now proposed to enact for the sole benefit of a privileged class of landowners; and although it might seem natural enough to afford, them protection, still that cannot be taken into account against the policy that benefits the nation as a whole. I believe, sir, this restriction on the importation of corn will occasion an unceasing conflict betwixt the extreme sections of the community. The aristocracy contending for the rights of their order in the pretection of agriculture—the laboring classes struggling for equal laws, and what they consider their natural privileges; the one plying the Minister of the day with menaces of opposition or promises of support, the other with murmured threats and overt acts of resistance to the law. In this unequal contest it is easy to see to which side the (iovernment would be most likely to yield, and it is no great wonder therefore to find this debatable ground still in possession of the stronger party, and hence the two c’asses, instead of being knit together by the mutual ties of kindness and protection on the one hand and faithful service and attachment on the other, will he placed in a state of virtual antagonism, and taught to regard each other as cold hearted oppressors and turbulent and disaffected agitators. V\ hen bread is dear the laboring man has of course less to spend on clothes and other comforts, and as the working classes are among the best customers which the manufacturer has, bis profits are diminished in the same proportion as their comforts. Surely, 1 need hardly remark how unfavorably the want of decent clothing operates on our feelings of self respect, how it indisposes for the publicity of the sanctuary, how often perhaps it tempts to the obscurity of the tavern. I Lave statistics at hand which show that wages are usually highest when the price of com is low, and that mortality and crime are generally found to increase with the price of food, but space forbie’e rqq tp eiyi-er into these details at present. But aside from the temptation to vice and crime, the more precarious the food of the common people the more impervious are their minds to elevating influences of any sort. How is it, sir, that the' working classes here have such great reason t‘o complain of unequal legislation ? If the landed or commercial interest is threatened with any real or imaginary danger, there is no want of remedial enactments, but when was there any Legislative measure adopted to remove the grievances of t' e poor'; Is out country ton ybuqg t6‘adopt the principles of Free Trade ?, u'hah arguments are ! strong enough to stand against tlie advantages to he gained from introducing at least the necessaries of daily life free? In the annals of Britain since she adopted these principles has not her history been a march to progress, still progressing, and to power, while the joyful hearts of her united peqplp beat responsive to the nqtc. Again I qsk, v is the working map unreasonable ii; asking the repeal of duties'even now imposed on the daily necessaries of life ? He is seeking no' favor. The only thing ho wants is to carry his hard won wages whore he can purchase bread cheapest and best, and men will not allow him. He tells you he has no money to throw away; that be has a small income and a large family, but will do what he can to make the two ends meet if you will only give him fair p'ay; you virtually answer that yog have nothing tq do with his family oi‘ ins wages that the interest'of the rich must be protected, ahd thus the ' poor maiV must continue to purchase his food Troth the squire at the great house, although he could buy it at two-thirds thq prieg fvovq tho farmed across the \yater. Sir, 1 maintain that freight' and charges Should' always he sufficient pro-' tcction for any colonial product or native in-: dqstyy, m] thusa that cannot stand against tips should he discouraged, that some other pyodqctiqn tq wlpch oqr situation wight bo better suited, may afford more beneficial employment to our capital and labor. Let it be written to Otago’s disgrace that she cannot produce and sell com as cheaply as hey neighbours. Instead of' ini posing any fqrtl'ci 1 restrictions Upoq our, commerce, let us. rather cut away niany of those that at present impede its progress, and limit it tq eq narrow' and contracted <q sphere, \Y'e possess; a copntvy richly endqwed by qatqre iq point of soil, climate, and mineral resources j a country that possesses all tho joyous elasticity of youth, full of enterprise, growing in wealth and population, ready at a bound to leap into daring experiment and hazardous enterprise, -whenever free trade shall go forth to herald the morning of our prosperity and lead us on to witness the noonday glqriqs of a prosperous race, Dpuix amor IdA rq^s,