PROTECTION IN NEW ZEALAND.

Feilding Star, Volume XII, Issue 48, 7 October 1890, Page 2

PROTECTION IN NEW ZEALAND.

TO THK KIHTOR OF THE STAR. Sib, — Working men of this colony should not allow their thoughts to be diverted, through the present labor troubles, from their interests in connection with the general election, which event will doubtless arise again at an early date, care should be taken, that the effect of the present troubles, by checking commerce and investment of capital, does not lead to the opposite of one of the objects aimed at, namely, a reduction upon all-round labor, as the plea of necessity, is the only real sound argument that Protectionists can bring forward in favor of their scheme. In order to attempt to compete with low wages and long hours of other countries, I may venture to say, without fear of contradiction, that there is no scheme or device of man more calculated to lower the standard rate of wages than the policy of forcing industry * By the falling off of imports reducing the demand for highly paid work, Buch as wharf labor, &c, it substitutes a system whj^i a first, as a bait, may offer a fair wage must from the very circumstances of the case, lead to the selling out of small shareholders, and thus tending to monopoly by getting into the hands of a few capitalists who, in order to present a glaring balance sheet and high dividend to the large shareholder, start the prooess of reducing wages or lengthening the hours of labor until the rate of pay would reach the level of old manufacturing countries, and this is a history of forced industry in a general sense, that is to say when they do not collapse before reaching the aforementioned stage. The foregoing has been the result of that policy in America, a country which, from scope and natural resources, should maintain a high, standard rate of wages, but from recent statistics all-round wages in the United States are lower than in England, and I believe I am within bounds in asserting that competition is proportionately as great and wages are fully one-third lower than' the average wage paid in this colony. So-called Liberalism and Protection, the true meaning of those terms being antagonistic, have been made use of by sham politicians to secure official positions, and as a snare to obtain the working man's yote for the sake of popularity, or self aggrandisement, therefore, the sooner these individuals find themselves in the obscurity from which they emerged the better for the country. The insignificance of communication and trade between this country and America, is shown in the difficulty- of maintaining a mail service between the two countries, and although the United States Government had a surplus of about J>13,000,0( 0 some time back, derived mostly from taxation and the hard earnings of the working population, yet that Government only offers the paltry sum of £12,000 to keep that service going. By cheap production from causes dwelt upon in my former letters, the United States has become an undesirable country to carry on an absolute policy of Freetrade with regard to some articles of production, but with the duty taken oif wool, &c, probably treble the present trade could be carried on between the two countries to the mutual benefit of both, which increase would remove the mail difficulty. In regard to a fresh name for New Zealand to suit the altered circumstances, it has been designated The Crreat Loan Land, but if this country has to undergo a dose of a Protectionist policy a more appropriate name will be The Isolated Isle of the Sea, as we would then only require a small portion of the ocean to, secure the safety of coasting steamers, and in case of a war with Russia or China, to float over a sufficient quantity of icebergs from the southerly arctic region, so as to surround those islands with a wall of ice, and thus shut out the would-be invader, and at the same time keep up a sufficient supply of frozen mutton to suffice for local requirements. As the proximity of the ice would probably alter the climate along the sea coast, the inhabitants or Isolatians would, no doubt, make use of most of the wool for a covering. — I am, Sea., A Colonist. Feilding, October 1, 1890.