The Feilding Star, Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published J3aily. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18,1895. THE TARIFF.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 69, 18 September 1895, Page 2

The Feilding Star, Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published J3aily. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1895. THE TARIFF.

. ,— ♦ The whole colony, we may safely assert, was opposed to the imposition of a duty on Island fruit, and Government acted with prudeuce (to use a mild term) in " backing down " and abandoning the proposal. Among many blunders committed in connection with the new Tariff this was, undoubtedly, the weakest and the worst, or, to use words of the Leader of the Opposition, Captain Russell, " There had never been such a hash in passing the Tariff through the House as they

had witnessed on this occasion." Tbe people have learned now that the Ministry can be frightened into anything. The "flannelette" and the " cocoanut and orange " tariffs being examples of what popular clamour can do in that direction. As a financier, Mr Ward, the Colonial Treasurer, has sealed his own fate. Had his been " a strong finance," according to the phrase so often in the mouths of his colleagues, he would have defended it to the last, and, even if defeated, have justified hiniself to his constituents and the country for the faith that was in him. If he does not believe in his own creation of a tariff, he cannot expect others to place much reliance on it. The tea merchants have also gained ! their end as regards a modification of the duties, while the leather merchants have been equally successful. The difference between these and the Colonial Treasurer is that they do understand their business, while the Treasurer does not. What has happened in Parliament over this unlucky Tariff makes thoughtful people ask " What was the Tariff Commission for, or what benefit has this over taxed country derived from the enormous expense of the Commission 1"