The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, AUGUST 22, 1901. CLASS LEGISLATION.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 193, 22 August 1901, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, AUGUST 22, 1901. CLASS LEGISLATION.

A statement published in the Mercantile Record of the 17th August is worthy of the careful consideration of the New Zealand public. New Zealand depends for its existence on its exports, and the value of these exports depends, not on New Zealand, but on the competition of those countries supplying similar exports. We quote fully the comments specially referred to At the Chamber of Commerce dinner in Sydney the other day a statement was made that the representative of a London corporation had decided to advise his principals not to invest in Australasia because of the harassing class legislation, and the following day the gentleman referred to, Mr W. L. Millar, confirmed the statement and stated that he was going to the Argentine in preference to Australia, because it had larger supplies of stock, cheaper labor, and was nearer the Home markets, and volunteered the statement that the competition of the Argentine was already beginning to be felt in the New Zealand frozen meat trade. The London butchers, he stated, were taking Argentine meat in preference to New Zealand, and remarked that he had that day read a letter from Lon-' ! don wherein a big firm told its colonial correspondent that the Argentine was gradually elbowing out New Zealand and Australia. Mr Millar’s statements are capable of proof, for in a recent circular issued by the Colonial Consignment and Distributing Company it was stated that the quality of Kiver Plate mutton being equal to j New Zealand, the butchers were tak-1 ing it in preference because of the lower price. Hitherto the strong feature in our favor in the competition was the superiority of quality, but as has been repeatedly pointed out, the farmers of the Argentine, aided by British capital, British intelligence and methods, were gradually improving the quality of their product, and the time was not far distant when the difference would disappear. It is evident that wo can now claim no superiority over our American competitor, and we must now suffer for the very simple reason that the cost of production in New Zealand is relatively greater than in the Argentine. We have placed all* kinds of restrictions, raised up numerous barriers, and to crown all we have anccuraged i fictitious land values. . The cost of. production is made artificially high, and yet we expect our farmers to make a profit in open competition with countries where the conditions are so much more favorable. It is a

fact, we think, that the farmers of the Argentine make a relatively larger protit when their frozen mutton is sold at Hid per lb than do the New Zealand farmers by selling their mutton at 3d per lb. There must be a readjustment. We must learn that we are but ordinary mortals, and that our best road to prosperity lies iu stimulating those productions of which the world lias need and. that iu the encouragement of private enterprise lies our high road to advancement. Government encroachments cannot fill the void ; on the contrary, the interference of the State in the past has done a great deal of harm, the full extent of which wo are just about to realise. The statements made by Mr W. L. Millar require to bo taken seriously. He came to the colonies with the object of investing, but is scared away by the economic conditions. There is too much class legislation in Iris opinion, that is to say, the labor laws demand too much ; or iu other words there is not suiliciout security for capital. It has beeu repeatedly stated that the trend of the labor legislation was in the direction of frightening capital away, but the warnings were unheeded and labor bills succeeded labor bills iu quick succession. Mr W. L. Millar supplies a striking example of the feeling of insecurity for capital. If anybody is wanted iu New Zealand it is the capitalist ; not the one who wants a firstclass mortgage of real estate, but the class of capitalists who will embark iu enterprises, launch out in new industries, or help to extend existing ones. But the capitalist, the man who is wanted, is nothing if not conservative. Before he lays out a sovereign he likes to feel sure that nothing will be done |by the authorities to discredit the j value of the holdings ho may bo disposed to acquire. If lie finds that the old safeguards are respected he will feel like staying, but if it appears that socialistic experiments are to bo worked out at the expense of the taxpayers; if he finds that the money he brings to invest, is going to win him the title of plutocrat and the envy and hatred of Ills neighbors; if he is led to feel that the functions of the State will be used to rob him or depreciate the value of his goods, lie will not stay. This is not theory, but history. It is historically true of several of the States of the American Union and of the South American Republics, and Mr Millar shows that it is true of the colonies of Australasia. Wo want to see the capital invested in New Zealand industries aud helping to develop the resources of the colony, but capital will not come here unless there is some security—not theoretical but real.