THE COMET.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2149, 3 August 1907, Page 1

THE COMET.

(Special to Times.) WELLINGTON, last night. The comet is plainly visible here in the early morning. It is equal to a stir of the third magnitude, but only one tail can be seen from this point of view. Mr. Hudson, a local student of astronom- says the comet is easily found and is now considerably above and to the east of the Pleiades. Th > bright star,Aldebaran in Taurus, forms with the neighboring stars a triangular figure closely resembling the well-known proposition of euclid, and the comet is situated near tho apex of the triangle slightly to the west.

THE NEW TARIFF PROPOSALS.

THIS DUTY ON BOOTS

SOME LOCAL VIEWS

In tho neiv tariff proposals, pcrI haps no item lias aroused more discussion than the proposed duty on boot-s. There are not, as yet-, any local boot manufactories —their establishment would appear to bo only a matter of time in this peculiarlylavoretl district—but any question affecting the consumer’s purse is ol equal interest to tho. general public. In conversation with the manager,, oi local boot emporiums, a “Times’’ reporter gathered that' the new tariff is twofold in its incidence. Owing to its comprising a fixed rate and a percentage as well, tho duty upon high-class goods will be scarcely affected, and the principal objection to tho new tariff is in connection with the lower-priced article., Air. Gibbard, local manager of tl: New Zealand Clothing Factory, gave it as his opinion that tho old tariff was far preferable. He instanced that the tariff would mean a considerable rise in the price of gum ! boots and goloshes, so necessary in a 'damp, climate. “Where does the fairness come in?” he queried. “We can’t get these goods manufactured in New Zealand, and what is the oh jeet of the increase? I could understand it- if it wore to foster colonial industry, but it- can’t have that effect.” A similar argument applied in tho case of felt slippers, cheap walking and wearing shoes, and sim . ilnr lines. Felt slippers were landed 1 at about 10s Gd per dozen pair.-, and - sold at Is per pair. Now they will ’ he doubled in price, beyond their real ' value. It was no argument to say - rubbish should be excluded—they - had to cater for what the people re- • quired. Felt slippers could not hr ! made at’ anything like this price in New Zealand. “It would not pay, colonial manufacturers to put in new plant for thi-s 'kind of goods. They can got far better returns from the medium and good quality goods.” Air. Gibbard remarked. “Take the case also of women’s' cheap slices to sell at 3s 6d. ’The extra duty will bring tho price up to 5s Oil or 6s. These are a useful line at 3s 6d, but too dear at say 6s. New Zealand factories can’t turn out' a 3s 6d shoe, and, what is more, I don’t think they want to. 'they do not go in for these cheap qualities; it doesn’t pay them to do so. I doubt whether they will compete with a 6s imported article, therefore it means that- the consumer has to pay more without any corresponding benefit to the- workers. I do not think the effect of the proposals has been sufficiently considered.' This is not an importer’s cry by any means—tho same lias been said by our southern manufacturers.” Medium or expensive goods will not, he believes, be at- all affected. 11l any case, the colonial product is now turned out so well as to bear competition. Tbe gist of Afr. Gibbard’s views is that cheap goods cannot bo turned out in New Zealand owing to tlie labor conditions (quite recognising that it is. in the

best interests of the workers to maintain a high standard and avoid sweating), the lack of plant, and the lack of shoddy material. “People will have the cheap goods I have mentioned,” he added, “and I think they will still ask for the imported article, notwithstanding the increased price.” Mr. W. J. Hennessy took a different view of the situation, however. “I uni a home ruler,” he declared, j “in trade and everything else. I believe in fostering home industry, and the time has nearly arrived when Now Zealand can afford to he independent of outside supplies. It would be a good thing for the colony I to ©top importing at all. There is I no real necessity for importations— I let the people pay a little-more, and I they will find the difference made up I in better quality, turned out at our I colonial factories.” He went on to I say that in medium and high grade I lines the colonial boot compared to I great advantage with the English I and American. I The reporter referred to the cheap I lines of felt slippers and the 3s 6d shoe. “If they never came into the I colony wo could do without them,” I Mr. Hennessy remarked. “Abso-1 lute -shoddy! Certainly we don’t I want to turn out slippers at Is a I a pair and shoes at- 3s 6d—we want I decent wages and respectable living I conditions. But the argument that I we can turn out no cheap lines won’t I hold water. The factories can, if the I importing craze is checked and the I demand for more reliable colonial I footwear sets in, turn out a fairly I cheap article.” Tho“ Times” reporter also had a. con- I versation with Mr. R-. A. Mitchell. I manager for Messrs. R. Hannah and I Co.’s Gisborne branch. AVliilst no I opponent of the colonial factories — I fir his firm are manufacturers as well I as importers—he was inclined to I think the effect of the tariff would I simply be to impose an extra burden I on the people for no result. The im- I ported article, especially in some of I tin cheaper lines, catered for the I wants of the community better. It I was fallacious, in liis"opinion, to talk I about the colonial factories being I able to turn out what was required. I Last year the duties paid on boots ex-I ceeded by close on £IOO.OOO the ami-1 ount. paid in wages in the New Zea-1 la-iu boot factories. The figures were I quoted from memory, but he believed I they were near the mark. “At pre-1 senr we have neither the operatives, I the plant, nor the material to supply | the home demand,” said Mr. Mit-1 cbell. “The factories find great dif-1 ficnlty in getting operatives. They I have more orders than they can fid- I fil, and we find difficulty in getting I supplies.” He recognised that in I some linos the colonial .make, especi- I ally for a firm working boot, could I not lie excelled, but considered that I in the great majority of grades the I English article was superior at the price. The manufacturers did not I ci ’c to raise the price above a cer-1 tain standard, and to make a profit at that figure would mean a shrink- I ago in quality. “But will that not menu the colonial makers’ opportunity?” asked the I reporter. ‘‘We cannot do without imports; i< I is only begging the question,” replied Mr. Mitchell. “There is a demand for the imported stuff, especially superior grades. It means cither a higher charge for the same quality or to sell ail inferior article at the same price as was formerly charged for the other." As to colonial makes, lie I said people wanted the best value for tlitit money—there was no patriotic I consideration where the people's poc- j kc-is were concerned. If the English or American boot, after paying duty, compared more than favorably ill I price with a similar boot of colonial manufacture—and this was often the I case—the purchaser would take the imported oue. “If a protective tariff is aimed at,” he added, “I don’t think the purpose will be achieved. The time is not ripe for it —for greater strides will have to be made in I the trade before it is beneficial. As I it is now, the people have to pay all this.” He maintained also that du- I ties were liable to be made the means of an increase in colonial prices. There was a tendency to put up prices when competition was restricted. When the preferential tariff, which affected American goods particularly, I came into force the log prices of the operatives was raised, so that really I the consumer did not benefit. The protective cry was only in the interests of the manufacturer and the smaller men who did not indent, and I fought against the importer who gave I better value. He agreed with the j vitv.s adduced by others in the trade, that no object could be served by the duty on cheap lines enumerated — they were not likely to he touched in Now Zealand factories,