The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1907. CONTINUOUS TELEPHONES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2042, 20 November 1907, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1907. CONTINUOUS TELEPHONES.

The Chief Postmaster lias received' word from Wellington ill regard ito tilie proposal to arrange for a conr tinuous telephone service for this town-, that before such can he given effect to, a request signed by all the sensed. This c erTallily^app he an estnaordiaiiariy still ulation, for if followed to the letter it becomes possible for somo disgruntled individual to stand in the way of ia greatly needed reform. To the layman it would appear to bo quite sufficient that a stated' ’number of persons were wiling to agree Ito guarantee a sum sufficient to cover the cost of extra attention neceseiiry nit the bureau. The present hours during which the telephone can be used are so restricted as to fonn a serious cause of inconvenience to a large portion, of the community, but •if they cannot bo extended until rah--’ solute unanimity on tho part, of aubscribea'3 to agree to an addition-' al charge is secured, wo shall wait a very long time for any improvement. In tho meantime a number of gentlemen, mho have gone to conud'eralblo trouble and some ’ expense in .securing signatures petitwining fib® the continuous aervii.ee, Wild bo grievously disappointed .at the result of their efforts. It isstated that Sully 300 names of perl- - willing to. pay an laxldlitional•pound per annum .were secured, andas this number comprised a substantial majority of subscribers, and included practically every business firm in the town, it was- confidently hoped that the Post and Telegraph Department would' have granted the request.

THE EFFECT OF TARIFFS. At the present time, when ithe system of erecting artificial harness in the interests of trade is being adopted more than over -throughout the wo-rld, it is interesting to reflect for a 'moment to what extent tariff ■•laws and other forms of protection, really achieve the results claimed- for them. For instiauce, the iweteotionist who cites the United- States as a 'nation that has been- built lip through its system of high tariffs will be told by the Freetrader that American prosperity would have come even more readily .'under freetrade; that with its magnificent natural resources and enormous areas no other result could have,reasonably been looked for. Wo should hesitate to throw ourselves (into the contest as (between protectionists and fireotnadersr, but it is interesting to mote, .some instances which certainly seem ,to favor the latter. Under - uha.t was known as the Wilson tariff foreign wool was admitted free into .the United States and largo quantities were imported from Australia, the Argentine and South Africa. Then came the great agitation for high protection- which culminated in the passing of the Dinglev tariff, which is still in force. It nas declared with great national pride, that tho United States could produce the finest u-00l in the world and that if breeders were only given reasonable protection it would be but a matter of a very short (time when the woollen metis of t.bUit country u-ould' be using nothing but American wool. Accordingly .a duty of 5Jd per 3b svas put on every Male of foreign u-00l imported-, but tho result lias by no means justified, anticipations. The American climate is not suited to slieep-raising and breeders cannot, try how they will, produce wool of t,lie quality that can he obtained from Australia and New Zealand. Thus it happens that the ndioJo of this heavy duty has been taken from

the pocket's of American consumers without giving a co.rrespiondiiig stimulus to the ,‘llre.ep-brceding industry of that country. As a mutter of fact, there are less sheep in tho United States to-day than there were when the Dingily tariff was imposed in 1898, and wool is being imparted- as freely -as was the caso when it came in free of duty. An •analago-us daso can. bo quoted in regarid to Now Zealand. Our legislllaturo has imposed a. heavy duty on foreign wheat and flour with a view to making iit worth while fostei r-g the wheat growing industry in the Dominion, but there is every ill* io.itioiu that if the duty were doublnl our formers would still decline to forsako tlio more profitable ocoapation of stock raising in order to produce cereals. 'Wheat 's now worth close -to 6s per bushel and there is every probability that for another twelve months it will not fall much below ss ; yet with such a guarantee farmers of tho Dominion are 'putting a. less acreage down, in wheat than in former years. Thus the local consumer is being taxed with no 'apparent benefit io the wheat-growing industry. Freetraders could strongly argue from these tivvo instances that it is folly to attempt to disturb the UHtu-rol conditions of any country by the setting up of a ntificial barriers.