The Globe. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1877.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 979, 15 August 1877, Page 2

The Globe. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1877.

Ls" compliance with a requisition signed by 123 citizens of Christenurch, his Worship the Mayor has convened a public meeting, to take into conside- j ration the present state of the manu- j facturing trades in Christchurch and ! the colony generally, and to adopt j resolutions on the subject to be for- ■. warded to Parliament. A short time ago a similar meeting was held in J Bunedin, when resolutions in favour of petitioning the Government to discontinue the importation of railway rolling stock and other material required in the conduct of public works, were carried. The speeches delivered j on that occasion were, on the whole, j creditable, although betraying the existence in the minds of some of the speakers of rather hazy ideas of the first principles of political economy. But with the decisions arrived at, we have no fault to find. We suppose that the movement which has been I set on foot here has been sugI gested by what has taken place in I Dunedin, and that somewhat similar reI solutions will bo submitted the public meeting on Thursday night. We hope, however, that the various speakers will avoid as much as possible travelling beyond the real question at issue. That it is the duty of the Government to afford employment for mechanics and other skilled laborers in the colony by discontinuing the importation of railway material, few will deny, more especially if, all things considered, the cost is not really greater. Being made on the spot, and under the eye of the authorities, there will not be the necessity for alterations to suit our requirements which have

so frequently to be made in the imported article. We have all the material for such an industry ready at hand, in the shape of splendid timber and cheap fuel, and ought therefore, under the protection which freight and changes alone afford us, to produce as good an article as the home manufacturers, and at an equally low price. But even if it cost the colony a few thousand:.; extra, it would be a wise policy to adopt, in order to keep within our shores a class of men whose labor will in the long run add. so largely to our wealth. Were we not convinced that New Zealand is peculiarly fitted to be the home, in future years, of nourishing manufactures of of the class to which we refer, we would certainly never advocate the adoption of the course suggested. But it is because we believe she has all the materials for successfully carrying on such industries, that we wish to see the Government adopting this means of giving a bonus towards their establishment, and at the same time of consolidating the Immigration and Public Works Policy upon which so large a sum has already been spent. In a former article we strongly urged this view of the question. It is surely worth spending a few hundred pounds with the object of retaining in the country those men who have been brought out here at the cost of as many thousands to the colony. The encouragement which (xovcrnment would thus be able to give certain classes of manufactures would result in the founding of industries which would soon become self-supporting, and a source of wealth to all, and the means of remunerative employment to a large body of workmen. The course which we advocate, is no departure whatever from the sound principles of free trade, Avhich we hope will always characterise our New Zealand fiscal policy. It is but a bonus given by the Government towards the establishment of certain manufactories for which the country is eminently suited. Protection, on the other hand, tends to impoverish the community at large, for the benefit of the manufacturer alone. Asa contemporary puts it—" Industries fostered by protective duties, if the duties are operative, are a drawback to national prosperity. They are sustained by making those goods dear which might otherwise be obtained cheaply; the labour employed is misdirected because not turned to the best advantage, and the profits of the capitalists and wages of the employed are derived from what is virtually a heavy tax upon the whole community. No country dependent upon protected industries could be rich, because riches consist in a surplus of produce above consumption; and if it be necessary to exclude foreign competition in order to supply the home market, there will be no surplus produce because no foreign trade." We hope the speakers on Thursday evening will carefully avoid damaging their own position by raising the general question of protection to native industries. Their cause requires no such aid.