THE PROTECTION CRY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume XIII, Issue 546, 6 February 1868, Page 2

THE PROTECTION CRY.

[COMMUiSICATZD.] Fancying that all controversial questions concerning the utility of Protectiou (so-called) to the industrial inter- ■ ests of particular classes in a free . community had been for ever set at rest by the results of exhaustive dis- . cussxon and legislation, I have been somewhat startled by an attempt to interest the people of New Zealand'in any agitation of the matter. When, some years ago, those of the inhabitants of Great Britain who were immediately concerned in the amount realised from the cultivation of the land, objected to the relinquishment of an existing tax on the importation of corn, and the permission of a free importation of cattle, that class, including the farmers and all who derived their income from agriculture, were themselves suffering under a most heavy taxation for national purposes. The barley grown by them had, as malt, a heavy tax imposed on it. The horses used by them for ploughing the land on which to raise it were taxed ; those used iu draught and the cart used by the farmer and bis family—as well as the men employed to clean the horse and cart—were also heavily | taxed. The hops, his beer, the dog to keep his flocks, and many other things, paid heavily to the exchequer. All these, however, with the exception of the malt tax —nearly £7,000,000 a year—have been repealed, and the whole of the Protective taxes swept away and annihilated,—the result being that immense quantities of corn, and numbers of animals, are imported for food into England every year duty free. How has this radical change affected the position of the fanner, &c. ? The reply is—he cultivates his land better, lives more expensively, and pays higher rents. The laborers have more and better employment, receive higher wages, aud live in more comfortable homes ; —all which the writer well knows from experience, for he has hoen a staunch Protectionist, and Ims fought faithfully aud energetically ou that side of the question, having aided in the getting up at various limes of at least a hundred petitions to the Imperial Parliament iu its favor. But what, I ask, nave we in New Zealand to protect by exceptional taxation ? The editor of the Hawke’s Bay Herald, |in a leading article ou the Bth Feb,, says:—“The resources of the runholder of the present day becoming day by day diminished, we suggested protection as one means of ameliorating his condition, inasmuch as it would give Liar, for the time at least, the command of contiguous markets.” Here, surely, wrapped up in mysterious form, but inscrutable to me, must be argument or wisdom overpowering. What competition is this Protection to rid the runholder of? Sheep and cattle, the great objects of his industry, never come here to compete with him; and I am too obtuse of intellect to understand how a greater supply aud consequent reduction in the price of sugar, tea, clothes, and other necessaries, to feed and clothe his shepherds and stockmen, could possibly increase his difficulties. It is too bad thus to attempt to mislead by the advocacy of measures which tend to the absolute contrary of the object desired. I will endeavour to show how this Protection theory would succeed if tried in New Zealand. We want both labor and capital so as to be able to turn our present practically unlimited extent of soil to account. Well, it is said we want a higher price for the produce ; therefore let us impose such a tax as shall keep away that which, from some undefined cause, we now import. Suppose this tax applied, and that it raise the price of all the wheat grown and consumed in the Colony by two shillings a bushel, the profit goes into the pockets of the wheat growers, but it is all paid by the wheat consumers, and the Colony is not one shilling the richer, nor is there one pennyworth more of labor to be performed. At the best, and supposing there to be no waste, the majority of the community, comprising laborers, tradesmen, &c., would only have been making ft subscription for the farmers. But this is not one-half of the evil of it, having unequally taxed various classes of the community, laboreis, tradesmen, &e., for the benefit of another class ; each of these in turn has an equal right to demand that a tax fce imposed on other classes for his protection, to make th«

> matter fair ; and each would have it, too, until all classes would be protected, and all suffering this multiplied taxation. The loss incurred from ex- i pviiSvS) inert?tibtici cost ui living unu in other ways by this uncalled-for and mischievous protection would be great, and, moreover, it would create and disseminate a spirit of dissatisfaction and contention throughout the Colony, which would not unlikely, under present circumstances, end in its permanent ruin. It is dangerous for children to play with edged tools and poisons; but more dangerous for us, who call ourcelves men, to urge our population, who have generally had no opportunities for the study of such questions, to bring into action principles of difficulty and danger, which certainly require the exercise of the most sound discretion and wisdom in their execution, even when they are likely to be of advantage ; but as regards this Protection, all political economists agree that it is, both in theory and practice, injurious to the prosperity of a free country. There are other evils besides those pointed out above attendant upon Protection, such as its diversion of capital into unprofitable lines of employment, but for the consideration of which you will not probably have space to spare on this occasion. THE LATE STORM. Qua Auckland cotemporary, the Daily Southern Cross, Bth Feb., referring to the late storm, says : —“ On the evening of the Ist the barometer indicated a storm of some magnitude, standing, as it did, at 29 - 86. On the following morning the gale had fairly set in, and at sunset the reading of the barometer showed 29T0. Vessels dragged their moorings, and small boats broke adrift. On the morning of the 3rd the baro* meter was at its lowest, showing 28 - 22, an indication that the wind was passing with hurricane violence over the island. The casualties were again of no moment, owing to the excellence of the harbor. The barometer continued low afterwards, but a slight change on the sth, when the wind hauled round to the N.W., and the weather was fine, enabled a large num ber of vessels to put to sea/’