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Hawke's Bay Times. Nullus addictus jurare verba magistri. MONDAY, JULY 4, 1870.

The financial scheme of the Government appears to have fallen like a bomb upon all parties, both in the House and throughout the Colony. The very breath of the House seemed to be taken by the startling character of the proposals, so that it felt utterly unable to discuss them, and when called upon by Mr Vogel to so far affirm them as to pass a resolution levying the new duties—instructions for the collection of which had already been forwarded throughout the Colony—it had lo be reassured thai the .resolution was of merely a formal nature, and in no way commiting the House to their approval,—so ram h so that in the event of the ultimate disapproval of the House, every shilling collected under the authority of the resolution should be returned. The Colonial Treasurer deals with millions and tens of millions of pounds as if it was but a mere bagatelle, notwithstanding its affecting not only the present, but extending over many years; and, while proposing to involve the Colony to an extent unparalleled and unimagiued by anyone before, gravely tells the House and the Colony to remember that the " Colonial rate of interest on money is large." In brief, the Colonial Treasurer proposes to go into the market and ask the capital isr. for a loan of six million pounds as a portion often millions proposed to be expended upon the construe tion of railways and'the introduction of immigrants ; and this at a time when the Commissioners write complaining ol a colonist who has merely hinted at the probability of the Colony shortly requiring another loan, stating that such representations are calculated to seriously embarass them in the financial operations they are effecting, and injuriously act on the mind of the British capitalist.

But besides the before-mentioned six millions proposed to be laised by loan, he propose*, as ve have said,

to expend another four millions, to . be raided in some way which is not very clearly made out,'but which we , judge he presumes to find as the re- '■ turn of the before-mentioned expenditure in part, and in other part as! t the produce of the sale of native lands, in the purchase of which from " the aboriginal owners he proposes to 1 invest £200,000. He does not go . into the market with any advantage i whatever over the private speculator - in dealing with the Maori, but in competition with him. He says, ] " we do not seek to disable private : purchasers;... we propose that a pub , lie estate shall be purchased from . time to time at its fair value; that such estate shall be subject to the ; land laws in force in the province or '. provinces within which it is situated; < that the cost shall be a charge against : the provinces respectively, to be re- ' couped in such a manner as shall be agreed upon with the. Provincial ■ Government when the estate is handi ed over, and that the land itself, or 1 its proceeds, shall be exclusively de . voted to immigration and railway : purposes. We are not told how much land is expected to be obtained for the £200,000, but only that two and-a-half millions of acres shall, together with £7,500,000 sterling, be devoted to the construction of 1,500 or 1,600 miles of railway, at the rate of £850,000 a year for 10 years. We turn nex f to the changes pro-' posed to be made in the taiilf of du-i ties on imported articles, and here , we are met at once by the assertion that the question of protection or free trade is not to be opened. " We want," he savs, " to raise a certain • amount of revenue, and it is highly expedient that the revenue should be derived in the manner best calculated to stimulate local production,*' —thus affirming the very doctrine which he had just said he did not wish to open up. Further : " If imports must be taxed, let those escape lightly which cannot be pro duceel here, and let those that need not be imported, but which wealthy persons choose to consume, be made to yield a revenue." Here we have the protection fallacy stated and adopted in as few words as possible. Perhaps if he had consistently carried out the principle expressed above in the scheme afterwards propounded, there would be less reason for hostile criticism; bub we find that it is quickly departed fronV and so far from the new tariff being made to press on the " wealthy," it is brought to bear with singular force upon the general community. Take, for instance, the articles of Hour and sugar. UponJloui, which has hitherto been free, Is per lOOlbs is to be imposed; while the duty upon sugar is to be reduced Is per cwt. Now the full force of the tax upon flour will fall upon the consumer, and will press peculiarly hard upon the poor; who *vill not be in any way benefited by the partial remission of the tax on sugar. The poor consumer, being a retail pur chaser, and procuring the lowestpriced article, will not benefit by the reduction of duty less than one ninth of a penny per ft); and even in the fase of the consumer who buys both flour and sugar in larger quantities, the Is per cwt, of sugar saved will be found far from equivalent to the increased price of flour, of which some six bags are used to one of sugar. In fact, in examin ng the list of articles on which reductions are proposed, we find every article (with perhaps the single exception of tools) to be such as will not be felt as a benefit by the poor; comprising" as they do such articles as iron fencing, weighing machines, iron safes, copying presses, alum, arsenic, &c.; while all necessaries, both of food and clothing, aie subject to an increased rate. How far this is carrying out the principle of making those things yield a revenue which need not be imported, but which wealthy people choose to consume, the public may judge; and their decision, we fancy, will be that not the wealthy, but thepoorconsumer is madethesufferer. The item of Australian wine is another instance in point. This is certainly "an article which need not be imported, but which wealthy people may choose to consume," yet °o far from its being made to yield a revenue, a bonus of 2s per gallon

in bottle and Is in wood is offered for its introduction. This principle prevails throughout—necessaries are taxed, and what are luxuries and mere class requirements are to be admitted free of duty. We maybe told that in the case of Australian wine it is merely the extension of the principle of protecting local industries to those of neighboring Colonies. If this is the plan, its inevitable consequence will be best shown by experience elsewhere. The same system has been in operation for years in the United States, and the following extract—received last mail—is from the report of a Government commissioner specially appoint, ed to examine into its results : The main cause, of it all lies in this— protection of the native wine trade means a 'premium on spurious wines. When real champagne is worth per dozen from S2O to $24- in gold, and imitation champagne can be made for $8 a dozen in paper money, the premium is in the difference between the two sums. Vast wine-cellars for the manufacture of spurious wines sprung up like mushrooms all over the laud. These poisonous compounds at low prices tempt the cupidity of the dealer. The New York label manufacturer readily furnishes the label —the " brand " —of any known wine ; the whisky-distiller furnishes the stimulus; the chemst the flavor; the sugar-house the syrup ; and the gas-pump the effervescence. With these antagonists to contend with, good pure wines, both native and foreign, go to the wall—competition is out of the question. Another great evil is that in the manufacture of "domestic wines," i.e., wines made here or compounded, a class of poor native wines, or wines half-ripened or rotten, poorly cultivated grapes, are eagerly bought up at low prices, and are then doctored, colored, whiskied, and sweetened, and sold under the names of Madeiras, sherries, or ports. This gives encouragement to the worst class of vineyardists, who, taking example from their patrons, learn to introduce unripe blackberries, rhubarb, cider, whisky, sugar, and water, into their vile compounds. All Hiis stuff, being doctored, finds its way to the abodes of our citizens, to the hospitals, and to the communion table. Shocking as all tins may appear, yet it is true. It is in everybody's experience. He who runs may read. The limited space at our disposal precludes us entering at length into the several questions raised by the the Colonial Treasurer, but we shall probably return to the subject in our next.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBT18700704.2.4

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 801, 4 July 1870, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,492

Hawke's Bay Times. Nullus addictus jurare verba magistri. MONDAY, JULY 4, 1870. Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 801, 4 July 1870, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. Nullus addictus jurare verba magistri. MONDAY, JULY 4, 1870. Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 801, 4 July 1870, Page 2

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