A STEP WHICH NEEDS RETRACING.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 39, 26 March 1879, Page 2

A STEP WHICH NEEDS RETRACING.

When the protective duty was taken off the importation of timber into New Zealand, there were "few of our legislators who did op could foresee the disastrous results which would ensue. Now, however, the fatal consequences are but too anpa,rent|.and it needs but little discrimination to discover that, unless a mighty interest is to be sacrificed, a mine of wealth ignored, and iiundreds of thousands of pounds lost to the country^ the legislature will needs retraoe its steps, a^d revert to the old tariff, HithertO:Messrs GtXTHaiE and jjAHN^ciT, of Dunedin, had given carte. , blanche to the mill '"owners for White pjine v .and it was stated' that they were pre.p^red to. keep two, yessels conMniiall v leading at Poxton. The supplyinjU of fhtsia,u^ oilier orders represents wealth to the district, wonk to the laho-; rer, freight for tHe. railway, and other; benefits m which the whole •community' either directly or inclir<v;tly join. With the change m the' tariff, however, new and dangerous rivalsliavo sprung iu,to exi^tenci'. nnd we learn that the nVm spoken, of -.a.bove oiin now .receive its supplies directfrom A^u'rica Vancouver's Island at a rate even below that within the pewer of local cpnipotitors. There' ihe-timboreiri be floated-. or rafted to, the thiß^t an i^pense of four shillings the hundred feet, while anotner throe shilling's will land it free afc any p.art au *W 'feM^V

difference m the price of labor, this is a rate considerably, below that at which the colonial millers can supply white pine, and consequently the preference is given to the imported article. Another reason why the milUcwners of Manawatu cannot afford to deliver timber m Southern ports at prices to compete with the foreign article is the excessive demand made for freight ; for,, preposterous as it may appear, it is nevertheless true that it costs more per hundred feot to transport timber from Poxton or Wanganui to Lyttelton or Dunedin than from British Columbia to either of those ports. When the tax upon beer was sought to be imposed, sufficient pressure was brought to bear upon the Treasurer to have his Budget remodelled, and no effort should be lost m having, not £nly the duty re-imposed, but that a reduction to an almost nominal freight be made upon the carriage on white pine. We regret that our space precludes us from entering more fully into so important a matter, but we shall take occasion to deal with the subject m detail when Parliament is m Session.