The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 1868.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 187, 10 August 1868, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 1868.

It is a notorious fact that in this colony the annual amount of the imports is greatly in excess of that of the exports, and until we can manage to reverse this state of things, it is our duty, as far as possible, to develop our own resources. It is true that in this province the revenue accruing from our goldfields is of no inconsiderable amount, and should aid materially in this regard, but there are also other; resources within our grasp which are certainly deserving of our best attention. The time has evidently arrived when it has become our duty to rely more confidently than we have hitherto done upon our own exertions for maintenance and progress, and in order to do so, we ought not to allow the foreigner or outsider to come into our own market to undersell us in those articles the manufacture of which it is within our power to achieve quite as successfully. In an old commercial country like England, where its market is the world, it was of the first importance that the shackles of restriction should be removed iu order to allow of its manufactures being sold to the best advantage in every locality that could be reached ; but ia a new colony, where the area of its market is of very limited extent, and where tbe difficulties attending its progress are most considerable, it becomes more than doubtful whether free trade in its pure and unrestricted character would indeed subserve the permanent advancement of the colony. In order to carry the great and salutary axiom of self-reliance into effect, it is the "duty of our Colonial Government to throw around our incipient exertions that shield of protection which is to be found in moderate import duties, and our - own local Government might with propriety follow the example set by Otago, to which we lately called attention in these columns, in offering bonuses for the encouragement of local industries. We are told that steps have in consequence already been taken to establish manufactories there of woollen cloth and of sugar from beet. There are many articles of commerce that can be manufactured in this colony without a very large amount of labor or capital being bestowed upon them, and which would entirely supercede the necessity of import* ing such commodities. Unfortunately, however, as far as regards this province, with only two notable exceptions, we have been met with the ' laissez faire ' principle of leaving till to-morrow, what ought to be done to-day — the stereotyped ' wait a bit ' which must now be erased from our vocabularies, if we desire to prove our claims to be considered an intelligent and progressive community. The exceptions to which we refer — the manufactures of ale and woollen cloth— which have called forth the highest encomiums from the jurors both at the Melbourne and Dunedin Exhibitions, ought to prove satisfactorily that almost all that is requisite to establish many branches of manufacture, for which an abundant supply of raw material exists around us, is the importation of the necessary machinery, (and in some instances even this is not imperatively required) subject, o'f course, to the direction of skilled manufactu rers.

Our remarks upon this subject have been elicited by the fact that a new industry has been brought under our notice within the last few days which has just been started in this city by Messrs Bennett and Macintosh. It is a fact that this colony expends over £21,000 per annum in the purchase of imported soap, and it is a matter of surprise that the manufacture of an article of such general consumption, and of such comparatively easy production, has not been more generally carried out. At the Dunedin Exhibition in 1865, samples of soap made in this colony were exhibited from Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, and Otago, of good quality, and were favorably mentioned in the report. The soap manufacturers who have just opened an establishment in Nile-street East announce their .iuteutiou, should sufficient encouragement offer, not to confine their operations to the manufacture of the!, 1 ordinary household soap, but to exteud them to the production of the various kinds of fancy soaps, for which a very considerable demand exists. "'A Bample of pale brown soap, manufactured by Messrs. Bennett and Macintosh during the past week, has been forwarded to us, and appears to be very pure and free from adulterants. As our future progress must depend very materially on individual enterprise and energy, we may justly welcome any attempt to promote our local industries of the nature to which we have just called attention, and we would also remind our readers that it is their obvious duty to support such efforts by their patronage, buying our own manufactures, when they can, in preference to those that are imported, aud thus nourishing and stimulating new channels of industry and commercial activity.