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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 120, 21 May 1874, Page 2

The Protective Policy or Victoria. — An instauce that has recently been* brought under public attention of the stimulating effect of protection on native industries must be very encouraging to these politicians who think that any manufactures eau be readily acclimatised here, if we only put the import duties sufficiently high. Mr Fieldhouse some years ago determined to establish a paper factory on the banks of the Yarra, He went to England and bought the necessary tna chinery, at a cost of about £2,500, and shipped it to Victoria. During his absence from the colony the Duffy-ctim-Berry Ministry had come into office, and had undertaken to shape our tariff arraugements in accot dance with the most advanced lights of protection, so ns to make tbis country a perfect paradise of flourishing manufactories aud highly-paid labor. The first fruit of this happy system, as far as Mr Fieldhouee was concerned, was a demand made by the Customs authorities for £600 duty on his imported machinery. It was nothing that the change in the tariff had not been foreseen by him when he ordered the goodß, and that the machinery could not be made here, except at a ruinous loss Equally ineffective was the plea that it was imported for ihe purpose of adding (o the manufactures of the colony and opening up employment for labor Such arguments as these were of no weight. Native industry must be encouraged, and this duty must be paid. Mr Fieldhouse paid if accordingly, aod this abstraction of capital from his underlakiDg, when it wa3 still struggling with the difficulties of the start, had the effect of surrounding him with pecuniary difficulties which he has never been able to get clear from, and the other day his factory and plant were offered for sale. And thie, according to the wise system which possesses its prophet at Geelong, is the infallible way of encouraging local manufactures. Machinery is ruinously taxed that could not be made here, and a promising industiy, that might otherwise have given profitable employment to large numbers of people, is strangled at its birth. One would hardly suppose that Mr Fieldhouse's employes who are now thrown out of work, would be deeply enamoured of the financial policy which reduced them to idleness, and perhaps to distress; but such is the indestructible vitality of a fallacy, when deeply rooted in ignorance and selfishuess, tbat if all these people were at the first opportunity to record their votes for some political mountebank who would promise to remedy their ills by doubling the tariff, no observer of average human nature would consider the circumstance a matter for surprise. — Australasian. A letter from Captain Owen, of the Mary Bannatyne, gives a favorable nccouut of lha experiment of shipping Ngakawhau coal to Melbourne. At first, so the skipper says, no one would look at it, as it was an unknown commodity in the market. Then a sample was sent to some blacksmiths to try, and also a larger sample to Fulton's foundry. The blacksmiths soon wanted more, and the foundry people bought the lot of 17 tons at 27s per ton, declaring it the best coal ever brought into Melbourne. The broker who made the sale asserts that Captain Owen deserves a handsome present for introducing the article, and has no doubt tbat future consignments will readily command 30s per ton. The Mary Bannatyne is now on her way to Hokitika, having left Melbourne on the 6th instant. As illustrative of the prosperity of the mining districts, a Staffordshire paper relates the following anecdode : — "A professional man entered a provision dealer's shop in one of the mining districts, and, pointing to some sealed tins, enquired what they contained. * Grouse and partridges, sir,' replied the dealer. l How many birds are there in each tin, and what do you charge ? ' ' There's one bird in each tio, and they are half«a-crown each.' ' Thank you, that is more than I can afford.' 'No offence sir; bnt we did not lay them in for gentlemen like you — we got them for the miners, A miner called with his wife half-an-hour ago, and asked tbe same question os you have. When I had answered them he saiJ, ' Missis, we'll ha' two of them for tea.' " Football is becoming a favorite amusement at Greymouth, the cold blasts coming down the gorgo giving impulse to active exercise. On Saturday last a match wrs arranged wherein the lawyers and bankers would play all comers. The Argus slily observed that no doubt many a client and constituent would take the opportunity of paying off old scores.