The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 932, 12 April 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 1879.

Tttrc distressed condition of vast masses 'of the working classes in Great Britain, forces upon her the necessity for revising ■ her fiscid" policy; and, although no. hasty tinkering withexisting arrangements need bo fearwd, it appears very probable that at ri" distant date some fundamental changes mast be matte. Free Trade, pure ami simple, has for many years been regarded as an axiom tn pontics, and to ; doubt the infallibility of the dogma has tong teen viewed as an evidence of .limited intelligence, ignorance, or con--1 tracted sympathies. In theory, doubtless, the principle* of Free Trade, elaborated 'as th«y have been by the greater »i modern political economists, are af once attractive and convincing. T«« clWf duties for the purposes of revenue, and without reference t*> any adventitious fostering of the industries upon which such duties are levied, has been a fwnda- ' mental doctrine of the Manchester School of advanced Liberals, of which Richard Gobden wasthe originator,and «fohn F'right the brilliant exponent. But the stem logic : of experience has proved that some potent elements in the development of the world's commerce were not so much as ; dreamt of in their philosophy. The adj missions of such prominent statesmen as ISirM. Hicks-Beach and Lord Derby that England's commerce is sutlering from the competition of European nations, and that the alarming distress at present affecting English workmen is one of the conse- ; (yiences of such unexpected rivalry, should cause the gravest alarm. Some fear that i Great Britain has reached the zenith of | her commercial supremacy, and morbid ! alarmist* go so far as to presage a hasty downfall such as history records of Greece and Borne- White we by no means share in aueh extreme fears, we freely i admit that the time has come when the entire policy of the Free Trade party tb- ! entire* to be subjected, by the light of recent experiences*,- to the most rigid and impartial examination. We are familiar enottgh with the threadbare, seductive, and withal admirable arguments of the ; ultra Free Traders ; but it has always apJ peared to us that the application of the principles el Free Trade admits of no naxiow geographical boundaries. A • State which boldly adopts such an I independent and imposing policy, regard- • less of the legislation of rival countries, : incurs the gravest danger of making »bipi wreck of her commerce. Great Britain |ha» dott« this with all the faith of a zealot, fthe has sown the wind and ht now reaping t lie whirlwind. " England," said the first iSapeleon, " i» a nation of shopfcetjpersy" and the taunt ia one of which tu> Brit«« need be ashamed. Better that, suiety, than a nation of soldiers; for it haa been said with e«iual truth that " you cat mot put men to worse purposes than tarjpets to. be ahot at." There is, however, a very important seme—and the presusnt crisis forces it upon our attention afc the present moment-in which all Eow.po » composed of natioiw of snopfeeopew. and the competition is no less ke*j»—is the same in all essential pointa— a* that which subsist* between ; traders in the auntMioe in the same

street. The difference is only one of degree—not of kind—and the sooner England awakes to the fact the better it will be for her starring handicraftsmen. So long as England possessed a virtual monopoly of mechanical inventions and unrivalled superiority of skilled workmen and skilled appliances, she could with impunity practice her Free Trade nostrums and bid defiance to the commercial rivalry of the rest of the world. Such immense superiority, such vast capital, such unrivalled skill and appliances—with their handmaidens coal and iron in what appeared to be inexaustible supplies—have till now distanced all competitors, and Grew Britain's Free Trade and unparalleled progress have been the wonder and admiration of the world. But a change has come over the spirit of our dream, and the fact is neither pleasing to our national pride nor flattering to our national sagacity. We have acted like the man wlio •»mic up "No connection I with the shop over the way." ffli our position to bo impregnable, our powers of protection how vast, our means of distribution how great; and the denizens of the wide, wide world, are they not our customers, bound to us by the most indissoluble ties of necessity, friendship, interest, and gratitude ? But " the shopkeepers over the way " have not been idle all these years. We proudly invited them to visit our establishments at the world's great fair; we opened our homes and our hearts to them, we laid bare our inmost secrets, we showed them our wonderful invent inns, we taught them all we knew ourselves, and bade ihom go and do likewise. They had eye 3to see, ears to hear, and hands to feel, and what apt pupils they have been of a philantrophic tutor, how well they have followed our illustrious example. Witness English workshops emptied, emporia glutted, starving countrymen and countrywomen imploring help. "We must find new markets for our industries," says Lord Derby. Yc3, probably we will, but Free Trade will invite the shopkeeper over the way to compete in that market too. Emigration must be encouraged, cries another. But, mi bono? All you can accomplish in this way is but as a drop to the ocean, or an atom to a world. We can but lightly touch upon a question so vast in its ramifications. In the neighboring Colony of Victoria, a few years as«. to be suspected of Protectionist proclivities in commercial circles was to become branded n3 an apostate, to incur commercial ostracism. At this moment, whilst a Protectionist policy is triumphant —and we are far from commending much that ha 3 been done by the party in power—there is stiil no inconsiderable proportion of the community clinging to the old watchword — "Free Trade." They arc, like many in this Colony, blind followers of a principle which is only good when it is the policy of a act of colonies or a set of nations. Political Economy, however beautiful in theory, faacinating as a study, or admirable in books, is not an exact science. We are not yet beyond the pupilary or rudimentary stages. Standing in the vestibule, what a pro.spcct may be conjured up '. Great Britain is entering upon a profound and difficult study. Ere the problem ruthlessly thrust upon her shall be solved, perchance some of the old landmarks may have been rudely torn up. But, grand old country, may she not yet teach the nations other sublime lessons than those of coim»c:vu .nd war I What about the relations between capital and labor f of the soil and its cultivators ? of pauperism and its remedy >. of disaffection and its antidote I These are some of the questions the governing classes require to ponder over ; and what manner of men ought they to be J It i 3 not by cast iron theories that such mighty problems can be solved. All beneficial legislation is but the perfection of compromise at its best, and there is no maxim of more universal appttcarion than the Latin one : '•The well-being of rhe people in the first \ivt::\' law."