The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday at Noon. TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 1920. REMOVAL OF HIDE RESTRICTIONS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 510, 2 March 1920, Page 2

The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday at Noon.

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 1920. REMOVAL OF HIDE RESTRICTIONS.

"We nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice."

The removal of the restrictions upon the sale of hides followed a little too quickly upon the publication of our leader dealing - with the subject for us to be able to flatter ourselves that Cabinet was in this matter swayed by the opinion of the "Times:" but, whatever the cause of the alteration, it will be none the less welcome to the farminn' community. The immediate doublinir, price, which is predicted, followed with a rapidity which appears to have somewhat disconcerted thf tanners who are now faced with the necessity of buying their raw material at market prices, as the farmers have to. Nothing can show more plainly how improper and unfair the whole business has been than f hn» statement of Mr. 0. J. Ward. ofLcial adviser to the Board of Trade, that one firm is in possession of hides to the value of £1,000,(r'li, and the removal of restrictions will give it an extra profit of £OOO,1)00. This £600.000 has been directly filched by the action of the Government from the men who had the labour and expense of raising the cattle. It. shows how completely we were justified in our recent article when we stated that the restrictions only played into the hands of the profiteers: that the producer was robbed, and the consumer thereby not one iota benefitted. The knot-making industry in New Zealand, which Mr. A. E. Lawrv, speaking on behalf of the tanners, says has its. existence threatened, is u,-.e oi doubtful value to the country. Bolstered up by an extremely high protective duty. which has4\bout doubled the,-price of footwear to every man, woman and child in the country, it has succeeded in finding employment for a few hundred men. If it cannot live undex hesvy customs nroteetion, mulcting the hide producer of half the value of 'ms wares, it is time for it to go. There is plenty of room' for the men in the country districts; and on the land they will lead healthier and happier lives than "they can in a factory. We siiu erely trust there will be no more State interference with the marketing of produce. The potato embargo, as we pointed out pretty istrongly at the time, robbed the growc, uid not benefit the consumer; and only played into the hands of the trader who was looking out for undue profits. The hides restrictions, we have seen, did the same, only upon a ten times larger scale. In all cas.'s where ii has been tried; State interfeteme with trade appears to have been a huge failure, and we trust we have seen the last of these altrfliStic but utterly un experiments. which may do credit to t.ie hearts but certainly not to the b:;.ins of put in author-! itv over i;-.