South Canterbury Times, MONDAY, JULY 11, 1881.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2591, 11 July 1881, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, MONDAY, JULY 11, 1881.

There is now a cloud over the good feeling which has subsisted so long between France and England. The cablegrams on Saturday morning informed us that during a discussion in the French Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday night, the Minister of Commerce stated that France would insist on specific duties being levied on British goods, and no fresh Treaty could be concluded on any other basis. This opens up the whole question of Free Trade and Protection. . For the past half dozen years it has been apparent that France was dissatisfied with the Cobden Treaty. It fact, the Treaty was never really popular. It was the outcome of Napoleon the Third’s predilection in favor ofeverythingEnglish. He had lived a considerable time in London, and had been a personal witness of the wonderful and increasing prosperity of England. It was true that at that time Free Trade had only a few years’ trial, but so far as the results went, there had been immense strides in commerce and manufactories of all kinds. Every political economist of any note in the Mother Country was agreed on the principle that a free interchange of goods would be a blessing to every country on the face of the earth, and that all restriction on trade was a remnant of the dark ages when the true principles of political economy were unknown. For a man to profess himself even a moderate Protectionist would have been to subject himself to ridicule. Free Trade Was the commercial religion of the age,and it was with fear and trembling that anyone doubted its wisdom. After Napoleon the Third, by an infamous coup d ’ etat, seized the French Crown, England still continued in her career of prosperity, and as the new Emperor really at heart never desired to reign as a military despot pure and simple, his attention was directed to the development of the country. Though by no means a wise Sovereign, he was a close observer of events. France still adhered to the Protectionist “ craze,” as it was termed, whilst the ports of Great Britain were thrown open as far as possible to the products of all nations. But by the Cobden Treaty it was thought Napoleon had entered the thin end of the Free Tade wedge. In trade and manufactures England overshadowed every competitor. Home writers and politicians were everlastingly drawing attention to the triumphs of Free Trade. In every large commercial port iri the world did not the ships of England outnumber those of any other three nations combined ? Free trade, so it was said, and little [else had secured the commercial pre-eminence of England. The important fact was overlooked that even in the days of Protection Great Britain was by a long distance the greatest maritime and manufacturing nation in the world. She had swept the seas for a hundred and fifty years, and the nation which was able to do that, was in an exceedingly favorable position for developing a peaceful maritime trade. But the strides which England has made have been more marked during the past thirty years. How much the adoption of steam power has contributed to this it would be hard to fully estimate. That it has had an immense influence there can be no doubt. Again, the discovery of gold in California and the Australias gave a wonderful impetus to the trade of England. Mechanical invention materially reduced the cost of production in every description of manufactured goods, and enormously increased the supply ; and the demand kept pace with production. Australia and the East became large customers of England, China being forced at the cannon’s mouth to open its ports to the “ outer barbarian.” The plentiful supply of gold from the Australian and Californian mines stimulated trade to a great extent by affording a ready medium of exchange. All these things must be considered in ascertaining the sources of the manufacturing and commercial supremacy of England. Free Trade may have

helped to rear tbs structure of Britain’s prosperity, but it is not the whole foundation of the building.

It now being perfectly evident that in future French tariffs will be framed with the object of affording protection to native industry, the question arises what action will England take ? Will she continue to admit French products free, whilst the French markets are closed to English manufactures ? We feel certain that the British people will kick against such a one-sided applicaiion of the principles of Free Trade. Of all the people of the British Isles none agitated more strongly, or had more influence in bringing about a Free Trade policy,. than the manufacturers of Lancashire and Yorkshire. A change is gradually coming over their opinions, and this change has been brought about by the protective tariffs in the United States, Franco, and Germany. Several meetings have been held in Manchester on the subject, at which it was advocated that England should retaliate by levying duties on the products of the countries named. That would be the most effectual way of bringing them to their senses. It is manifestly unfair and one-sided that the products of the looms and foundries of Great Britain should be shut out of the United States, whilst the shoddy and cutlery of Massachusetts are allowed to compete with the factories of Manchester and the workshops of Sheffield. The same argument would apply to France and Germany. Americans are boasting that under their protective tariff they can successfully compete in the English market with Home manufactured articles. It sounds well to prate about the principles of Free Trade, but the manufacturers of Great Britain will not take kindly to being ruined for the sake of principle. Waxis a shocking thing, and yet a nation is justified in entering upon it to protect its own interests. How much more justifiable would the conduct of a country be which simply imposed certain duties to save its people from unfair competition. In France bonuses ai-e granted for the manufacture of certain goods, and yet these goods are admitted free into England, whilst the English producer, who is not aided by Government bonuses, finds that his goods are taxed out of France. The sugar refining, which was at one time an important industry in Great Britain, is now a thing of the past. Owing to the system of bonuses, the English refiners found that they could not compete with their neighbors across the Channel. Free Trade may be an excellent doctrine, if one could make sure that it would be universally applied. However, the signs of the times do not point to its universal adoption. The United States, France, and Germany find that Px-otection suits them better. People will watch with interest the development of the English mind under the present aspect of affairs.