TRADE PROTECTION.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 3, Issue 164, 18 September 1880, Page 2

TRADE PROTECTION.

' The New York correspondent of d, e Ironmonger writes as follows under a recent date :• - 1 fully recognise the fact that it is not the duty —nor. for that mutter even, the legitimate privilege —tif ft newspaper eor- . respondent to discuss (instruct tiuestioija nf political economy: but 1 cannot resist ! the temptation at this point to say a few ; words iu defence of the. policy which tho j English people judge no uncharitrthly and [condemn so unreasonably—that of pro. I taction-to home industry. I grant tbat j it is a selfish policy, thut it is illogical, I and that the weight of argument is in ! favour of free trade, presuming such a ' thing to he possible, But to see protection from the standpoint from which it is viewed by the American manufacturer, : the Knglish reader must put himself iu I his place. We must stait with lite fact ; that, without protection, the maintenance I of our iron industry would be impossible, j" Very well." SBV* the English ninnuj faeturcr. " if ironniahing cannot be .con '■ tinned excupt under artificial conditions, I it should he abandoned for more prolitablu . industries which can oxist by natural ad ; vantages." Now let us see what this i involves. \Yo have hundreds of furnaces, land mills aud steetworhs representing ; enormous investments of capital, firing 'constant employment to hundreds uf I thousands of workmen, furnishing an I enormous aggregate tonnage to the j railroads and otherwise promoting the j activities of the country. We have u j vast aud varied mineral wealth which gives profitable employment to capital unci labour iu its development. With I all this we cannot, under existing eoni ditinns. compete iu the matter :it cheap j production with lirent Britain* for the j ruaxou that, ntir lahotfr is worth more ami ! our capital demands higher interest. To j throw doivti all harriers to international i trade and bid your manufacturers come liu aid share the niwket with ours on ieoual terms would hi: fun for von. hut i: | would he ruin to u>. Ido not mean that 1 all our ironworks would at once close up, | but they must ense operations sooner or j kit T, and our only finance for making oar '■ iiw*ii iron would he that of a demand so I great, from other countries that Great ] Britain could m>t supply if. Onr people prefer to see the capital and labour now engaged in miningKud metallurgical operations profitably employed. The argument i that under protection commodities cost ! more than they would if bought in the i cheapest market under free trade counts j for nothing with the people of this country. I It is not true in the average of years to 1 i the degree insisted on by theorists iu j political economy, and if it. were it would I have no weight. Consumers of iron am j better satisfied when iron is comparatively i high -priced than when it is cheapest. j Experience has shown that theeonsuni] * | liou is always the mn-,1 active when prices | are highest. Our present ttirilj was com-- ! miiiily regarded as leasoliablv protective, j snd it was generally believed that wo | should never again witness the imporI tation of any eonsiderable amounts of j Knglish iron, but when, after years of i depression, wc have a revival, with an i advance iu prices to a point giving satisI factory profits to everybody, we sec such j a Hood of iron poured into the country las 'o break our maikul aud induce tint ; stagnation which accompanies our overI supply, our people realize that protection | brings them more advantage than disa.l vantage, and that without it capital could feel no confidence iu manufacturing investments. 1 do not say that they are no.', nursing a delusion. It is for .tin? editor to express opinions upon this subject, if any are wanted, lint my experience iu tins country satisfies me that the »»j j a mau regards this rjuestiun depends upon | his standpoint, and that the Knglish people j do not take a reasonable view of the matter |of protection iu this country, l! is simply | a national necessity, and your engerne-s to load our markets with iron bus made our people realize this more strongly than they have done for years. Pardon this little homily. I have mi doubt it treads on the toes'of Ktijdish prejudice, and that it is not just what, would be expected from an Ironmonger correspondent: but it is a common-sense utterance on a subject of international interest, which is not internationally understood, because your people, i atel our people look at it from widr-ty <Uf--1 fei'ont standpoints of conflicting microtis.