Freetrade v. Protection.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 478, 7 June 1890, Page 2

Freetrade v. Protection.

WHOLESALE CONVERSION. A Protection Association' voting for Freetrade, is surely one of the queerestthings the world has yet seen, and it has beep reserved for Victoria to prod uce thrit phenomenon. The tale is thus told by the correspondent of the. Aits* itralgbiqn:— .. • ;i At.a meeting of: the Wodongri Shire Council, a communication from the Vic-‘ tdrian Protection Association was read, intimating that, in consequence of the unjust manttet in which tile farmers had-been dealt with by the Government and the Trades-haH Council, over the stock tax and other matters, the Association considered it necessary to advocate iv retnrn to Freetrade. They therefore sought an expression of opinion signifying the Council's resolve for-or. against the Freetrade movement. The President, who spoke with considerable warmth, said he endorsed every Tfvord ‘ contained in the circular. * As. a fanner himself of six-and-twenty years’ experience, he confessed that he often wondered why his fellow-., farmers frequently favoured ,a Protective tariff He was glad, however, to find that jvt last the agricultural class had 'bad ignite enough of Protection, whielp taxed everything the farmer consumed, and every implement he Usedi'without givihg him one single advantage in return. \Cqiincillors Adams arid C’Connof, who lire also engaged in agricultural arid pastoral pursuits, expressed themselves in. similar terms. I After further discussionj it was (

unanimously agreed, on the motion of the President, seconded by Councillor O’Connor, “ That the Council co-operate with the Victoria Farmers’ Protection Association in its efforts to obtain a reduction of the present fiscal hi. rdens, and endorses the whole of the sentiments expressed in the eircula--.”

If this movement spreads, as it seems likely to do, seeing that it is initiated by the very Association founded to secure .the votes of farmers for protective duties, it will have a very : important influence on the next Victorian elections, and may even’ entirely reverse the fiscal policy of the colony. “ Great events from little causes spring,” arid social reforms amounting to revolutions have come from much smaller beginings than that bore recorded The farmers have listened to the voice of the charmer, and have been led into folly, but the}- are awaking to tlie fact that tie y have been hoodwinked by specious arguments, and they now declare that, let him charm ever so wisely, they will, no longer lend an ear to him. To one HCoiHtoir.ed to discuss thepros and cons cf political economy it is a marvel that unv colonial farmer should support Protection. It is conceivable that a town manufacturer should desire to exclude foreign-made goods entering into competition with his products, anti on the principle that the wish is often father to the thought, it is comprehensible that lie may honestly believe that what is good for him is good for the community at large. But that farmers who depend upon outside markets for the disposal of the bulk of their products should embrace Protection has always seemed to us a proof of the truth of Dr Johnston’s uncomplimentary diet* m that the inhabitants of the world number so lua iy, “ mostly fools.” For wlmt.had the charmer to <say to 'the fanners? Merely, this —‘‘ Yes, you may have to pay a little more for your clothing,implements, and so on, but then ' Protection will establish large manufactories, and the men employed in those factories and' their wives and children must eat farmers’ produce, and with tfoe increased demand that produce will price so as to more than counterbalance any increase in the price of manufactured" goods a farmer us©*.” Specious, but utterly • fallacious • when addressed to u^qn,.who must*exportmost df'tlieir produce. We do ndt for a moment deny that under certain .circumstances Protection may raise the price of things a firmer raises. But the essential precedent of such a condition is that the country in which the farmer resides must import, not export, the produce so raised in price. No one can dispute the fact that, if the c >rn laws wer,e re-enacted in Great Britain, the price of wheat would be greatly increased, though the benefit to the farmers would he at the cost oE the robbery of all the-rest ot' the .community. Again, it is a patent arid indisputable fact that the Woollen duties imposed by the United States do raise the price of wool in the States, and the .slieepfarmer gets .a nominal benefit: It is- open to argument' ho.w far he is benefitted, for American wools riiu-t b : mixed with imported wools, and manufacturers deduce that if they could import wool free such an impetus would he given to manufactures that the price of wool generally would rise, and the American grower would be just as well off. This, however, is a refinement of argu ment which do.es-not at present ’commend itself to the slieepfarmer.. It is -not to be wondered ut that lie prefers a bird in fclio band to the two said to be in the bn h.. He sees that, quality for quality, he nets much higher prices for-bis wool than his foreign competitor. Of course the rest of. the people have to pay that enhanced price,, but the slieepfarmer naturally’- does not object strongly to that.. He grows woolto make a' profit, and not. from, purely philanthropic motives. Anyhow, in the States he can retort that almost everything he uses is raised in price by Protection, and that lie is in justice entitled to a quid' pro quo. But the. wheat grower, who has to export his produce, lias no bitch compensating advantage. Congress might impose a tax of ten dollars a bushel on imported wheat, but it would riot add a cent a bushel to the price the fanner could; get. His market is the world, and what the world offefs for his wheat he must take. The world’s mar.cet regulates his local market. ,

Now, in the very nature of things, a newcountry must export raw products almost entirely, and the local niarkit for all articles exported must be ruled- by the prices obtainable outside. That is a fixed law of political economy, and those who argue otherwise must be classed with those cranks who offer to bet large sumspf money that;the world is flat. One has only to> look: for. an instant at the list of exports of any of the Australasian colonies for proof of this law. Victoria, despite her efforts to establish manufactories, is in the same box with the other colonies. She may, by. prohibitive duties, shut out rann/ lines of. goods which would otherwise be imported, arid so enable local manufacturers to get excessive prices for the articles they pro duce. That, howev. r, simply ne ms taxing the whole community, farmers included, to enable a handful of manufacturers, und their workmen to live comfortably. Her woollen duties do not add a decimal to the price of raw wool in • Melbourne—that is determined bythe Loudon market, and can be no more affected by local' Protective legislation than ’ the course of the sari, moon, and stars.; It- is tlie same with , wheat; and, nearly till agricultural produce. In a had’ fcOasori, when there is no margin of wheat for export, prices-will be raised, but at best that can orily be u temporary fillip. Whrit;Biay he called small, products, sUch; as- vegetables and fruit, may be “ Protected” i'or a time, "but .if by art filial means the" prices of such products are raised’ farmers will, stop growing wheat and other exportable produce and go in for (the high-priced things. Tlien a natural cure is worked. The increased production brings down prices until exporting is resorted to, and then the local market is rigain subservient to the world’s market. For a time bounties on exports may bolster up the; artificial barriers, but only for a time.’' The people us a whole will not consent to be taxed to pay bounties on exports}, to increase the prices ,o£ the, goods” they buy lorialy. ’Double taxation of that kind has a.way of makings itself fell, wlien it is felt an end is promptly put to it. This is just what the Victorian furmbrs are »ow finding, out. the explanation of the anomaly of a “• PfOtec- ! tion ” Association declaring for Free Trade.. Only would it not be better,to’-, change the I title of tkj Association, so* that it might 1 not directly elusfi with, its depart ore in principle ? N "\V : \ \ A'iV: ; -