The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, JONE 16, 1888. THE TARIFF.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1751, 16 June 1888, Page 2

The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, JONE 16, 1888. THE TARIFF.

It is consumedly amusing to read Borne of the philosophy which the Freetrade wiseacres are pouring out upon the world at the present time. The Evening Post, for instance,!thinks that it is "painfully evident." that the proposed tariff will not yield anything like the expected amount of revenue because the spending power of the people will be contracted in consequence of the increased taxation, and consequently they will not be able to buy the goods. Thus inability to purchase will result in a falling off in the amount of goods we shall import, and, of course, as the imports decrease the revenue therefrom must decrease. Such is the theory set up by the Evening Post. The strangest part of it is that the Post does not think that to tax the people for revenue purposes, no matter how high, can have any effect on their spending power*. According to the Post's theory, the taxpayer who pays a pound on Freetrade principles must still remain rich enough to enable him to buy the goods he stands in. need of, but if instead of that pound he pays one shilling on Protectionist principles he is rendered, completely incapable of supplying himself with the necessary comforts of life. It is really a pity that public writers do not think these matters out and examine facts and avoid putting before the public such ridiculously delusive theories as these. We have had hitherto a Freetrade tariff in this colony, and what has been the result.of it ? Simply that it has been contracting the people's spending powers terribly, as will be shown by the following return showing the value of our imports for the last six years: 1882 £8,609,270 1883 7,974,038 1884 7,663 888 1885 7,479,921 1886 ; 6,759013 1887 6,245,515

In 1882 our population was 517,707; in 1887 it was over 600,000. Thus while our population increased by nearly 100,000, the amount of imported goods which we consumed decreased by £2,364,755. How is that, great Evening £ost? What

contracted the spending power! of the people under the benignant influence of Freetrade? How was it that our imports fell off like this ? Simply because our people had noti the money to spend on luxuries, or, in many instances, necessaries. There is a falling off of 25 per cent, and it has not been done by Protection. Now another remarkable thing is that actual experience shows that Protection has exactly the opposite effect to ; that anticipated by the Erening Post. Sigh as the proposed tariff is, it is much lower than the Victorian tariff, in a Protectionist sense, and the following is the result of 4 years under it. The value of the 1 ; imports of "Victoria for four years is as follows :—■ 1883 ... ... £17,743,846 I • 1884 ... ;.. 19,201,633 ,1885 ' ... ... 18,044,604 , ,18,86 18,530,575 There can be no doubt but that the imports, for 1887 were greatly in excess of any previous years, owing to the extraordinary prosperity of the country, and consequently the enormous consumption, of j luxuries. Now, how is it that Protection has ,not contracted the spending power of the people of Victoria? and how is it that notwithstanding the extraordinarily increased local production, the consumption is.so great that imports have increased at a time when the imports, of almost, every country in the world decreased ? The !answer is plain. . The developement of the industrial resources of the country' has resulted in giving , permanent and lucrative employment to the wage earners of the colony, their spending powers have been thus increased, and in sympathy with it, thej spending powers of storekeepers, publicans, tailors, clothiers, and all the tradespeople whom they deal. There is no class spend their money so freely as ; the working class; while others hoard they spend, and no country can be prosperous unless they are getting good v»ages. The facts j concealed beneatli the figures given above, therefore, are that in New Zealand under a tariff ior revenue purposes, the imports fell by 25 per cent, while under Protection in Victoria,! they have risen materially; that in New Zealand the purchasing power of the people has been lessened by 25 per cent, while in Victoria it has immensely increased. These facts show the stupidity of such arguments as those of the Evening Post, while they are sufficient to give us in this colony room to hope that the day is not far distant when the little Protection which the present tariff gives will stimulate local production, give employment to the people, and establish us once more in a financially sound position. i