THE Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1891. INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2297, 24 December 1891, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1891. INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE.

The world appears to be in an extraordinary condition at the present time. War appears to be a thing of the past, and now the nations seem disposed to fight through their Custom houses by means of protective duties. The Americans with the McKinley tariff commenced the battle. Not content with the heavy protective duties already in existence the Americans decided to increase them by adopting Major McKinley’s proposal with the result that a great many English and Continental articles have been shut out altogether. This, of course, lias acted injuriously on many of the industaies of the old countries, and now the}' in their turn have revised their tariffs and framed commercial alliances, with the exception of England, which still adheres to her old fetish of freetrade. We have always favored protection for this colony, because we believe it necessary to establish industries and develope our resources. Still, although we think protection expedient in our own case we cannot see what it will do for continental countries except so far as that they will fleece England and reduce her to abject misery if she persists in her policy of freetrade. If all the countries in the world protect their industries np to the hilt, and shut out British goods, it stands to reason that England must eventually suffer. For instance, let us suppose that France has been buying annually £1,000,000 worth of goods from England in past years, but now having adopted a policy of protection she manufactures these goods at home. For that reason, of course, England loses £1,000,000 worth of trade, and her industries to that extent must languish. But £1,000,000 is like a drop iii the ocean of British trade; she would not miss it. Her trade with various countries in 1889 was as follows ; Country. Exports. Imports. United States... 4130,293,042 £95,4(51,475 France £14,551,294 £15,780,277 Germany ... £18,343,243 £27,104,832 Russia £35,332,251 £27,154,190 Holland ... £9,704,264 £26,679,219 And so with other countries. Her told exports in 1889 amounted to £248,935,195 and her imports

• jOO i ,OJO 4 XN O>V II tiIBSG COlltinental countries succeed in shutting out British goods, England must not only suffer, but go to the wall. So long as she continues freetrade her imports will not decrease but her exports will, and the results will be serious. This is a matter that concerns us in this colony. Apparently it would be greatly to our disadvantage if England were to adopt a policy of protection, but if we look more deeply into the matter we shall find that this is a mistaken view of the

case. If all other countries adopt I heavy protective duties and shut out English goods, then England will be in a chronic state of depression, her industries must languish, and her capacities for purchasing and consuming our products will be greatly lessened. It is not to our advantage that England should be in this condition. She could not consume our products if she were so. Our interests therefore are that she should protect her trade and maintain her prosperous condition, so that she may be able to consume our products. It is not likely that she will put duty on corn or frozen mutton or her supply of food, so even if she adopted a protective policy it would not affect us. But the great point is that protection can do no good to anyone when all adopt the same policy. It simply means putting themselves in the position they were in before. What really is troubling the world at the present time is that there is not enough employment for the people owing to the development of laborsaving machinery. Political tinkers think that by doing a little patching, up in the way of protection they will set matters right, but they will soon find out that it will not assist them in the least, and that something more tangible must be done to secure cm-

ploy men t to the people. What is required is to shorten the hours of labor so that employment may be found for all, and that no one shall be dependent on charitable aid. This is the true solution of the difficulty, and this is what must be done sooner or later. But in the meantime what is England to do ? Is she to stand still while all other countries are, so to speak, firing broadsides into her and ruining her trade. If she do she will suffer severely, she will lose her commercial supremacy, and will find it difficult to regain it.