The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1881.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3984, 5 October 1881, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1881.

Dubing tbe past session of Parliament, the heat of party debate and fight for office seems to have blinded the eyes and warped the judgment of our repre sentatives, or they would not have allowed M»jor Atkinson to introduce at the tail end of the session a measure for the alteration of the tariff, especially when such alteration played into tbe bands of the land owners. Tbe new proposals are cuch as the consumer will feel very severely, more especially a community like the Thames—consumers of dutiable goods. A great injustice ha* been inflicted upon the Thames in the new tariff, as, for instance, in the duty being placed upon maiae. We heard a great deal during the earlier part of tbe session about the importance of fostering the trade with Fiji and adjacent islands, and yet a heavy duly has been placed upon this commodity, whick is largely consumed here and in such like districts. New Zealand is not yet capable of supplying all the maize required, and in the meantime the increased duty will press heavily upon consumers. It is time our legislators awoke to the fact that there are other things to be attended to besides party strifes and endless struggles for office.