Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1911. THE CUSTOMS IMPOSITION.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10132, 10 January 1911, Page 4

Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1911. THE CUSTOMS IMPOSITION.

If ever there was a system in operation in a young country which, hampered progress, stifled <ambTfton, throttled primary industries, and effectually barred the natural increase in population, it is . that which in New Zealand we have been pleased to designate "Protection." A more vicious system of exploiting the masses has never been in operation in an English-speaking community. Here we have a, territory adapted chiefly to rural pursuits, with barely a million of population, and with practically no manufactories. The supporters of the impoverishing system of indirect taxation have been bolstering up . their wretched cause with'the plea thatf a Customs tariff was necessary to protect the working man and to encourage the growth and development pf local industries. And how has : it operated? Has it resulted in Indus* trial development? Has it produced more constant and lucrative employment for tin? masses? Has it acted as,an incentive to thrift, and encouraged our people to increase and multiply? Assuredly not. Om the contrary, it hag hung roun3 tEef

necks of the people like a mill-stone. ' It has enabled local rings and combinations to squeeze *~e life's blood out of the community. It has made the burden of parenthood so heavy that men and women have shirked their responsibilities to the State. It has encouraged politicians and extravagant- Governments to squander the public estate with reckless impunity. It -.as been the most baneful oppressor of our natural industries that a duped and misguided populace has had thrust upon it. Is it any wonder, therefore, that the working classes, the people whom this bogey was intended to benefit, are awakening to the iniquity of the thing ? Is it surprising that the man with the-family cries out for relief? When it is remembered that every man, woman and child in the Dominion is taxed through the Customs to the tune of over £3 per head per annum, for no apparent reason other than to bolster- up a viciouß form, of exploitation,-"the'fearful, reluctance of the people to accept family responsibilities may readily be understood. Protection, of the sort which has been experimented with in this country, is; a curse to , tlie community. It has not a single redeeming feature. It spells ruin in every phase of its ugly composition. A*nd it is a canker-worm which is gnawing continuously at .the -vitals of the innocent and helpless wage-earners.