THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1913. THE AMERICAN TARIFF.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 12 September 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1913. THE AMERICAN TARIFF.

The brief, but welcome announcement was made in our issue of yesterday that the Tariff Bill had" passed the Senate of the United States, Under the Bill, wool and frozen meat will be on the free-list, and an important new market will open |up for the produce of Australasia, South Ameri- « ca and other parts. So far as wool is concerned!, the United States duty in recent years has amounted to sid per lb on fine wools, and 6d per lb on longwools, such as Lincoln. The object of the Democrats in removing the duty is, of course, to reduce the cost of living to the masses, years past the American manufacturers have been compelled to make large importations, and the price of woollen goods has been so high that cotton has been in great request. The removal of the duty may be expected to produce an immediate development in the manufacturing industry. This will mean a permanent-ly-increased demand for colonial wools. The price of wool may mot show a considerable advance immediately, but the fact that the Ameri- ■ can buyers will be operating at the London and colonial sales will have a hardening tendency. The uncertainty over the tariff, combined with the tightness of money, has caused Americans to buy charily during the last few sales. Now that freetrade is assured, and money is becoming easier, there will be animated competition at the sales during the coming season, and it is safe to anticipate that prices "will be higher. The important feature of the American tariff, ro far a* it affects New Zealand, is that it provides a ready market close to hand. A demand will probably set in for frozen meat, as well as for n-ooJrand this will mean

i double string to the colonial proiucers' bow. In the matter of frozen moat, the question of distribution has in important bearing upon the market. If the producers adopt co-opera-bivo methods, and keep clear of the Trusts, they may be able to accomplish a great deal. It is open to ioubt, however, whether it is possible to escape the operations of those Irusts which control transport as well as distribution. Time alone will tell bow far the producers and consumers will benefit by the fiscal change. In the master of wool, the position is somewhat different to what it is in respect to frozen meat. The colonial sales are freely patronised by American and Continental buyers, and the clip goes to the highest bidder. The probabilities are that with the keen competition that is expected from America, the colonial sales will be more freely availed of by producers than in the past. Wool purchased in Mew Zealand should be of much greater value to the Americans than Australasian wool purchased in the United Kingdom, the reason heing that it requires to be handled less, and it travels only one-third of -the distance by sea. Viewed generally, the change that has been made in the American tariff is of immense importance to Australia and New Zealand. It may not, and' probably will not have the effect upon the cost of living that the Democrats of the United States anticipate. It cannot fail, however, to strengthen the market: for all kinds of Australasian produce. And by -doing this it substantially improves the position of our producers.