FREETRADE V. PROTECTION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2664, 3 August 1887, Page 2

FREETRADE V. PROTECTION.

MEETING at run TOIiATKE ROYAL.

The meeting convened by Air Q. Beet ham to discuss the «bovu qued!,ionfi wits hold at tho Ma'Rtorton Theatre lust evening (Tuesdays-there -buinjf' fully eight hundred persons preanxit, among whom were a larpe number of litiHea.

Ilia Worship tho Mayor presided, and instating tho object of the meeting. pointed ciut the impm-tance of the questions, and .asked foraqui-jt and impartial hearing.:-for all. Uo expressed tho pleasure it gave him to occupy the chair whilst questions of such vital importance were diauutne-l, and hoped he would rooiiivo their support in maintaining order. Ho called upon' the convener to open tho proceedings.

Mr Beethnm, after npohrising fur putting the large audience to personal inconvonionco in attending the meeting during such bud weather, said lio in tended during tho debate to kuep nuclear as possible from political and personal subjects. Although ho iippuared before thorn us at) advocato of. Fleet tade, tho position of tho colony prevented an absolute Free trade course. Ho could not call hinißclf nil absolute Freetrader, ;ia bo had voted for ten and fifteen per cent duty on goods, and 2b per thousand feet on timber. He believed the pvmoiplo of Fvtetrado was to buy iu tho cheapest mnrkot, and sell in tho dearest. lYuett-ade had guided England during tho past forty-fife years to a greatness no other cuuntiy had approached. Another cl its principles wasthe greatest good to the greatest number. If they wished fco.become tho Britain of the South, they ■ would have to follow the example eet by the Old Country. Ho wna su'priped-at the itctinn of tho farm ere and working-men of the district m taking a great burden upon their shoulders in- tho way they wore proposing. Mr Renall : iiow do you mean, Sir ? The Chairman : 1 must request you not to interrupt tho meeting Mr Renall. Mr Renall ; IT vou had cat in the .House of Commons, Sir. you would have found that members (allied to euch ether over tho tablo, (Cheers). Th» obail-man : They me railed i 0 . ordor, though. (Laughter). Mr Renall ; No they are not Sir. They are allowed to do it iu England and so they, arc at Wellington, and 1 do nut boo why it should not lio done lieve. (Cheers), ,' ■

The Chairman liioujht that an experienced debater liku Mr Kenali should have a little consideration for t-1.Q.0 who wore hot,bo well acquainred with platform linages, (Cheers.) Mr 75outham continued and quoted figures to show, that notwithstanding tho reports to the,; contrary, America was riot outstripping England m trade, and that the colonies emulating she Mother Country were'makmg rapid dlrides, and had already gone ahead of Eoms of tho old countries of Europe. In comparing fcbo Bhipping of America and England, he said that before tho war, Auitn-ica was outstripping tho other eonntri&s and some' said it wan the war that stopped the progress of h 0 - mercantile marine. but it was tho 'continuous protective pnhoy that cid it. and nothing else. New Zealand was fast overling America in shipping and would eventually do u> if they adopted a Freetrade policy. Ho considered the half way house—the bonus B.ystem—preferable to Pmtectiui), as a bonus once paid, the liability of tlio Govtrnment ceased, whereas with a protective policy when it waa once put on, it. became a vested interest and could not well be removed. Ho alluded to the numerous industries in the colony that had bonuses alloted to them, and the attempts inado to Becure the amounts. He next quoted Bgures to show tho relative positions of England, France, Gernmny ■ and the United States, in valuo of property, earnings of tho nation, amount of indebtednens per head, and the *ahe of producing per head He spoke of the power of the Aim-iican lcgisluti'-n in the Representative Chamber who ha.i an 'interest in upholding Protection, and thus able to keep the country under it, although thoro was a strong party against it, who were pressing to get the duty—which was about 25 per cent—takun off. Silver coinage was locked up in tho vaults of the Treasury at Washington, owing to the power of tho silver mine ownora'in tho House. Referring to tho efforts of Franco and Gormany to establish morcanti'e navirs by the bonus system, ho aaid It must result in failure in both instances, as the protective policy uftho countries would not admit of it being carried out, owins .fro their limited trading poivor, Frinc» had cripphdlier Macaroni Industry, and played irfto the lnrnds of Encrland by her heavy import duty on wheat. Alludinc to th.n ■manufacturing industriea nf New Zoainud, he naid that th«y had ronohed to the amount of L7,43Q.«49, winch was within .-> few pounds of tho value of (hi Ocilnny'fi expovtfi to England, arid maintained that thero wau quiUi unough Protection now, .and thoucht t'nc nianufncturei'3 were quite ablo to push along with the present tariff. Ho, quoted statiatic»i tn ahoir r.luit tno candles, boots, «hoen, and Baddlory indußtries were fast overtaking the nn'cean'tiea of the Colony, and that one-third of the clothes usud in New Zealand were of colonial make. He did not think, under existing circumstances, I hat the imposition of extra duties woukl ]w beneficial to tho working man. Un quoted from Henry Goorgc showing that tho manufacturers aim iu protected Countries was to maintain the high profit at the expense of the oporarives who Buffered by tho keen competition created, the employerHiilway» going to tho cheapest market fov their labor without in any way consideriii" the wage earner. Those that, were not 1 engaged in these induhtriea had to subscribe lamely towards their support by thoextn. duties imposed. Wages like water would always find their own level. By the tariff proposals of Su- Julius Vogel lie argued that every man with a family of four children would pay on extra L2 » year, an addition that must be seriously felt among the struggling wage earner. Ho advocatod tho co-oporativo principle among tho working olnstM, and said that many of tho largo factories had been estnblishcdin Englandthroughco-oporation : of the working men. Tho present tariff, ,

ranging from fifteen to twenty per cent was sufficient margin to establish any factory in the colony. He referred to Mr Hogg's Priifcoctiun policy at some length, and said ho would bo pleiißed to aee his hopes realised, but contended that pr<miniiity must be universal, and could not lie .brought about by any individual. He had fully g->no into the question and fame to the conclusion that io was to the interest of the working man to buy in the cheapest, market,. to> sell, in the dearest.. Not. more-' thnn twenty-per cant would ever be employed in factories in theOolony, and if they Protection the ; remainder woiild have to contribute towards ;the .support of these industries which, would" lessen the purchasing power in their families, and.msk* the extra dvtie» : keenly .felt in their midaV -He urged them to consider.the question, well in all its phases, before exoroising any vote upon it. (Cheers).-Mr-Renall commenced by informihe the audience that when he first arrived in the Wairarapa, the settlers had' a grand Protection in the Rimut.ika,, "Although thoy then paid LI(J a ton for their goodß, they wero bettor <>ff then than they were now. Produce was then at a high rate, and if thoy had not the money to pay for it they paid wlwi they could. The lessening of the distance bv tho rau>ay,had reducod the price of produce; Oonsidoved it would- bo more beneficial to manufacture the raw material hero than to sond it homo and pay to have it dyne." If they wished to prevent it they had two ways, lower the price of wages same as in England or co in for Protection. When thoy wanted to form the Upper Plain road thoro waß no labor to ho and. That was the IMinutukii protection. (Laughtor.) Brown Bunar was 8d lb and pretty stun" it was ; if it was thrown against tho wall it would stick fast, (Laughter).

Mr Jones: What did you charge for your flour in those days ? Mr Ronall: I'll soon toll you that. If it was LI in Wellington wo would clap on 10s for freight and thon so aa not to let you oat too much wo put on an extra 2a for ouraelvea. (Ohoora) That was tho old Rimutuka protection. (Laughter). Ho' referred to tho progress of the American mamifanturos whfo'i had been built up by her protective policy, and was gradually overspreading tho word. New Zealand had nevor been a Frcetrado colony and ho quoted from Sir Julius Vogel, who said It wa3 an insult to the working class to say thoy had no interest in the question of Protootion. Ho had worked hard carrying deals in tho old country for 18b a week ; if any of them would like to work for the Bame money ho would give thorn a job. (Laughter.) America wa3 fast paying off her debt; when would New Zealand begin to pay off hers ? (A voice : Wp ds>u't want to.) In America, men looked round and found fifteen ways of making money, while an Englishman was content to do the samaas his grand Father. (Loud cheera.)

"Mr T. A. Lyons said he did not represent any political paity. but apoke in the intercut of the working men. He would have preferred to aoo the question dcaideddunng Parliamentary recess,rather than un the ovo of a general election. A. much more rational verdict would then, be tho rw.iilt. Alluding to Mr Hogg's arguments* in favor of protective Victoria, he-quoted figures, ,showing that while Victoria waslessoning ita population, New. South Wo lea waa steadily increasing, and while tho former had genial soil and inexhaustible ■ mineral wealth, tho latter had millions of acres of waterJesa plains.: What had Protection done for the buti'e and sinew of Victoria ? ■ How were the "promises fulfilled by tha Protectionists ?- By low wagcjs,. mid drivinc them, to Freetrade Now Fouth Wales. Kew South Wales possessed more factoriea, had twenty five per cent- more -plant aud: muchiuery, paid bettor wages, and sold the necessaries of life cheaper than Protective Victoria.' His figures were supplied from Government Statistics,and tho other facts were from personal experience. Tho capitalist and manur. fucturer of America lived in palatial residences, while their operatives were found to be located in squalor and misery. Children were hustled off at a tender age to work in the factories, and he hoped they myht never live to seo their sisters and daughters working for the more pittance that their Americau sisters did. . Victoria gained her Pr.jtection.through the bribeiy and corruption of the MoCullock Ministry, within twelve month* after, the necessaries of life had increased, and thu laborer, instead of getting increased wages had to give way to Chinese labor. England's greatness was not a question of Fi eetrado or Protection, it was her overteeming population. Both 3allnoce and Stout were Freetraders four years ago. In conclusion, he hoped they would pay more attention in developing the resources of tho soil, buy in tue cheapest, and sell in the dearest market. (Cheers). Mr F Shaw, as a Protectionist, commenced by debating the question from wheat, hops, and malt points of view. He said that tho more they extended their researches the more they would find Freetrade a fallacy. Alluding to the Petone Jam Factory, which failed owing to the d-fficulty of fighting against tho imported article at l£d a tin duty, he said the article was far superior to the imported jams, which in the raspberry sort contained sticks instead of seeds. (Laughter.)

Mr Hogg said he did not put his. name down for the debate, as lie thought that the people ot Maaterton bad already made up their mindß, which meant a great victory for the Protectionist. He r&ferred at length to Mr Baetham'a arguinontß, and also to Mr Lyons' roranrka upon Victoria.

Mr Gardoner advocated nutting a barrier again Bt the British importers, establishing state banks, and said it was really a question of capital v labor. He looked forward to tho time .vheh he would comq forward aa 'their, representative, if thoy would only go in for Protection. Mi Pap worth argued that if a forty per cent duty waa put on the imports, jt must • necessarily cf/mo out of tho consumers pocket. .Protection woe purely a epeculs - Live policy. Thoy proposed to pay forty or fifty per cunt more for their goods on. tlie off chance of getting sixpence a day more (Cheers). Mi Langenseipon ar«ued that protection was not required if people would only live within thoir moans. Too many 'started business, without capital and expurience, and consequently failed, Mr Beetham briefly replied Btating that all that was required, according to Mr HotuU'B theory, was to place ut, cordon around tho Wairarapa,bluw uptheßimutuka tunnels and prosperity would be ensured; (Laughter). A vote of thanks to the cbau' concluded tho meeting.