FREE TRADE VERSUS PROTECTION.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2047, 20 August 1885, Page 4

FREE TRADE VERSUS PROTECTION.

TO THK KDJTOB. Sni,— Vou will hive to bo land enough to allow me space- fur two letters, in which to answer the leU< r-t of Mews Johns and Forrest, imd deal with the general question of Fruo Ti.vdo ivnd Protection, bringing facts and common sense to bear upon it. I must acknowledge at once my guilt of tha charge of using old arguments ; arguments that have novci in one Mngle inutwico buou iefut"d by tho must mtelloctu.il Piotectmnist. I tail to sco that Mr Johns' (whoso lettei I ansvvei tint) argu-uu-itts ,hu now, foi it will take braiu-powei of far gieiter capioitv than exists in this colony to st n t^ind maintain oi igmal P.rgu monts oft this question. Mr Johns does not wanttoinsnit the intelligence of your teadeis. Mi Kditor, tins statement and .1 gio.it part of his letter is nothing more or leas than c.uit— econoinic.il clap trap. On thu question of Free Trade, as on questions of fanning, co-opoi ation, coimneice, and the Government of this country, it is not tho intelligence of the community that I would a.ssail, but their aeuaele-s apathy, inditforencu and incredulity. If I could, I would stimuhto them to think and study for themselves the pros and cons of all questions affecting their moial, intellectual and material welfare. But the masses are e\et lad by the few ; theiefoie it ought to bo tho paramount duty of the few to put all questions before the public in honesty And tmthfulness, and not try to distort and twist foots to the misleading <if the many. > 'C.ulyle"<ays :— " May the Lord deliver us from all cant; may the Lord, whatever else he do or foibear, teach us to look facts honestly in the face." There is no need for assuming what is an absolute and indisputable matter of fact, that trade between nations must be carried on at a profit, otheivviso it would soon end. Aft 4 to the ordinary conception of tho people, is the profit of foreign trade the least disadvantageous benefit to a country ? Is not money the god of the world. Mr Johns would have us discard this part of the subject and pa.ss into progiess in the arts, manufactures and civilised life. But how many men, nay, out of every 100, would choose money in preference" to moiahty and a cultivated intelligence .' The great majoiity. Many men who have had a moral and intellectual training subvert these to fraud and dishonesty (within the law) for tho sake of money. Oh ye gods ; let us have the money ! The race after money in our days is degrading and demoralizing; nevertheless a favourable balance is a jjovveifnl factor in international trade. Certainly the tall chimnoy* of ( H.usgow, Birmingham, Manchester, etc., posses-, a monetary value to (heat Britain, when established and maintained under Fife Ti.ide. But the manufactories, railroads etc, of a country, when established under Protection, am a loss to the country ; for thoy cost the country loss on the building, and every consumer a Vos-j upon the article inanufactuted thcioin to the extent of 15, 20, or 30 pJi cent, accotdmg to the duty maintained to keep other manufacturers from the market. It is calculated the United States railways alone have cost the country a third more capit il than would otherwise have been the case if -he had beught her mateiial* m free market , besides the annual loss to the users of the i.ulways thmngli enhanced freight to pay the interest on the extra capital. Aits and manufactures will flourish infinitely better undci Free Trade than under Ptotection. \nd we have the authority of Mi 1). A. Wells L L.D. (late Special Commit monei of the U.S. Treasury, who was it first i violent pi ot^ction^f, but tinned to free trade views), and Mr J. L. Bell, M.P., F. li.M. (an eminent English ironmaster and chairman of tho committee appointed to judge on the limits of the exhibits shown at the Philadelphia International Exhibition, in connection with minoials, mining, the manufacture of pig and wrought, non and steel and in ichiuory in connection thercwith)J for ht.iting that American manufactmes would have advanced. with more rapid »ti ides and a surer foundation of stability and success under Free Trade, than under Protection. I have pi fat faith in tho future of this countiy, and that we nhall not rein. nn mere plantation hands to tlie end of tho chapter is shown by the establishment aionnd us of diffeiont manufacturer. Energy, enterprise, inventions, co-operation, cheaper money and labour that will give an honest day's work for an hon»st dny's pay will soon cnabl«j this counti y to enter laigely into mnnnf.ictur ing industii.'s. The (Joveintueut should pay foi the sei vices of piactical and technical e\peit« ti tnquiio into all details of natuial levuirces goognphical position, money ami 1 iboui niaiket*, affecting any industry winch it was thought might be established without piotection. Mr Johns is \ciy careful to say that any intelligent citi/en of the United States who is " not a imn pioducur " will tell us that American manufactures would not have been established hid it not been for Protection. But will intelligent non produccis of manufactured goods say so — pnittetil.it ly the fanners, who fouu the great bulk of the people of the United States, anil who, in tho Western and Southern States of Ameiicahave fonncd and are forming "Free Trade Associations?" In my former letter I did not Hay tho fanners of the Far West of America weru in a bad way. What T said was, "ask the f muers of tho Far West if they beltyve in Piotiction, and in fact of tin ir foi mcd Kiec Tmde Associations the answei is ' No.'" Is th mo any comparison between an Kngiish mid an American farmer— the ono with his cheap, fertile land and i hotter and more regular climate, the time main cs-entials to success in fanning, the other with denr land, a wretched climate, and who must use manures freely? It is senseless. Another equally senseless assertion of Mr Johns' is, that the cause of the depression in agriculture is over production of the necessaries of life ; mid tins in the face of tho fact that millions in Ameiica, England and Europe alone, have not tho absolute necessities of life, putting out of the queHtion mere ordinal y comfoits. In England and the large towns of Ameiica, meat sells at tOd to Is per lb retail, m Australia at I VI to 2d per lb whole•alo. I ask, are theae millions fed and clothi d as they should bn? No! Yet we have over production,— tho necessaiies of life unconsuiued, rotting. Tho thing is absuid ! There is not over production of the necessaries of life, and I think there never will be. Mr Foi rest forbears from noticing the ridicule contained in the quotation sent to your paper by Mr Paton, and yet the quotation as from a French writer of eminence in Political Economy, and it contains the sum and substance of the absurdity of Protection as it interfere* with the natural gifts of our Creator. And Protection also interferes with one of tho greatest blessings in the advancement of art, manufactures and civilisation, that of division of labour. MrForrest also foi be.usfrom ridiculing any of my arguments excapt the figuies. The dnect question* that I put to him he passes by, for he is unable to answer thnu Mr figures ro nnpoits and exports do not locp ono iota of their significance fioin the inistatemenNanrl distortions of Mr Foru-st. I did not say that "nearly " all the excess of England's imports from Ameiica iei»ieHented interest. I snid as follow* :— The largest portion is paid for by tho cxpoits; tho rest will include interest upon English money invested in America, English labour exerted th^re, payment sent home, nnd pay ment for English nhipa carrying American goods. I cannot give each item in propoition. Mr Forrest, spite the misHtatcmont of my words, fails to show how England fither pnys or does not pay foi this £f>3,000,000. English shipping alone will earn a large amount in carrying goods foi America. Mi Forrest trys to di«tmfcthe truth of my figures. Now, I will deal w itli hit. In his first letter he says England has £300,000,000 invested in Foreign countries, which brings in £()»!,000,000 as interest, or 22 per cent. Isn't this absuid? Most of the English money is invested In foreign stock, v/ , frovermnont and railways, harbour and borough loans which at the most will pay an all round 7 percent, per annum. England has about 230 millions invested in India, about (X) millions in this colony, and then theieis America, Aunttalhnnd Europe, which absorb vast sums of English capital. Mr Kouest h not at homo in the region of figures. So Anieric a acquired an incicaso of bullion to the amount of about I'SJ,OOO,U(>U dining W!> and IW>0 ! Bui, Mr I'Wresij omit'i to state how tins occui red -in fact is afraid to «,iy, for fe.u of damaging his case. Ho would have us think that mo*t of it was sent fiom England. I only have the bullion and specie statistics of one of the years mentioned, vu., 1880, in which year England sent specie &c. to America valuo £.">,5 16,000, and received specie &c. from America of the valuo of £1,254,000, leaving a balance in favour of Ameiica of, loughly, £»,2"iO,000. The next statistics I have to refer to are for 1882, when England sent to America .specie &c. value £12], (122, and lecencd fiom specie &c \alup £H,O_"J,I.M ( ), leaving a lalanco in favoiu of England of, roughly, t17,M0,000. Bullion

mov ements between country and country .no of no great mipoit.mco. The meiehan disc (it tiudo in go'd-i h the cnteiion by which to judge. o>es Mr Foncst think inonoy is wealth, and the nvno a country possesses tho wealthier she is? or that a wealthy country must perforce possess 11 vast quintity of gold? England is the wealthiest nation in the wmld, and hor annual income is £1,500.000,000 per year (Hy mi-take, in my first letter I put her actual wealth at the name amount). Yet tho quintity of bullion and specio which she po«*««es oscillates .ibout the point of n bmit JL'l>~>, 000,000, being sometimes moie, siiinctinn.'i. hv-*. And this depends uj)on the stitn of the di-count or money muket. Yet of this £fi\OOO,OOO half is kept in the vaults of tho bank of England <md other banks as a. sot off ngaimt bank notes issued, and is practically useless. He may s.iy the notes represent the gold ; then what, I ivsk represent the enormous number of cheques and bills of exchange. Do they lepresent gold ? Money, m the hhape of gold or paper, is purely a medium of exchange. Doe« Mr Forrest wish to imply th.it Mr Gladstone is u. Protectionist, for if so, it is false ; and Prince Bismarck is no authoiity, for he only gnos out opinions which will tonrt to sen c his own \ iews and ainw, witho-it considering either theii ti nthfulness or lionestv. I will quote other opinions re United States Piotection fuither on. " Germany under Protection has and still continues to rnjoy wonderful prosperity." It is just tho reverse, that is, if we ha\o to believe newspa pel reports, as many of her steel works are lying idlo, and her workmen out of employment. "And (.lemuny employs l(!,000 liioie hands m the iron trade in consequence of Protection." Did these men diop from tho cloud-*? Assuredly not. It is merely a matter of transferring men from one employment to another, and maintaining them in the new trade at the expense of the country at hrge. I do not fence round what Mr Foire-st calls facts ; they ,uo mere statements, and I sttive to de.il with them gleaily and truthfully. We should all like to «co the greatest material blessings gisen to the greatest number, hut unfortunately protection gives employment to the few, at the expense, hardship, and deprivation of the many It delibeiately steals or takes fiom the pockets of the m.my to maintain the few. The many suffer, and even tho few got no real benefit, forwh.it is given with one hand is taken .iw.iy by the other. I hardly have the patience to answer Mich senseless absurdities as Mr Foi rest advances m support of Protection. I suppose raw materials, in the estimation of Mr Foire»t, do not require labour to produce them, yet, strange t) say, the large majority of the people of the United States are employed in producing r.iw materials, and she would be m a deploi.iblo state if it wasn't so. Lastly, Mr Forrot, in the statement of the argument with his fii-nd tuestoveil the truth oT the~ nmttei . He would have us believe that the £30,000 U Luge sum to maintain 800 people) more th.vi counter balances the £22, "#0. paid extia by the coiismuet. Thlj V'W 9 aru l )<lrt "^ tne co>t of pro'ductfon, nnd the extra sum of £22,~>00 piid by the consinncis to only oin' f.ictoiy, (and there are three or four others m thor colony) is an absolute l<)*s, and the' £l") 0,000 paid for the clothing, •fee, would re-i>n)diico in this county even if bi ought fiom abnmd. So much for the lettpr that was going to smash up .ill facts jiul theones th.it h.ive baen, or ever likely to be brought forw.ud in f.ivour of Fiee Ti-.ide. It has jiroved gieitly (lis)[)])oiiitiiiK, and .iftei waiting such i tune. -I am, yours tiuly, "Nil Dh-PKUwnur. Pln^^■^^[^\M)o VINCh-. ' Auckland, 13th August, ISS\

At the clog show two mariied people qiui idled in a low \oce "See heie, Ariel iklp, h.ncn't >ou got <lnno ticnting tun like .1 (lop ? ' "Wliil! I treat you like. i dot. Oh, no, They give the dogs gold medals, and you do:i t meiit even .111 honourable mention !" An unfortunate wife was killen at Tioy, NY M while cooking her husband's bieukfast in a fcirful manner. — Now Voik lllu«tiated Times. Thure aie a gteat many women all over this fiee land of ouis who cook their husinnds' breakfasts "in a fearful manner," but it is not often that justice on ci takes them, as it seems to have done in this c.ise. — Texas biftines. Britain's Rkvlnuh. — The English revenue for the past jcar amounted to C!K),030,.3.V2. This is a net increase o\ci the piexious jear of £P>,fiOO,(ifi4. With the excvptti^ of miscellaneous receipts, winch show a deu ea3e of £230,813, there is an iiKiCa.se in eveiy branch of levcnue, including i"2,535,(j00 fiom the propel ty and income ta\, £3.V2,000 from the Customs, £300,75S from stamps, £•290.(100 fiom the po office, iGO.OOO from telegiaphs, and i' 31,000 from house duty. A minister of the name of Sparks, whose pastorate lay in the north, was the father of thnteen ohihlien. At the baptism of the tlm teuntli an aged brother divine, desirous to choose what seemed to him an appropiiate desciiption of the life of man, called on the congregation to join 111 singing the fifth paraphrase, beginning with the line, "As sparks in c'o'c succession lise. 1 ' vSo unconscious was he that he could not understand the people's titte r, until, w hen he descended from the pulpit, his pun was explaiuc 1 to him. Tiik failure of the laige firm of Mi ssrs Scaramanga, grain cspoi teis>, St Peteisburg, was announced recently, ond caused some sensation. "Within the last three 01 four months no less than five of the laigcst firms at Moscow, mostly identified with the sugar tiade, failed for the total sum of about £2,300,000- Mot,. cow in fact, is already 111 the midst of a commercial crisis, and the Governoi of the Stite Bank has ju&t been despatched there by the Minister of Finance to confer with several local bankers as to the measures required for avei ting a still more serious state of things in banking and commeicial afTaiis. GhMiKAL ltussell Thaycr, of PhiladcU phi*, who is the inventor of a war balloon, has received instructions fiom the Ordnance Board of the United States Army to begin work at once upon a monster air ship, which is likely to he one of the most dcstiuctive implements of battle known to modem science. It will haxe ai\ ascending force of seven ton's, will cost nearly £2 000, and will have a length of b'O'ft find a diameter of COft. It is know 11 as the Dirigible wai balloon, is cigar-shaped, and pointed at both ends, and, independent of wind, it has a speed of :>0 miles an hour, the motive power being compiesscd air, which is accumulated by machinery and diselwngod at the rear end. The ah -ship can he steeicd in any dinction, and tons of dynamite can be dropped as it sails over a fortification or a fleet of ships Tests will he made as f-oon as it is completed. American Co's Hop Bitters are the Purest and Best Bitters Ever Made, They are compounded from Hop*, Malt, Bmhti, Mandrake, and Dandelion, the oldest, best, and tho moat valuable medicines in the world and contain all the best and most curative properties of all othei remedies, being the gicatcst B'ood Purifier, Livtr liegnlatoi, and Life and Health Restoiing Agent on earth No disease or ill health can possible long eviat w here they are used, so v. aried and perfect are their operations. They gne new bfo and vigor to the aged and infirm. To all whose employments cause iiregulaiity of the bowels or urinary oigans, or who rer|uiir an Appetizer, Tonio and mild Stimulant American C'o's Hopßitteisaic invaluable being highly curative, tonic and stimulating, without intoxicating. No matter what your feelings or symptoms are, what tho disease or ail incut i« use Hop Bittus. Don"t wait ■ until you aic sick, but if you only feel bad or iniseiablc, use Hop Bitk-i.s at once. It may sjtvc youi life. Hunduds have been saved by so doing. £.100 will be paid for a caso tin y will not cure 01 help. Do not suffer or let your friends suffer, but useanduigc them to use Amciican Hop Bitteis. Remember, American Hop Bitters is no vile, drugged, drunken nostrum, but the Purest and Best Medicine ever made. Try the Bitters to day. Get at Chemists or Druggists. Bewaic of imitations. Genuine has Dr Soule's name blown in i bottle.