Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1905. THE HARVESTER TRUST.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXII, Issue 6700, 18 October 1905, Page 2

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1905. THE HARVESTER TRUST.

The.new scheme evolved by the implement makers as a mean 3of coping with the American Harvester Trust met with a much more cordial reception from the Executive of tho Farmers' Union at Christchurch on Saturday last than was accorded the representations of the deputation that previously^met them. The manufacturers now propose to reduce the prices on those implements on which they desire the Government to place an increased duty, the new arrangement to hold good at first for five years only. The solution thus proposed appears to be a satisfactory one, and even Mr Leadley was constrained to admit that "it seemed a possible solution of a great difficulty." If the proposal put forward by the manufacturers is to be adopted, Parliament will require to take action before the present session closes, in order to safegnard the colonial industry during the next nine months, as during the next year, or bo the operations of the Trust may be expected to make themselves more severely felt than hitherto. The question from the farmer's standpoint is one,of freetrade versus protection, whereas from the manufacturer's it is one of competition versus monopoly, nnd the merit of the new scheme suggested by the manufacturers is that it secures for themselves the advantages of protection, while at the same time offering the farmers a guarantee that prices will not be adversely affected thereby. The Trust has already made its presence felt in various ways, and the colonial industry is evidently doomed to practical extinction unleaß the manufacturers are assisted by the only apparent means at hand—namely by an adjustment of the tariff. The operations of the Trust are perfectly lep-al, and no handle can be obtained against it on that score. Aa long aa the farmer is safeguarded against any increase in the price of his implements, he ought to be satisfied, provided, of course, that the quality of the colonial or British article is up to the standard of the American one, and such appears to be the case. From the point of view of patriotism alone it would be a misfortune for the worker in the colonial industry to be thrown out of employment, as it is very doubtful ifthe labour market could absorb more than a few of them in other branches. The interests of the primary producer must, it is true, be safeguarded, ond every care must be taken to add no extra amount to the cost of raising the agricultural products which have to be placed in distnnt markets in open competition against the other producing countries of the world. But the whole of our people cannot devote themselves to agricultural pursuits; some of them must be employed in the manufacturing industries among other employments, and when an invader threatens to practically crush one of these industries out of existence, the farmer ought to be willing, like the rest of us, to agree to any scheme that offers a method of coping with the intruder without doing so at the farmer's or any other colonist's expense. The Trust is prepared to wait for its reward, and, if ifc does not buy out the colonial competitor, it can temporarily so reduce prices as to drive him out of the trade, so that on the whole, quality or no quality, the New Zealand implement maker can h&vo no hope of holding his own without assistance. That it is to the interest of the farmers to agree to the new scheme suggested to the Executive on Saturday is obvious ; for the price of farm implements is to be reduced right away, and the farmer is to have for five years at least what is really a guarantee that there will not be an increase in prices, It is a question what the intentions of the Trust are in regard to prices they mean to charge once they have got the trade into tbeir own hands. This matter is apparently one in which the Trust would be the sole arbiter, and in that case the farmer might in a few years find himself, paying enhanced prices for his implements, except for such as he chose to import for himself from England. We think that the adjustable tariff scheme is likely to prove satisfactory to both parties, and is decidedly worth a trial. If, however, anything of this kind ia to be done, there is no time to be lost, as Parliament will be closing very soon; It would be a thousand pities to leave the matter over till next session, as besides giving the Trust another nine months in which to get to work more effectively, it would leave the oolonial manufacturer in an annoying state of uncertainty.