AN OPENING FOR NEW ZEALAND.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 177, 26 July 1913, Page 4

AN OPENING FOR NEW ZEALAND.

: ! — I , , "here :-eeins to bo no longer any! . doubt that frozen moat is to be admitted . into tho Inked States free of duty. I i This is President Wilson's concession to ' the wide-spread demand for a reduction in the cos: of living, and it is certain to ; bo received with enthusiasm by every- ; one in the United States except the , cattle-breeders and tbe Trusts. But the 1 Democrats have quite rationally decided that the interests of the great mass of , the people must no longer bo sacrificed to the unscrupulous greed of a small • minority. W"o need hardly point out ; thai this remission of tho import duty '■ , on meat is not in any way. as the Cob- ! . deniies assert, n. sign of the coming , downfall of Protection, or tbe triumph , of Free Trade principles in America, j President Wilson has himself repeatedly j i disclaimed any idea of undermining the , Protection system by which tho indus- j tries of the United States have been so successfully built up. Put it is now; I generally admitted that the cost of liv- j ! ing in America is largely controlled by l , the Meat Trust, which has secured a practical monopoly of the supply of manv of the necessaries of life: and not | even the mo>t enthusiastic supporter of ; , Protection can logically uphold a high i . tariff where monoplies are in question. j 1 For the theory of scientific Protection j t is that when once the local market i* - effectually barred by protective duties - against outside sources of supply, compe- ? tition between the local producers will in- •, evitably keep down prices for the con- ? sinner. But in the case of a monopoly I such as the Meat Trust has established, j there is no possibility of competition; , and under such conditions it becomes necessary to modify the national fiscal j policy so as to protect tho. interests ot the majority of the people. It was the , worst fault of tire Tait Government and \ of the Republican party that while they were in power they did not take sufficiently effective steps to defend the country against the Trusts and to break down the monopolies which a small body of financiers have organised in the ' United States to exploit the masses. ' The reduction or abolition of the duties I on raw wool, meat, and other important ! com-modi-ties is the Democratic''counter" to the extortions of the Trusts, and no doubt it k the only effective reply to • their machinations. But if 'President l Wilson is determined to secure the , necessaries of life for tho American people at a reasonable prico, he will have to do something more, than throw open ' the American ports to moat, supplies - from abroad free oi duly. He will need I to take such steps as will prevent the Meat Trust from controlling the groat food markets of the world, and dictating 1 the terms on which the necessaries; of Hfo ,d_ll bo bought and cold there. i At-the present time it is asserted that the selling price of meat in Pm'-thneld market is practically regulated by the American Meat Trust. If this is so, the • people of the United States will not gain 1 much by rnuovi ng the import duty on , foreign meat unless they are prepared to offer such n price as will break down the Trust's monopoly. This ie the meaning of oil* «able message announcing that

President Wilson is taking steps to divert the Australasian and South Amcri- ; can meat exports from the London 'market toward the Cnited States. That I the Democrats are in earnest over their new policy is made clear by the President's proposal to send American experts to Australasia and South America to '•educate - ' the producers and induce them to send their meat away in the form best suited to the North American market. And all this is of extreme interest and importance, to New Zealand. For whether the Democrats succeed in lowering the cost of living or not. it is at least certain that the removal of the American import duty on foreign meat and the efforts of the Democratic Government to secure a steady supply of meat from Australasia will give us a splendid and unexampled opportunity to extend our export trade with the United States on profitable terms, and we may congratulate ourselves accordingly.