LIVE AND LET LIVE.

Press, Volume XLIII, Issue 6368, 16 February 1886, Page 3

LIVE AND LET LIVE.

to ths bditob o» thb rases. Sib,—With all respect for the undoubted ability shown in Sir Julius Vegel's speech at the Theatre Eoyal, the general tenor of which I am in perfect accord with, I nevertheless would beg permission to offer a few remarks upon that portion of it which referred to our annual imports, as I cannot but think that the true conclusions to be drawn from the statistics quoted by the speaker are in reality the direct opposite of those he deduced from them. Sir Julius stated the original coat of those imports roundly as ... £5,000,000 He put the charges on same up to arrival in New' Zealand, including freight, in* Burance, Ac, &c, as 60 per cent, en coat price, or ... 2,500.000 The declared value at porta of entry being ... ... 7,600,000 The further charges here, including ad valorem duties, profits, transits, distribution, & j., a further 75 per cent, on cost price, or 3,760,000

And the cm* to the New Zβ*. land consumers 11,860,000 Adding together then two sets of charge* gives a total of 126 per cent., which the New Zealand consumer has at preaent to pay over and abore the cost of manufaoture for all foreign goods which he makes nee of. From the greater part of than extra charges the goods of New Zealand manufactureza are free. Here, then, it ia plain that owing to distance New Zealand manufacturers enjoy* natural protection of 50 per cent, and this ia further increased by the protective duties at present levied to probably 100 per cent, to which extent the foreign producer is at the present tame absolutely handicapped. This certainly should be stimulus enough to cause sound industries to take root and flourish in the colony, and is quit* sufficient to account for the falling oil in the imports, which Sir Julius referred to. Clearly any further duties on imports, if levied, will not merely be protective, bnt prohibitive. And here I snbaut that if the principle of " Live and Let Live " is to be a fact amd not a farce i if it is to be treated seriously, and not degraded into a hollow sham and a one-aided party cry only t at this point it is that the interests of oocaumers, of traders of all classes in the community should be brought into consideration, as well as the supposed interest* of manufacturers only. I deliberately use the term "supposed interests," for there can be no real doubt that the interests of manufacturers and consumers are, in the long run, so bound up «rish each ether ag

to be mfieeOf fl'Wgh p&_are fictitiously obtained by means of legislation, consumption is checked, and manufacturers, traders, and consumers alike suffer. For instance, if wearing apparel is artificially dear, people will certainly continue to wear their old clothing longer than they otherwise would do. If the price of sugar, jams, hops, and woollens is unduly raised, equally sure ia it that less will be conBurned; and so on through the whole category. In each case it will be found that it is as much to the best interests of the manufacturer to place his goods cheaply on the market in order that consumption may be stimulated, as it is to the interest of the consumer that he should be able to buy cheaply. In regard to the diminution of late in the import duties paid, as pointed out by Sir Julius Vogel, and to the serious falling off in foreign trade thereby indicated, I maintain that such reeults of a mistaken policy are to be sincerely deplored by every well-wisher to the colony, and should be looked upon as a warning of the certain decline in the commerce of the country if protective measures are enforced. The true method New Zealand should adopt to increase her prosperity is to take her place boldly in the world's markets, to extend her foreign trade by all possible means, to crowd her ports with snipping from every quarter of the globe, her warehouses with goods, and to give and take is sound and healthy competition with the whole world. She should avoid anything calculated to strangle her commerce, and never suffer herself to be dragged down by unwise prohibitive duties into a position of selfish isolation among nations. She should beware of small short-sighted schemee to prop up by artificial means weakly manufactures that are unable to erist even with 100 per cent, of differential charges in their favor, and still clamor for more; manufactures that would drain the life-blood of the colony to support by protective duties, and would die when those duties were withdrawn. She should look to the comfort and happiness of the many, not to the aggrandisement of the few; and endeavor to obtain position and wealth, not by feeding upon herself, which is the method of protection, but by open and healthy trading with all comers, which is the method of freetrade.—Yours, ie, B. B.