Occasional Notes.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 28, 21 January 1875, Page 6

Occasional Notes.

I have detected an attempt bv a writer in the Tokoraairiro paper, of the sth inst , under the heading; of " Bags | and Sacking,*' to unfurl again the banner, of " Protection to - Native Industry.".. Whenever I see tlfis flag raised,. 1 feel a strong temptation to haul it. down, and if possible trample it under foot, for I never have been able to rid my mind of the conviction that this bit of bunting is a delusion nnd a snare. In a portion of his communication this writer' appears strongly to advise our farmery to go in for European flux growing" in order to provide material for manufacture. Now it is extraordinary how little attention our farmeis as a class, . pay to the kind advice gratis of outsiders. Awhile since the ears of the farmers were continually being dinned with advice to grow beet for the manufacture of sugar. A paternal government, seemed very ■anxious about this mutter, and beet seed was I believe to be had for the a^kingj; Strafigr, : the farmers did not see it., I expect but few of them, purchased beet seed 1 and fewer still made any attempt to grow sugar beet. We still continue to import cane sugar, and are likely to do so for many years to dome, notwithstanding the good example of France, and Germany in the way of growing 1 beet and making 1 sugar from it. The Dunedin brewers have been for years begging, and.praying the farmers to grow' barley for malt, but the farmers don't respond in a manner the brewers would like. Again the advantages of growing flax have been repeatedly set before our farmers in glowing colours; but again the farmers don't seem to see it,..and r I there are very few farmers who ,have^ a patch of European flax on theirland, The fact is our/farmers will go their own way, and in the opinion of some.. people . exhibit good sense in not embarkingvery in , speculative industries. Jhere , is. :fljo ddubt,,th.ak profit may Sometimes' be made by^..quitting the, wßllbeate'n road,! and making ;a new | track, but there is ever risk attendant on so doing! _'Pe r 6ple with ' 'abundance pf capital intfy afford-tor runt such/risks^, | ; bttt^t}ijer \' pQctple |..;witl l fer- > to- : myeßt ? ; [jUsli^ftnid 1 i^Jspfin - pursuits; wnere b, profit ? .piosfcof ss%s&!*s& w& h Mi& is*M\ their attentiQa to tbfe growing "'or

wlreatj nni!; . Qfit sj, r pasturing'' sh'eepjhn^ and ..tfajrv' farjniri^Wqtwi^listandihg tlie kind advice freelf 'proffer^' tp.lhein to grow beet and. flax. ; -.::■. / 'As to what the writer in [question; says about protective duties in ■ order to. promote the growth and manufacture. of . flax, I do not 1 believe in'. it. The writer expresses' an opinion that the I Works and Immigration policv should,' or. must be supplemented in a few" years, by. a protective policy. Ido notthink it need be, and trust it never will be 'sol If I mistake not, there ia good reason to suppose that even at present With the high price of labor, several sorts of maritifachire can be undertaken with success in this country without the necessity of nursing them in their infant state by protective laws,' or high prohibitive ; duties on the imported article.'. Against the high price of labor may be set off freight, and import, duty for revenue, so as probably to leave a balance sufficient to encourage native manufacture. The fallacy, of the " protection to native industry" policy should be apparent to anyone looking at the subject in a proper light. The writer above referred to seems to insinuate that the sum of £51,181 expanded by the importation of '" bags and sacking" is a loss to the country. It ! is = no loss whatever, while the country receives value for its money in bags and sacking. When money is drawn from the resources of the country and expended abroad by absentee runholclers, landowners, or bankers, th>n there may be said to be a loss, but there;.is.._.no loss when, we receive equivalent value in goods for cash. The country, however, certainly suffers a-loss, when the people of it. are prohibited from buying in die cheapest market of the world. If it would cost 1 the country more to manufacture certain articles here than irriport them from Great Britain, a prohibition ; to import would involve a loss to the extent to which people would have to pay more for manufactures in. one case than in the other. Were a. prohibition dut} r , placed on bags and sacking alone, the country, by its people" being debarred from purchasing in the cheapest market, would suffer still greater or much more loss. . ' That amount of cash which the people' paid in one year for articles manufactured in the conntry, beyond what would have b°en paid for imported articles, would be a certain .°nnual loss ; a loss the amount of which would be'comparatively immense, were there a prohibitive duty on all, or almost all foreign manufactures. It is more profitable for a farmer to buy his clothing at the store, and devote less time to the cultivation of his land, than it would be for him to prepare his own leather make hip own hoots and shoes, spin his own wo'ol and flax and make his own ciothes. So with a country, as long as" it; can inn port chenper than it can manufacture at home, it is more profitable "to : import than manufacture in the country, and a sure and certain loss is ' incurred by forcing the people to pay higher for the home made article, by forbidding them to purchase in the cheapest market. The only set-oft, against this' certain loss or waste, of ca&b, is the supposed encouragement given to home manufacturing by the protective ' duty, but it is very questionable whether the present and certain loss is counterbalanced by the , prospective gain. Manufactures will spring tip naturally when. surrounding circumstances, such' a^ the .requisite cheapness of labor, are favorable to their growth, and as soon as ever the . native manufacturer can compete successfully with the foreigner. The endeavor to force, the grbwth of manufactures by artificial means) instead of allowing a young'colony to' develope itself gradually in the healthy," atmosphere of free trade, "is an erroneous policy, fraught .with consequences productive of national poverty and destructive of corhmerco. ' :