NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 292, 10 September 1928, Page 10

NOTES OF THE DAY

It is becoming the fashion to malign our honoured dead. Not so Ion" ago a furore was created in the United States by the publication of a “new” life of Washington, in which one of Americas national heroes was revealed as quite a different peisonage to that popularly pictured. Lven Abraham Lincoln has been so frequently “written up” by purveyors of sensational literature that he has been described as the most lied about man in history. Not so long ago Gladstone was slandered. We now hear that a literary sensation is promised London in the publication of a novel which purports to reveal intimate incidents in the life of Chai les Dickens. As it is alleged that these incidents reveal a Dickens very different to the generally accepted belief, it is to be expected that those who love his hooks and respect his memory will be greatly angeied. If the publication of private and often distorted revelations of the weaknesses of our national heroes are to outrival the sensational best seller” life for the great will have an additional burden.

The Dominion’s exports to many of the islands in the South Seas could be greatly developed at little cost. Fiji, in particular, offers an excellent opportunity for New Zealand traders to further expand their export trade. The annual report ol the Department of Industries and Commerce shows that the balance of trade between New Zealand and Fiji is greatly in favour of the latter. While goods to the value of £124.775 were exported to Fiji, the Dominion imported raw sugar and other commodities to the value of £410,039. Tn the previous year the margin was still more marked. As Australia has placed an embargo on Fijian bananas, those islands are depending on New Zealand to a very great extent to absorb her produce In consequence, there should be ■ little difficulty in disposing of a much greater quantity of the Dominion’s products in that colony. A study of Fiji’s imports suggests that there are many opportunities for New Zealand manufacturers to gain a much greater share of the Island trade than they are now handling.

Over three-quarters of a million sterling was paid last year by the Federal Government of Australia by way of bounties to encourage industries. Nearly two-thirds of this sum was received by the wine-makers, while iron and steel interests received £243,628. There is something to be said for the bounty system in preference to the system of aiding industries by tariffs. In the first place the cost of the assistance to the industry can be properly assessed. Further, the expense in distributing the bounty is small, for usually the machinery required is not elaborate. 'I he tariff, on the other hand, is one of the most expensive methods of collecting revenue. Not only does the amount paid in Customs duties by the merchant bear the merchant’s profit, but the duty plus the merchant's profit lias to bear a retailer’s profit as well. The exact extent of the protection to the industry cannot accurately be assessed nor can the cost of the tariff to the consumer.