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Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 33, 8 August 1934, Page 4

Writing of the tariff and exchange, " "F.H.P." suggests that "until tho ". British manufacturers have tho oppor- ■ tunity of replying, it would be clis- ' tinctly unfair to accept tho inference '■ that New Zealand buyers arc not troatcd fairly by certain Home manufacturers, . . . As a wage-earner ' and one who has had his salary roducod during tho last few years by CO l)ov tout., not tho moderate cut made on tho Public Service, I consider that thoso of us, and that is the great majority, who iind it most difficult to ma'ko ends meet have a serious grievance in boing expected to pay higher prices for so many articles, caused by tho unjustifiable artificial manipulation of tho exchange- by tlio Government. I believo wo would all bo shocked if accurato figures were prepared showing j-cspeotivo retail prices in England and New Zoaland of manufactured goods, and when Mr. Mandcr again brings his views before the public I suggest ho state tho relative retail prices when he advances an appeal for the continuation of protective duties, so that the public can judge if it is really worth while. I for ono would like to bo in a position to make a comparison of prices in England with what I pay here, not that I favour free trade, but to bo able to judgo which of our secondary industries arc deserving of support through tho Customs tariff. It would also be interesting to have a. schedule of relative prices in England and New Zealand for standard crockery and hardware lines not manufactured here, so that we could see what the Government is collecting by way of duties and exchange. "It is very likely that tho additional ■ protection of 25 per cent, exchange will lead to tho establishment of undertakings that can only exist under excessive protection, and trouble will happen when tho exchange is reduced, which would happen immediately Lf tho wish of probably 80 per cent, of the population was not being flouted by Cabinet. The 25 per cent, exchange is undoubtedly tho equivalent of an additional, 25 per cent, duty, and if I was an English manufacturer ever so friendly towards this country I could not help thinking that if tho agreement at Ottawa was to "make it easier for English manufacturers to trade in New Zealand the Now Zealand Cabinet had quickly after the Conference made it much harder for many." (To the Editor.) Sir,—One r"eads with interest tho .various* representations being made to tho/iiiniste^ of Customs objecting to tho r.ceentlsjigMj.alterations in tho Now Zealand,ta,Viffs:on goods imported from Britain, ; andVoHe in particular, which seems quite ; inequitable, is that put forward by.;^v-Mander and Mr. Thorpe on behalt:pf the jSTew Zealand manufacturers Vof7 hosiery.' \ Mr. Thorpe's statement, "tho two firms engaged -in,-the manufacture of New Zealand.hosiery," naturally, leads one to believo that ho is raising tho objection to tho diminutive reduction of 2j per cent, on behalf of the two firms", who have recently taken up the manufacture: of 'full-fashioned hosiery in Newf ealancL No mention was made by Miv.i'Thorpo regarding tho many other hosiery manufacturers who have been in existence in New Zealand for many years, and who at one time only enjoyed, approximately a 35 per cent, advantage over imported goods. Theso manufacturers managed to keep their end up, and aro still going. Surely it is a reasonablo contention that, if a manufacturer cannot bo successful with approximately a 70 per centl advantage, then ho should take on sonic other business., Tho suggestion that tho duty. pn.English hosiery should be increased to 364. per cent, surely cannot boheated with any; seriousness..... ...." \': Owing to th'^:continual drain on tho public 'pocket,: tocjay,-f } consumers are forced to purchas,o an inferior .article, wjiich one realises is , false economy, and, if tho.'suggestion' -of.-.". increased tariff was .."put; into "force,; a still more inferior article ; would have to suit_ the purpose for which it was required. Even now-there is/a, general outcry against the^tremendous increase 6f imports froini japan^ and theso imports would'almost certainly bo further increased. Tho New Zealand manufacturer can only produce a very small percentage .: of. the many classes of hosiery which aro required to supply the public, and it would bo'almost impossible to classify them for , duty purposes.. It appears that a person only needs to commence manufacturing some typo of article- in New Zealand and, upon.'realising that:his cost.of production, is,' immeasurably out of proportion with/that of the imported'article, notwithstanding the high landing charges,' he looks to the Minister of;:Custoins to protect his industry.""'. '■ : ■ . Tho, question" of; employing a certain number; of hands is also put forward, but one must not overlook the fact that an/increase, in tho output in tho manufacturing quarter would not eat up tho unemployment which would certainly bo created by the ensuing" loss of business in tho largo number of importing firms. The statement put forward that England and Australia , have a more or less prohibitive tariff on imported goods in order to protect their secondary industries is "not applicable to New Zealand, as there is not tho consumption in this country at tho present time to enable manufacturers to produce a sufficient output to reduce their costs to a competitive basis. Even Australia, with its population of nearly 7,000,000, is now over-producing and has to look elsewhere in order to market her goods. If tho secondary industries wero fostered to tho extent looked for by the manufacturers in New Zealand, overproduction would bo inevitable, and who would ever dream of this little country ever exporting any other than our primary productions? Wo air know that our exports to Britain aro considerably in excess of the imports, and if a prohibitive tariff was imposed on her goods the present one-way traffic would be accentuated. Tho recent reductions in tariff wcro commended by Britain, but what would she say if they wero increased as asked for ay a small section of tho business community'? One docs not like to linger on this question. Then, again, what would bo tho result on tho revenue obtained by the Customs? A loss in this quarter would necessarily have- to be collected elsewhere, and extra taxation ;<t tho present time would not bo welcome.—l am, etc., IMPERIALIST. ' [.From, Post's" rop6rts it appoars that the deputation did not object to tho duty being reduced to 25 per cent., but asked that alternative specific duties should bo introduced. It was suggested that a lower duty could not bo claimed under tho Ottawa Agreement than was imposed by the United Kingdom, but it was not asked that tho New Zealand duty should be raised to this rate. —Ed.]