THE MEETING AT GREEN ISLAND.

Evening Star, Issue 7246, 24 June 1887, Page 4

THE MEETING AT GREEN ISLAND.

TO THK EDITOR. Sin, —In your report of the above meeting Mr Thomson is reported as having said: " One of the results of Protection was that the country that adopted it never became an exporting community." Now I was always under the impression that the German Empire was an exporting community, and I think I have seen a good many of their manufactures in this far-off isle of the sea, and it is, I believe, a Protection country. Was it not during the long centuries of Protection that the foundations of England's foreign trade were laid ? I might multiply instances, but these will probably be enough for Mr Thomson to explain. I may only add that, though at present a believer in moderate Protection —to which I was brought mainly by fallacies in the arguments of Freetraders—l am not so bigoted as to be beyond conversion.—l am, etc., Inquirer. Dunedin, June 20.

TO THK EDITOR. Sir,—ln connection with the recent public meeting at Green Island, kindly allow me to state that not one-third of those present voted in favor of the motion of Mr Thomson-against the acceptance of a candidate advocating Protectionist principles though it was carried. About eighty persons were present, and only twenty-four voted in favor of the motion. Owing to the lateness of the hour, and at Mr Thomson's request, the question of Protection was not debated at length. The arguments of that gentleman could have been easily answered. His main statement was that if boots were protected they would go up in price. Protectionists hold that local competition will keep prices at a reasonable level; but, if necessary, a small sacrifice should be made to give employment to our own families in preference to the sweaters of London or Glasgow. Seeing that we profess loyalty to the Home Country, I should like to have our tariff ai ranged in such a way as to elicit preference for English goods over those of the United States and other foreign countries. However, I now merely wish to indicate that the victory of the Freetraders of Green Island is infinitesimal.—l am, etc, W. A. W. Wathen. Luncdin, June 21.