A MAD POLICY.

Evening Star, Issue 7340, 12 October 1887, Page 4

A MAD POLICY.

It is not often (remarks the ' New Zealand Herald') that we get at the political views of our merchants, but we find from our South Australian files the following, which the leading journal in Adelaide inserts under the heading of " Protection from tho Politicians." The 'Register' says: —"The fears of true progressive South Australians regarding the stumbling block of Protection which our legislators are now engaged in laying for us are finding a re-echo in the mercantile community of New Zealand. In that Colony there appears to be a growing worship of the protective chimera, but amongst the far-seeing in our sister community there arc also those who honestly point out the fallacies of the theory and its blows to true progress. Messrs L. 1). Nathan and Co., of Auckland, write to a mercantile firm at Port Adelaide as follows :—"'We observe that your legislators are determined to shut out our produce, and are of opinion that the surest way to bring about intercolonial reciprocity is to have such a war of tariffs between the different colonies as to reduce the thing to an absurdity. The feeling for rabid Protection is getting the upper hand in New Zealand, and this move of yours in shutting out our butter, cheose, bacon, etc., will probably be met by further levies upon your wines. Last American mail we refused to handle California wines, on the ground that we would not throw over our South Australian neighbors; and it seems to us that you should rather encourage the growth of mutual feeling, instead of doing exactly tho opposite. We fear that both of our respective colonics arc being ruined by politicians.'"