FRUITS OF PROTECTION.

Evening Star, Issue 8267, 12 July 1890, Page 1

FRUITS OF PROTECTION.

Thk rpport of the Chief InFpeetor of fac" fcories, workrooms, nnd nhops for tho yenf ended 31st December, ]SSO, recently presented to both Houses of tho Victorian Parliament, contains much valuable information beyond what ia merely techiiienl. Without nt all intending to do so, simc he is evidently a believer in the popular delusion ni his colony, Mr Levey throws a flood of light on the practical operation of the protective policy ; which, it would seem, confers but equivocal benefit on the very clacses 'ii whoso account the whole community in severely taxed.

Under the heading " State of trade ,vid reference to industries," -he Chief Inspector notes that there is much complaint in regard to tho state of trade at the present time, which is attributed to the reaction which baa set in after the collapse of tho land boom and the closing of the Centennial Exhibition, aDd to the drought <*«i-i»s i"" <• of the years ISSS and ISS9. During the year 245 factories were closed—forty - seven through insolvency, 10:! through business not paying. Workrooms requiring registration, lie says, "spring up like mushrooms," but after a few have to be closed again : the busiiHi.s net being sufficient to enable the statutory number of hands to be employed. Thorn were, in ISS9, 2,522 factories registered, ia which 34,850 male3and 12,373 females were employed. The majority, however, of thenare really workrooms in which as few ;.s two persons are employed. In reference to particular industries, portions of tho inspectors' reports to the Chief are quoted, and from these it would appear that the depression has been very general, and must; certainly in most instances be attributed to over-production. For some months past, says one of these officers, " there has been a "general depression in trade, principally "felt in ironworks, agricultural implement, "clothing, and dressmaking induatric?.'' The closing of the Yarraville woollen mills is referred to with regret, the cause stated being that they were not remunerative. Business in many small factories has not, it is further state.!, been nearly so flourishing as in ISSS, and there was a marked falling oil' amongst the clothiers, dressmakers, bootmakers, and eoachbuilders, and this notwithstanding tho increased import duties. The inspector at Sandhurst, reviewing trade in the North- ' western District, notes that it has been very ! uncertain during the year. The iron inj dustry, he says, has been fairly going, but I the masters have had some ircublo to keep i their hands fully employed, " the local j " wants only furnishing enough work inr | " about six months out of twelve !" In the j Hour milling trade tho year IS.S9 "will be j "long remembered, so many diflicnltirs pre'"sented themselves.'' The. high price of j wheat, it is stated, so operated that newly j the whole of the mills only worked six ! months uufc of the twelve, and many stopped j work altogether. Farmers were compelled to hold large stocks owing to the j demand being so limited. " The year has • been," says the inspector, " nu anxious one j "for the trade, and, I should think, a very | " unprofitable one." Protection, evidently, jha 3 not done much for this important ' industry. Another inspector reports that i the clothing factories have had a very trying ! time of it. None of the manufactories in ! his district, he says, have been working fu'il- ! handed ; and many of the smaller ones w. re I obliged to close allogutVr for a tiivn . Oi.-o. | reason assigned, in the trade, was • .- adopj lion of a policy of Protection by South | Australia anil New Zealand, thus closing I what was formerly a splendid marUet for | the disposal of ready-made poody. Protec- • tion, it is now being realised, cuts both j ways, and it docs tint at all suit Victoria that the other colonies should follow her lead. Boot factories snllered i as much as the clothing factories, and j never before experienced so bad a bcason, j there having been the greatest difficulty to | obtain sufficient work ; and " had it not been i "for the prospect of reaping some benefit i " this year from the increased duty on im- " ported bootB," most of the establishments would have had to be closed. This is the j old story of the horse - leech Protection ; ever demanding mmv satisfied with nothing less than the prohibition of imports. Car- | riage building, a: .'.n—a large and important i industry, highly protected—has also oxi perienced the dullness of trade. In nearly i all the factories in his district, nays this in- ! spector, considerable reductions have had to ibe made in the stafi'. "A visit to the ! " various factories told its own tale, as they | " were found to be stocked with all sorts of i " vehicles for which there was no demand." 1 Cabinet factories have also suffered from the i same causes. The proprietors informed tho j inspector that there was no demand for furuij turc at all, and thtit were it i,ot for making ! up a few articles for stock they might, as well shut up their places for all the trade they were doing. The general depression docs not appeal-, however, to have p.fleeted the thirstincss of our Victorian cousins. " Breweries have had a very prosperous time of it! " Does not this array of farts indicate clearly that trade prosperity can neither be forced on nor maintained by Protection, under which mischievous policy the . people at large are heavily mulcted ; whilst the protected industries profit only for a brief period, finding out by Bad experience • that the last state of things ia worse th.-.n the first.

The Chief Inspector makca referencs to the sweating system, remarking that there is ro much rcticcncedisplaycd, and thedillicuity of obtaining any reliable data upon which to form an opinion 13 so great, that "very little is known about it." "Sweating" appears to mean, lie says, working outside a factory at a lower scale of priccstban can be obtained inside under log prices. He has come, however, to the conclusion that many females prefer working at home, even at a lower rate of remuneration ; whilst many people, both male and female, work in a factory in the day-time and take work home with them as well, the inducement to the employer being that they will do_ the outside work at le3B than log prices. " These per.plc are often the best workers in "the factory, and if they prefer spending " the evenings in this way rather than in '* idleness or amusement, they surely cannot "be blamed for it." One of the means proposed to prevent sweating namely, the prohibiting of all outside work—he entirely condemns. " This would not only "be a cruel hardship to many deserving " people, but would also saddle the State " with the support of many who at present "are able to earn their own livelihood/' This official evidently is blind to a good deol which must be going on under his eyes ; and he is backed up by another inspector, who reports that he has "not been able to die- " cover that sweating exists in any portion "of the Melbourne district." When we consider the frightful revelations recently published in the 'Age,' such a statement indicates that this branch of inspection has been somewhat perfunctorily performed.