THE ECONOMIC POSITION

Evening Star, Issue 12164, 7 April 1904, Page 1

THE ECONOMIC POSITION

AKD OUE FISCAL POLICY, PAST AND PRESENT.

[By A. H. M&tob, Oamaru.] L The question of fiscal reform which, ia now agitating the public raiad throughout the British Empire ia of such vast and farreaching importance, and its issues will ho h> momentous in their effects for all of us in the present and for air remotest descendants in the future, either for good or evil, according to the decision arrived at, and whether that decision is the right one or the wrong one, that I believe no pains ought to be spared by all intelligent and loyal citizens of the Empire to make themselves acquainted -with the actual facts and merits of the case to the fullest possible extent. No question of such supremely vital importance has ever before been submitted to the British nation. It is far and away more important and urgent than was the agitation which resulted in the adoption of Freetrade—-I say this advisetily—as Freetrade was only successful (or rather, I ought to say, seemed successful) for a time, owing to fortuitous circumstances which had no connection either with its principles or practice. All which I shall be able to demon-, strate later on as clearly as a proposition in Euclid. I am quite aware that many people have neither the leisure nor the opportunity to study and investigate this large subject for themselves, and it ia with the hope of presenting to my readers in a concrete form the facts and figures necessary to enable them to arrive at a sane and rational judgment on this most vital question that these articles are written-

To build any considerable and weighty structure securely it is needful, as everyone will allow, to remove all rubbish and unstable substances until you arrive at a solid and sound foundation, and not to commence to build until this has been done. The same principle applies to argument. An argument based upon false premises or fallacies cannot stand the test of examination or the stern logic of facts any more than a great building can stand the test of time and the destructive power of the elements if its foundations are insecure and untrustworthy. The almost universal ignorance, even among otherwise well-informed men, as to the real merits of the subject we are considering is so great, and they have "taken for granted" so much without investigation, that I believe if you were to ask ten persons selected at random "What was the foundation and canse of Great Britain a supremacy in manufactures, commerce, shipping, and the position in the world which she holds?" that at least eight out of the ten would answer " Oh, to Freetrade, of course," and this even though some of them were in favor of the change proposed by Mr Chamberlain. The curious thing about this remarkable delusion is that it is not only not the fact, but that the truth ia exactly the reverse. The real, indisputable, historic fact is that the manufactures, trade, mercantile marine, and predominance of Great Britain were founded, grew up, and flourished under the most rigorous and stringent Protective policy the world has even seen. If we go back, as far as Edward HI. we find that in 1331 le brought over Flemish weavers and established them in England. Fullers, dyers and other artificers were also induced to settle in England. In 1337 an Act was passed prohibiting the export of wool, and a law passed that no one should wear any clothing made beyond the sea. This secured the home market (always the most important to a nation), and so stimulated the manufacture of English woollen goods that they were exported to all parts of tie world; and the. celebrated Daniel De Toe, who was born in 1661, writing of this industry, in his time, says: "Take our English woollen manufacture. Go where yon will you find it" Thus, under tite most stringent protective policy our great woollen trade arose and flourished, to the great and lasting benefit o£ the. whala jh*

tioa. Truly <mr forefathers, though perhaps somewhat crude in their metlioS, were not such blockheads, even as to co£ taught to believe. They might not haw much theory, but they seem to have had a very clear perception of the means to be adopted to secure the ends they had in view. It is not necessary, however, to ate further instances of the rise and progress of British manufactures, under Protection, at so distant a period, as I shall k have a good deal to say about this whrai we come to times nearer to our own. So I will only here refer to the Navigatncsi Laws, which were in full force up to' 1826, when Statute 4, Geo. IV., c. 41, repealed the Navigation Act and established a new system of regulations, which were farther varied by subsequent statutes, which it a rot necessary to particularise, till, under the influence of Freetrade doctrines and theories, now statutes were passed in tha reign of the late Queen Victoria, which reversed the ancient policy. The Navigation law 3 were the most stringent protectivß laws which any natiwi ever promulgated, as will bo seen from the foHowuig extract from Chambers's Encyclopedia, which tells us that in 1650 " an Act was passed wlt : da prohibited all ships of foreigD nations frosa trading with any English plantation" pinother term for colony) without a EofSiau from the Council of State. In 1651 ths prohibition was extended to the Mother Country, and no goods were suffered.to be imported into England, or any of its dependencies, in any other than\ English bottoms, or in the ships of that "European nation of which the merchandise was the genuine growth and manufacture. At tha Restoration these enactments were repeated and continued by the Navioation Act (12 Chas. 11., c. 18), with the further addition that the master and three-fourths of the mariners should also be British subjects. The chief object of this Act was to encourage British shipping . . . and Adam Smith ... on the ground that defence was more important than opulence, said it was perhaps the wisest of all the commercial regulations of England." Of course, Adam Smith's theories did not lead him to approve of the Navigation Lav, 3 and other commercial regulations of his time, except in the modified praise which he gave to the Navigation Laws which I have just quoted. But we are not engaged in discussing the abtract theories of professors, how sver" eminent, but have to consider the practical and actual effect of this protective policy on our manufactures and commerce, and on our mercantile marine. No dcobi doctrinaire Freetraders would say we should have done better, and besn more successful, without this Protection. This, however, is simply a theoretical assertion, incapable of proof, and with the evidence all the other way, as we shall see when we come to more reosafc times, and have to compare the results cf theory with those cf practice. The hoasa'y proverb which says that "ths procf of the pudding is in the easing" will, I tbint, be found to be as true in this case as it is with respect to culinary affairs. The hisWw facS remains, and can miiJier be iistisoj ne/r co>p'.ained away, that (uitdev tais system cj strmg;e?it Protection oa all tides)" by the early days of tho iiraeteeaith ceotory a handful oi isiauincs (rn l&Ol ti* total population of the British Isles wss only Iwtweeii ch*. teen and serentwa miL'ions) had built uo tin -wealthiest, ths mightiest, and ELO«t exf«i*iT» nviuufanimiug, commercial, and chippxeg bvui&es& which : up to the dt.ie of JPiwte*sJe in 1845, the world had tver s*«i. 1 reswgnise that oor insular pcsitk»i helped ir. IMs remit, to which I shall give due weight when we come to consider the posrtWia - 1815. It is singularly ridrorloKS, in the face of thiis* to hear of Mr Cksjrber■kin's opponent? at Home appealing U liair audkatxv) and injsloriag tbcm "not to forsake the traditions oi tieh ny»"! Traditions, forfooi-h! • What meanhg has the word "traditions" as applied to a modern experineut, cf which turn; oi thousands of us now living can remember £»<; inception? Scch speech may appeal to and mfiueacs ignorant or unthinking men, and mav ba a flower of oratory used to evoke cheers; but it is as false in fact and "ring" as a rpvrious coin. The real tradilioui of the race, whether wt approve of them or not, arc fex otherwise. Bro Ido not propose to defend them here. I 'only advance certain facts, which cannot be tor.trevcrted, to cisar v.y one of the Eiwrf fallacies and delussois on this subject, which, in sotim un&ccoaucsbii' way, seem to have tait-a h&d of the nxn-.'h of 30 many people.