A NATIONAL POLICY.

Evening Star, Issue 16629, 11 January 1918, Page 3

A NATIONAL POLICY.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—l have read with much interest ‘‘Wanted a } iet ' Pitied wanted, a National Policy.’ I mav be iS£w o nf’ bl,t 1 m,lst confe « my nabJltv to follow your reasoning. Owner L S °r f Tn ° r less obscure of t-e Biitish Government, you sav “the London market will be stocked with local i ail<l y6t “ our of foodstuffs and raw materials will be sold there under cost of production.” R ; s by no means clear how this can possibly take place. It Great Britain can produce enough for her own requirements (an impossibihtyl it is difficult to, see how wo snail be able to effect sales at all. If how-ever, competition compels tins, it must necessarily be an immense benefit to the British worker. Do you wish to deprive him of this advantage? The National Government, yon say, must come to the rescue by further encouragement of our manufacturers, as previous Administrations have done little. What about boots? This industry- has enjoyed heavy and increasing protection for 30 years, and tbo result? In 1915 the- product of our primary industries was minimised by £250,000, the extra cost of boots to the New Zealand pubhca deliberate tax of at least 5s in the £ on every pair of boots bought T>v the workers. It would have paid the Dominion to give the operatives their wages, and begged them to do nothing, thus saving an enormous, sum annually. Local protected industries do not increase the total wealth of the Dominion by one penny. On the contrary-, they greatly diminish it, and every protected manufacturer is constituted a private tax-gatherer.— I am. etc., T - H.M.’ January 11.