THE PROTECTIONISTS AND THE TARIFF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9015, 30 March 1888, Page 5

THE PROTECTIONISTS AND THE TARIFF.

[by TELEGRAPH.— OWN CORRESPONDENT.] ' Wellington, Thursday. Tiie Conference of the Industrial and Protection Associations concluded their ! labours last night, and forwarded their report to the Premier this morning. The text of the report could not be made public before forwarding it to the Government, but the tenour and purport of it have leaked out. It is intensely Protectionist. This was expected. The Press scoffs at the report in the following fashion:—"Their report is an agreeable surprise to us. It goes beyond even what we thought possible, in showing tho utter stupidity and selfishness of Protection. The most rampant advocate of Freetrade, we are sure, could not desire to see Protection placed before the people in a more odious or a more ridiculous light than the Industrial Conference have placed it in. They have put into plain black and white the real aims and ultimate desire which the Protectionists hitherto have scarcely ventured to whisper among themselves, and they have given the people every facility for discerning what hateful and ruthless tyranny they would be compelled to suffer under if the Protectionists were to get their wicked way. The Conference have shown their hand so unreservedly, so uncompromisingly, that we are not surprised to hear that the Protectionists are very angry with them, and are freely accusing them of treachery. Truly, it seems as if some enemy had done this thing, as if some unscrupulous Freetrader had got into the Conference in disguise, and prevailed upon them to agree upon a report which is amply sufficient in j itself to damn their cause.