THE BAKERS DISPUTE.-PROTECTION AGAINST FREETRADE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 9010, 15 October 1892, Page 3

THE BAKERS DISPUTE.-PROTEC-TION AGAINST FREETRADE.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—The bakers make out a strong case in favour of protection, on the ground of selfpreservation. The other party to the dispute—ths public— contend that in this as in otter things, price must be regulated by the law of supply and demand, and by the survival of the fittest. If all entering the baker race are to have a prize, and that of their own fixing, it is evident it would greatly increase the entries; we would have more bakers, and to carry it out to its logical conclusion, if the price of the loaf is fixed, so should the bushel of wheat, the farmer's stakes, the butcher's stakes, the grocer's, the bootmaker, and every tradesman's down to the day labourer, all should fix their own gains. Everybody should boycott everybody; which, if it could be carried out, could only have the result of making everybody pay more for everything than it was worth; but, as everybody is struggling for existence, and finds difficulty in paying market value for what they want, where is the extra price to come from? If the money is not there, it could only result in utter stagnation in every branch of industry, disaster and starvation all round. The. bakers and millers may try to boycott the public, the public may boycott the bakers, but the price can only be regulated by the law of supply and demand. If it is right for the bakers to boycott the people of Auckland, it is just for the public to boycott the bakers, and for everybody to boycott everbody else—which is absurd.—l am, &c. Mangapai, October 15,1892. T. M.