THE The New Zealand Herald. AND DAILV SOUTHERN CHOSS. FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1896.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10132, 15 May 1896, Page 4

THE The New Zealand Herald. AND DAILV SOUTHERN CHOSS. FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1896.

Tes mission of Mr. Lowles, M.P., the representative of the Empire Trade League to the colonies, has apparently not been attended with success, and that gentleman has taken his departure without deeming it desirable to extend his visit to Hew Zealand, as well as some others of the colonies. Wa have on several occasions directed attention to the object of Mr. Lowles' mission, and to the general question of the feasibility of an intra-Imperial Zollverein—our desire being to stimulate inquiry as to the bearing these proposals might have on the industrial i life and the commerce of the colonies.

There are few, indeed, if there we any in these colonies, and more particularly perhaps in New Zealand, who do not cordially reciprocate the desire of the Empire Trade League and its supporters in the mother country, for drawing closer the commercial as well as the political ties between the colonies and England, If by any reasonable sacrifice, any modification of fiscal policy or otherwise, this consum- ' mation can be attained without pro* ducing evils of a serious kind, the sentiment of a common nationality, and the sympathy born of race and associations are entirely on the side of the

.ttempt, But the subject is so 'far-

reaching in its results, that the most serious consideration is demanded, and very searching inquiry, before the taking of steps, from which it would be

difficult to recede. The central idea of the Empire Trade League is that by adjustment of the Customs tariffs in the colonies and England, there might be free trade within the empire and protection against the outside world. In a tentative way Lord Salisbury and Mr,

Chamberlain held out an invitation to j the colonies to consider and suggest a proposal that would warrant England in denouncing the treaties with foreign countries, and in making preferential Customs arrangements with the colonies ; and accredited with letters from the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the several Premiers, embodying this suggestion, Mr, Lowles has been conferring and making inquiries in Australia. One direct outcome of Mr. Lowles' visit appears to have

been to induce a closer scrutiny in th«

colonies into the effects likely to arise in the event of England imposing a protective tariff in favour of colonial

products and against the trade of foreign nations; and in the event of the colonies removing their protective tarifls on British goods while retaining such fiscal barriers against imports from outside the Empire. The proba* bilities or improbabilities of such a fiscal revolution may be waived in the meantime, and attention be directed to the possible results. Now, the great reward that has been usually held before the eyes of the colonies is that, if a cordon of protection were thrown around the mother

country, the products of the colonies and dependencies alone being admitted free, the virtual possession of the British market would giro an enormous stimulus to production in. the colonies. But it . may. be pointed out that in a great number of cases, including many of our principal staples, this would not hold good. Wool is a striking illustration. In 1894 the wool imported into the United Kingdom from the colonies amounted to 613 million pound* j the total from all the rest of the world not exceeding 93 millions,' but the actual consumption for manufactures was 252 million pounds less than what was recoived from the colonies alone, There was therefore aa outflow to other countries of 346 million pounds. It is obvious that a tax on foreign woo) would in these circumstances have no

efleot whatever in inors&sUg the value of colonial wool in England, or in in* creasing the consumption of it. Nearly half of all the wool imported into England from all sources i* exported again to oilier countries and one effoot of

the changed policy would be that the whole of the foreign wool" that now goes, to England for ; distribution ip foreign countries would gc - to them direct, without passing through -the English market way, no possible benefit could come to the colonies, seeing that England already takes from us nearly doable the amount of woql required fop 1 her own manufactures. ] The same would occur in th? case of | every -pplowl product which j? pro-1 duced ia excess of t.he consuming power of the Empire, and the surplus of which has to overflow into the markets of foreign countries. And this includes a considerable list. It applies to tallow, hides, skins, tin, coal, kauri gum, jut?, rice, tea, coffee, palm oil, cocoanflt oil, rum, pepper, ginger, pe&rUhellt salmon andother fish, indigo, dye woods, many drugs, etc,, in every one of which the production of the Empire is in excess of its gumption, and in each of them, as in the case of the great Australasian staple, wool, there would be no increase of either value or demand set up by a protective tariff encircling the Empire, It is right to recognise, however, that there is a very large body of products, mainly of the class of foods, that would be affected by such preferential treatment in England. Meat, dead or alive, vfeeat, flour, sugar, butter, fruit, and

other articles in the production of which these colonies at least are deeply interested, would undoubtedly be affected by a preferential tariff in the United Kingdom, It is estimated that about 174 million pounds sterling worth of meats and drinks is imported annually into England: or allowing for goods re-exported, and for such articles as tea, etc., which would not be affected some 130 millions worth of food imported would fee] the influence of a tariff against foreign goods. This, it must be admitted, is a prize worth fighting for, as if the colonies could obtain an exclusive market in the United Kingdom for their products pf this class, the prospect of gain from an Imperial Zollverein would be substantial But there is another side even to this, and it is to be remembered that the stimulus to the colonies would be equally applied in the United Kingdom, when the increase of price would convert a thousand industries that are languishing or dead into life and activity; and new <v>mpetitors would be raised up to the colonies in the

British market instead of the foreign producers, against whom protection had been aflordad. Farther than this, the increase of cost would necessarily produce, as it always does, decrease of consumption and of demand, and it might be a subject of consideration 1 whether, as regards the Colonial producer, the latter end of the fiscal experiment might not be worse than the first. As for a tax on raw materials imported from foreign countries 1 into England, the operation of the fiscal 1 revolution might be more serious still, for enhancing the price of raw materials ' of manufacture in England would be of course the raising of the price of produc- : tion; and the raising of the cost of pro- ; duction in England would be the exclusion of English manufactures from 1 foreign markets. Though, therefore, 1 the colonies might be benefited at first 1 by receiving better prices in England for their raw materials of manufacture, ' they would, in the act of receiving, be ' striking a blow at those manufactories ' which make the consumption of raw materials possible; while the gradual r closing of the foreign market against 5 such high-priced British goods, would 1 be the closing down of the market for colonial raw materials in England * itself. These are some of the aspects " that present themselves when the " colonies come to consider the effects 0 likely to result from differential treat- * mentof colonial products in the United Kingdom—a phase of the subject which e is commonly presented as the strongest attraction to the colonies when they are invited to place themselves in line for the promotion of an intra-Imperial Zoll--0 verein. That there are other obstacles fl in the colonial sphere is admitted; but even in the offer of a protected y market in England for their products, 16 colonists can see that there are diffi 10 culties and possibly dangers looming ■>' up, that in themselves require the a most serious consideration. Mr, Lowles r * has apparently not been able to over* 0 come these and other apprehensions in * the minds of the Premiers of the colonies, and it must be owned that i' l time has not yet matured the schema J 1 for promoting free trade between tin several sections of the empire.