THE RECIPROCAL TREATY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13285, 18 September 1906, Page 3

THE RECIPROCAL TREATY.

Sir,Up to the present time scarcely a voice lias been raised; in favour of the proposed treaty with Australia, but the hydraheaded serpent of monopoly and privilege is everywhere hissing its disapproval of this beneficent measure, which if adopted would enormously increase the trade and general welfare of this colony. - The cost of protection to the community] can hardly lie realised-by those who' are continually asking for more, and more "pro-, tection," as the rents and cost of living gradually rise. If we examine the proposed treaty we shall find that the mind of, Mr. Seddon was never clearer than on the day he signed it. s. ■ - ' • To demonstrate my contention I submit, the following figures, taken from- the official' returns for 1901. The latest figures are not yet available, but I have no doubt that when they are published they will prove the disastrous effects of protection still, more forcibly. Flour and sugar are two of the main necessaries of life, and their cost affects the poor far more seriously than the rich. If we analyse the working of the tariff in these two industries we shall find what a fearful price we have to pay for their "protection " and the injury done thereby to every other industry in the colony. Wo have 78 grain mills, employing 513 males, whose wages amount to £49,254, or rather loss than £100, a year each. They make 83,017 tons of flour/' protected by a duty of Is per 1001b,' which equals £33,017, so that, it costs the people of this colony £83,017 to protect a wages sheet of £49,254. I have not reckoned the profits of the merchant on the increased cost, so that in .this instance I have understated the case. , . ,

There is only one sugar company in the colony, and the amount of ' wages paid and value of product i.-. not given in cases where such returns can be identified, but w,e are told that the number of male workers is 256. Assuming that, they earn about the same as those in the flour mills, the wages sheet would be about £25,600, and we are fold: that the duty on sugar in 1905 amounted to £185.000. If we add to this the middleman's profit on the duty, say, 20 per cent.,, wo get the enormous sum of £222.000 as the tribute actually levied on the whole communty to protect a wages sheet of about £26,000! £Iti is impossible for our jam and frui ten uning; industries to thrive with this heavy burden upon them. It takes about a pound of sugar; to a pound of fruit, to make jam. and the sugar costs about £18 per ton. If the duty , were taken off it would cost -the. factories about £13 per ton, and this alone would give a. great- stimulus to our fruitgrowing industries and bring idle land into cultivation. If any: workers in the flour or sugar industries should bo thrown idle by til© aboli- J tion of ' tlie tariff they should have financial ■

assistance in taking ,up Crown land. Th» saving of £305,000 per annum now paid by the general laljour of the colony j for the. " protection " of these two industries would l>e equal to an allowance of nearly £400 per annum to each of the 769 workers. It has been well said that "to tax the community for the Ix'ticfit of a class is not protection, but, is plunder." 'I here is no doubt that in planning this treaty with Australia Mr. Seddon had in his, mind the fact that sugar is grown in Australia by white labour, while the sugar used 1 in" New Zealand is grown by black labour. We sweat black labour in Fiji and put at least £130,000 of unearned wealth into the pockets of flour and sugar companies and others to pay wages to 769 worker# amounting to £74,854, in preference to exchanging our own products with our own race in Australia. We cripple our jam and fruitcanning factories and increase the cost of the necessaries of life to every worker in the community to let: the juggernaut, ear of protection crush the life out of our natural industries. Of course, the protectionists have ail the money power behind them in their efforts to enslave the people. If the labour unions would devote a little time to this study they would find out how to secure something better than the annual twopence per hour rise which they now get out of the Arbitration Court, and which they have to pay themselves in the increased cost of labour products. F. M. Kixg. '

•Sir,l notice in Tuesday's Heraid that the chambers of commerce, and wholesale merchants object to the new treaty, but I fail to see any protest from that great majority of the people, the working class, and as one of the latter I wish to say that the treaty would be a great blessing to us in reducing the cost of living, which ,at present, makes this one of the dearest, countries to live in. Its effect would be the bursting up of the flour and sugar trusts, that have held a monopoly of this colony so long, and result in cheapening those J necessaries of. life. • J.B.

Sir, —I iiotioo that several interested parties have pronounced oil the above treaty. The miller* object It) flour coming in free a? likely to kill the milling industry. It would be a great pitv to do that. I am not in a position to say what dividends the great Northern v Milling C'o. pays, for instance; someone, perhaps, can tell us, then wo.may be- able to judge between the various producers of flour and the numerous consumers of it in New Zealand. The fruitgrowers, too, are protesting, but to my mind (ire going a little too far in trying to prevent the importation of gropes. This country is not, adapted for grape-growing. Apples and pears we can produce as cheaply as Australia, but grapes are a forbidden hixitry to us ordinary people at the price they are.retailed at, and there arts thousands of people in New Zealand like myself who cannot : afford them and seldom or never taste them. If the importation were allowed then they could be procured and enjoyed by the poor as well as the rich. The dreaded disease is already in the colony, and 1 do not think would be seriously aggravated by importation. Fond of Gh.U'kh. Sir, —In reading the 1 Governor's Speech I was struck with the following 011 the late Hon. R. .T. Seddon's visit to Australia: "He crowned his career of splendid service to New Zealand by arranging a provisional reciprocal treaty between this country. and Australia." Now, sir, those words were put into the Governor's hands to deliver to Parliament by his advisers, the Cabinet, and I should like to know if the terms of the treaty were known to that body. 1 consider, and it seems to bo the general" opinion,! that instead of being a crowning of the career of success of our. ; late Premier ho did his best to strike a death blow to 0110 of our vital in-;. dustries, wheat growing and the manufacture of flour. Why cripple even.one of our industries' to benefit Australia? We are hot dependent on their markets for our produce. Mauku. Hrywood Ckispe. • " ■ ' \ •••\ •. . . . « " - "TV