REVISION OF TARIFF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17846, 29 July 1921, Page 6

REVISION OF TARIFF.

THE FARMERS' INTERESTS.

NEED FOR VIGILANCE.

QUESTION OF PROTECTION

Warnings respecting the tariff revision which is proposed, were uttered at die Dominion Farmers' Union Conference in Wellington by the president of the union, Mr. .G. W. LeadJey. In the course of his reference to the subject Mr. Leadley said :— ' " There is at present, and has been for some time in pxisteuce a commission appointed by the Government for the purpose of taking evidence upon the question of the custom's tariff, and of making recommendation thereupon to the Government. The commissioners have been through the Dominion, taking evidence in the chief centres, and are to report to (.he Government on August 31. Some of us know what the order of reference given to the commissioners was, but of course that cannot be disclosed. " I fear that insufficient advantage was taken of the opportunity offered to those representing the farming interest to give evidence before the commission. Some evidence was given, 'here and elsewhere; but I fear that the. evidence - given by those representing the farmers will not compare, in volume at any rate, with that given by those representing the in-, dustrial, the commercial, and the manufacturing and importing interests. A determined attempt has been made by certain gentlemen representing the interests nanfed, to influence revision of the customs tariff in the direction of more protection. They have made no secret of the fact that they are out for what they call ' whole-soulcd-high-protection." How high this may be we cannot know, but there is a current rumour that they have asked for an increase up to 50 per cent, on some classes of goods in which they are interested. Is It Necessary ? " What this will mean to the rest of the public we can well imagine, if by any misfortune it should be granted. Regarding this matter the questions arise: Firstly, is it necessary ? and, secondly, is it politic ? With regard to the necessity of more protection for some of our secondary industries, the facts appear to be against the rabid protectionists. It is a well-known- fact that many of our woollen manufacturing companies have done and are doing exceedingly well, and with the great drop in the price of the raw material they should do better than ever. The prices o'f their shares in the slock market o% April 27, 1920, prove this. Take the following as exapmles;— Nam© of Co. Paid up. Market Prico. £ s. d. £ s. d. Saiapoi Co. .. -5 0 0 10 0 0 Mosffiel Co. . . 3 10 0 6 17 6 Wellington Co.. .. 410 0 915 0 Not Doing Badly. " This does not seem to indicate that these people are doing badly. Now that the wages rates in the Old Country arc approximating more closely to the rates paid in our Dominion, and with a practically unlimited supply of the raw materials of the best quality at command at a- very reasonable price, they should be able to hold their own with any country in the world without any further protection than now is given. " With regard to the advisability of such further protection, it is instructive to find that the great preponderance of opinion in Britain among the leading men in trade, commerce, finance, manufacture, and shipping is distinctly and strongly opposed to protection. Bounties Advocated. " One thing certain, we are not going to minimise our troubles in regard to the cost of transportation of our exports, if we largely decrease the volume of our imports. While we are anxious to assist as far as possible all reasonable efforts to establish and maintain those industries which are necessary, and which may have a reasonable prospect of success, I for one would much prefer to see that assistance take the form of bounties extending over a number of years rather ■ than introduce 1 " high protective rates, which ence fixed are so apt to become permanent. When the proper time comes it will be necessary for the union to exercise great vigilance in this matter. We cannot, ,of course, tell what the recommendations of the commission may be, but we can be assured that those who have announced their intentions to press for higher protection will be alert, and we must not let things go by default."