TARIFF FALLACIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22991, 19 March 1938, Page 19

TARIFF FALLACIES

Sir, —The letter by "Jayrite" is not an answer to my original letter on tho above subject, but as he raises a series of questions, some giving rise to a misleading inference, I feel it incumbent to reply. His suggestion is that the cost of tariffs as applied to footwear is borne by the taxpayer, and that by inference the industry is a liability. Many thousands of New Zealanders have never worn imported footwear in their lives, and as the price of locally produced footwear will not show an increase, those taxpayers at least do not stand to bear a penny of additional cost. In certain lines, due to the increase of mechanisation and standardisation, the cost to the public tvill be less, as the result of the application of a tariff that is purely protective. The assertion that England might "reciprocate" the tariff and apply a load of 60 per cent to our butter is aji absurdity, as the British Government was well aware of tho proposed tariffs, approved them, and offered no "reprisals," recognising tho right of New Zealand to foster and encourage secondary industries. The boot trade also is allied to the primary industries, as tanners and leather workers depend on its continuance for their living. A comparison is drawn of Japan purchasing our wool, but is not an acceptable one as Japan's demand for this commodity, which has a world-wide market, is less stable than that of any country. Has your correspondent studied tho balance of trade with Japan, or can he seriously contend that anyone who once purchased Japanese footwear was so enamoured of its wearing qualities that he became a lifelong advocate for such an article? Trade with Japan is an economic millstone of proportions few of us realise. The letter signed by me was a plain statement of facts, that children's footwear prices, with which I am fully familiar, will be favourably affected in tho interests of the public by the new tariff and that employment in New Zealand will be stimulated. "Jayrite's" fulminations leave these simple and accurate statements unrefuted, and I stand by them, after a lifetime of experience. A. J. Andrews.