PROTESCION OR PLUNDER?

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7222, 10 April 1885, Page 3

PROTESCION OR PLUNDER?

TO TUB EDITOR. Sir,—The lnataphyslca of tho Athenian eclijol were prof .undly obscure, tho tene s of tho Lyceum inexpressibly degoneia ive; ita shallow sophists woi c trained to maintain either-? Wool any proposition, and UEOd their debased (jowora in protecting oxplodcd fallacies. Socntei, the wiscss and most virtuoui of the Oroeko, exp:se>l tho futile 10.-ic cf tho sophis's ol his day, ami fell a victim to tbeir rancour. Tc-day, the teachings of tho highest philosophy finds its bi'.tereau opponantg among t tha discploa o! tho vory ancient Eocts of porlpatOLicauudECiiptica. Thorcforii it is but natural tbat the theory of Pr.tcotlon, like the theory ol Communibm, should liad tcnchcta.a'tliou. h tbo practice ul eaaa ha i ptavod dcalructivo. 'i'eachera who usver learn, obtußely iucip-.bio of instruction, ponderously ignorant, unworthy to command respect, they only outain tiiftr jided pupilti'at:oat:on by their vociferous noise, and, unable co lustruat, amuse them by their b'atjnt tollies. The piojcut bubble of this Echool Is Protection.

Tlio arguments to which the advccatea of Protection descend a o bo mean and inillgnant aa to deserve doribion, ad were it noi that tb'-y appeal to prejudice and ignorance, sbcu'.d receive contempt; but when v/tileis to the P/093 Icdulge in falsehoods, euch as the bod atetoaimit ia one ol your contemporaries that tho high prico ol grapea in flew Zealand wan duo to tho abaenca ol a Protective tariff- the fact being that giapce arc protested altogether out of the Colony. Formerly grapea of oxcollent quality could bo pjrelwed ftt 61 per lb, while now tho prico ia from 2a ti iJi. The writor whoso letter appealed ia your columns cl tlio Bth list, (evidently an advanced thinker)reaches thi progressive doctrine, "that the hiKhost wisdom ol ii:dividusl3 or communities ig to niska all thoy require" a belief so absurd as to bo abandonei by thoChinose and scornfully repudiated by tha Maoris. To tell such teachois that our port* ato proUctod againsl the industry of the outer world to tho amount of one aud a-half million storling annually; to inform biich that every soul-man, woman, and child—p=>3 a annually £3 poll tux as a tribute to tho unenterprising Colonial woikman; that in a decade tho Co'.ouy baa oxpended 25 mililona storling with the object of developing its natuml Industrloo and r<»uurce; and t!r>t Now Z:aland jet largoly remains in its natural condi ion of tuseock, f-srn, anißwßmp, withthabulk r,f itapoiulalion confi^te'l in its oversttovvn t .wiip. To expect thesa apostles of pt:grooH to go into the wiWcniusa and p'aitiao what th y preach " ami uialio nil ti;'-y stq'iiro : " ia vnia, thov wculd aoor.o- ttarve Their advanced propvogsivo v ewi are oniy equa'-lcd by tlu'ir want of ent.irpiiee, wr;i:o their (h rtnera of sight limits their laborious* te earchof! to witt ia th? ranfro of a gaa lamp. Their deli ato otga isuiona require Ihe c ngon nl occupatlciiß cf a Manche"ter, v.hilo their a<lva>cd culturi cx\ ecte in an inicul ivated colony th- luxury and the' cony of London—tho products ol cenimrin3 ol industry and wealth, lha colonizing cipaciy of the Uo!ony ia unequal to transplant the pluioc-nci" of Manchester, or tho plutonic power of lilrmli-gnam to suit such colnista. Such being the 'caao, the opulence and prosperity ol the Colony win depend on tho suoco3S with which Its Lj'.ural induettfed aro prossouted, and white tt(o

colonizing policy Is enminned; white it possesses an n-.re of and fitta 1 (or settlement ■, while a plou?nman eomminds £i>o to £70 \early, and hh en'erirning ■ mplo rflr obtjlnß no onia'l a return for M> c •. Ital and labour; whllo domo-tlca en obtain good himoaand Ifiod pay. ad omi.loyt'9 of p o ootod man ifao-.urei at present cm only obtain ]J1 per hour in ihoir rni'wablo orcu'a'Joo*, uro'j a tiriff vvhch at P'O o>t mule »tha creator* of tho Col my of oqu il t •.:0 |.o* cut. ct tho iroo- s he. ref ilru i:i nx; haoge ( r ihiit pro uots, -hMiH bo plu d)r aufßui>ai) tv -ati fy a libirtlno doil.w, nni uuflijiput prot esion even / >r ■ p ogress Yd poliiio an. No, Sir: ill is b ii Ooy ars 6inco lha tariß wan rites. 60p sr cent, and up«ar. ba <1 tho cxiio-10-co ot th>'uo oira tstfl :a ivairHt tin!;-tin.; tho ti'ilT undertnef.lßoplea tVi toction. Tho Colons n.ods uolonlatu and capital: to dircrt either into artificial industries will Bap tho Colony's vigorous growth—l 3to wantonly pilter with its flrsd and'highcat functions, and wage an unproelaiuiod war against Its 'Keedoni at;d indepondonco. Your oorrospondent ia in advance of hla time. Our education Is woefully deficient; wo neither " possoas tho virtue which conßißta in renouncing all the convonlences of life," ror havo wo reached tho halcyon ago wnon erory man ig to bo hU own—everything. Tho "peripatetic" school and tho "blessed light of scienco " may do much for us : at present wo need protoction frora pluuder and capitalists -1 am, &c. Colonist. April 9.

At a recent recaptiou Mr Squire, the commissioner of Publio Works for the Oity of Now York, delivered himself of a humorous address, in which lib compl3inod that previous speakers had anticipated all his best things, loaving him nothing but the debris. "I should havo liked," said ho, " to wait, like the Irishman who was sentenced to bo hanged. The day before his execution the gaoler came and broke the new.s Rontly. ' Michael, you'ro to be hanged tomorrows but you can have anything you want fordinaer. to day.'" Says tho IrißhmaE) ! I'd like strawberries and cream.'—'Why, it's the middle of winter; you can't have them tiil next season.' —' Well, begcrra, I can wait 1' was the answer. So I conld havo waited till others had expressed their feelings, when it would havo been oasy for me to have picked up the remains. You remember the father whoso aon was out West. Ha received n telegram,' Your son dead,' He answered, 'Send on remains,' and was answered, ' Kicked by a mulo. There ain't no remains.' That is my case —there ain't no remains,'" —In the lead production of different countries Spain holds tho first place, the amount reaching some 120,000 tonß in one year, or one-sixth more than America, which comes next on the list, while Germany follows with 190,000. Of Spain's total production, Borne 07,000 ton 3 are derived from one district, that Linares, in which more than 800 mines are registered.