THE TARIFF MYSTERY PLAY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13997, 2 September 1907, Page 7

THE TARIFF MYSTERY PLAY.

Sib,—Can no steps be taken by the Chamber of Commerce or other public body to lay a restraining hand upon tlio utterly ruthless way in which flic business of the colony is boing harassed and "played up" with by Parliament at tho present time? In Thu Times the Hon. Sir Millar is reported as speaking in tho House as follows:—"Ho contended that the consequence of adutyon cheap boots would bo to romovo shoddy rubbish • from the colony's nlaikert, ami that importers wotdd import a betler article and wearers 0.-oukl get tho benefit. lie maintained thai, the importation of this shoddy rubbish was the eauSo of shoddy being manufactured here." Note, "The consequence of duty on cheap boots would be to remove the shoddy rubbish from tho colony's market. . . Very good, keep out. tho shoddy boots, but what is sauce for tho goosa should be toueo for tho gander. It is not so. On Wednesday evening tho Minister of Customs received a deputation representing six out of ten of tho woollen mills of the colony, requesting that tho duty'should not be token oIV cotton, as it would then bo used by some of the mills for adulterating thoir tweeds, oic. Hero is tho Minister's reply: — He was sorry the matter had iiot been brought under his notion at an earlier stage, o» tho Government could not keep oa bringing down fresh resolution:. He hed been assured by experts tlmt some cotton was necessary in the iniuuifacttire of tweeds. Ho also had found that some of oilr wojllerts contained much cotton. As the mill-oMrn "wo irat unanimous in tho metier liir did not care to take the responsibility ol throwing people cut of employment simply io put money into tha poctets of importers. Some of the companies, ho added, made S3 mucin from importing as from m&'.iufr.ctiiring, and fchcro were at least, two mills that would hava to shut down if tlio importation of raw cotton were made prohibitive. Ito thought tho way out of tho difficulty was to make a law, similar to ,tlio Australian lnv, compelling manufacturers to stamp their goods with tho percentage of cotton used. I'hs people were as much oliMlcd to have pure clotiliing as pure food. Further than that he could not go, unless some reasonable scliome were .formulated to prohibit tho importation of colfonadulterated goods, lie hoped to bring in a bill to provide for tho stamping of goods as lio had suggested.

If this colony has ono industry to be proud of, it is its woollen mills and their pure-wool manufactures. As llv Hereus, of (lie Kaiapoi Company, explained "In Australia the industry had been killed by tho use of cotton." Note the Mimsicr's reply. '110 bad been assured by soma experts that- some cotton was tjocessarv ln , ™ manufacture of t-wcods." Certainly, in the manufacture of shoddy tweeds. The conclusion was as above > dated, "as Iho_, mill owners were not " unauimous." No, but six were out of ten. 11l is availed not, however, and slioddv tweeds will take the plaee of the famous New Zealand woollens. No shoddy boots. The wires wcro oflicicnlly pulled—by the trades union?. I 11 t° s " ot 'dy tweed--the wires evident Iv have been improperly manipulated . by the bloated capitalists." Another phase of legislative wisdom: The method of delivering to small tradesmen lines of goods landed and delivered , .- v J. ' s to bo abolished. . Thursdays limes reports;—

On tho next clause (&o. 26), whdcJi- extends tho definition of an ' importer," llt Aitken saidl tlio department was taking 100 muck power.—After the Minister had explained tlio clauso and the reason for it in the same terms as on tlio wcond reading, ho added that it was approved of by hunduieds of importers, who complained to him (Mr Millar) of the dishonesty of somo importers.

This step is to be taken because Mr Millar says "hundreds of importers approved it" —who also complained of tho dishonesty of others. Oh, fie! It is not a question of dishonesty at, all, but of business arrangements, and as for tho "hundreds of importers," that is about as reliable a.n assertion as many others used, and sweeping enough to prove its own worthlassncss. Yet our. legislators are willing to let this kind of thing go on. What we need is a council of business men to prepare a draft of the tariff for submission to tho House, instead of the peculiar dibbling that is going on just now.—l am, etc., Flobgat Zeaundia. Dunedin, August 31.