CUSTOMS BILL PASSED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18424, 9 December 1921, Page 6

CUSTOMS BILL PASSED

COMPLIMENTS TO THE MINISTER. OF CUSTOMS (Faoii Odb Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, December 8. Tho third reading of the Tariff Bill was taken to-day, and the measure was passed without a division. Possibly never before in the history of the New Zealand Parliament has there been a Tariff Bill that has been so carefully prepared before it was submitted to the House For this credit is due to the Tariff Commission, the Minister of Customs (the Hon. W. Downie Stewart), and Mr Montgomery, the head of the department, who has put in a great deal of hard .work from first to last. To Mr Downie Stewart too much credit cannot be given for the remarkably able manner in which he piloted the Bill through Committee. His grasp of details and the lucidity of hh explanations, helped materially to smooth the passage of the Bill. When tn© session commenc'd, and, indeed, until a day before tho tariff made its appearance, it was expected, that the Prime Minister would be in charge of it in committee, but almost at, the last moment Mr Massey showed his confidence in the junior member of his Cabinet by placing him at tho helm. It is true that tne Prime Minister was generally in the offing,. ready to come to the aid of his colleague, but except on two or three occasions wnen he relieved Mr Stewart for a brief spell after the latter had been for some hours continuously in the chair, his assistance was scarcely needed. Indeed, it is not too much say that, notwithstanding his assistance was scarcely needed. Indeed, it is not too much to say that, iiotwitstandmg his physical disability, tho manner in which tne Bill was ! piloted through tho House was a triumph | for Mr Stewart. Not even the late Hon. j J. A. Millar, whoso ability was undoubted, ] and who obtained great kudos for the j manner in which he handled the tariff in i 1907, could have put up a better perform- j ance. This has been admitted even by members of the Opposition side of the House. Mentally, Mr Stewart is always alert, physically he has of late shown considerable improvement. When he first came into the House he had to be helped to his seat and assisted on, to 'his feet when he rose to speak. Latterly he has got about a good Meal unaided, and the other day members were surprised to see him walk along the Chamber without even fats crutches. The speakers this evening made their speeches brief, and the Prime Minister had very little to reply to. Mr Massey thanked members of the Opposition for their favourable comments. The tariff, he said, had been well received in the House and the country, and he took this as a: compliment to the Government. Ho believed it would be found to be the best and most complete tariff that had ever left the New Zealand Parliament. THIRD READING DEBATE. (Per United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, December 8. On the third. reading of the Customs Amendment Bill, moved by Mr Massey, Mr Wilford said he regretted that there was no proposal in the Bill to set up a tariff board. T wo dominant principles in the Bill were the preference given to Great Britain and the desire of the House to afford protection to local industries. It was one of the peculiarities of Protection that it sometimes abused its privilege, and it became necessary to protect the consumers against exploitation by industries they had protected This had been the experience in Victoria, where they had a protective tariff, and lie quoted the provisions of the Statute there, which set up a tariff board to keep this necessary watch upon the tactics of manufacturers. He agreed with the protection given to wheat in the new tariff, and he was glad the Prime Minister had agreed to place the revenue derived from, .the tyre tax in a separate account, so that- the money would be earmarked for the upkeep of main roads. He thought the power taken by the Government in connection with Orders-in-Council was unconstitutional There ought to be an effective review of all tariff proposals by Parliament before Orders-in-Council took effect. He regretted that his proposal to take the duty off tea was defeated, and the result was that the price of tea had gone up immediately to the public. He endorsed the proposals to enter into a reciprocal arrangement with Australia, and hoped there would be no undue delay in coming to such arrangement. Mr H. E. Holland said he wasiratber taken by surprise by the debate being called upon so early. He was, therefore, not prepared to place before the House the viewpoint of Labour in quite the way he would have liked. During the tariff discussion the Labour Party had contended that those industries which could not be satisfactorily carried on under protection should be taken over and worked by the State. I hat was not as many people supposed, socialism. The boot industry was a case in point; for some reason boots could not be made as cheaply in New Zealand as in Australia, yet the Government would not put on a high protective tariff to save it, nor would it, ‘take it over, because it thought it was bordering on socialism and so they were “between the devil and the deep blue sea,” and the devil would get, them in the end. The timber industry was another case in point. Timber could not be got at the price at which the people could build houses, and therefore the time had come when the people as a whole must do what the Government had failed to' do. There should be in the Customs legislation clauses enabling the Government to deal effectively with those who exploited the people, but' the Government was not prepared to put any such clauses into the Bill before tho House. The tariff, which the House had practically passed, would naturally affect the wages of the working man. He enumerated articles, 'including tea and sugar, which he claimed to have increased in price as the result of the new duties, and so increasing the cost of living, and then proceeded to charge the Government Party with inconsistency in voting against British preference when it was moved in the House. He protested against any proposal to reduce the income tax at present, and considered that rather there should be a change in the incidence, so that big incomes would have to pay more. Mr G. Mitchell argued that if no protection were given, the working men would find themselves in competition with men working for poor pay, so that if New Zealand industries were to live men would have to accept a lower standard of living. He supported the taxation of luxuries. Coming to detail he protested against the tariff of 20 per cent, on British cotton-piece rroods, and the elimination , of the 15 per cent, duty on Japanese silk. He congratulated the Government on going some distance in giving preference to British wire, but felt that preference should also have been given to British machinery. It was useless having won the late war if the economic battle was to be allowed to go uncontested. It would have been better to have kept the land and income tax unchanged rather than to put an extra impost on the necessities of Ufa Mr 0. E. Btatham emphasised that the original tariff proposals were revenue-pro-ducing. What it really amounted to was a transference of taxation from one class of the community to another. He congratulated tho Government on adopting some of the suggestions of the Opposition side of the House, and again attacked the Government for taking too much power out of the hands of Parliament They wore hoping to have got, a final tariff, but they had got nothing of the kind. No business man could roly upon it beung adhered to, so great was the power of the Government to take off or put on duties. __ , , , , The Hon. W. Downie Stewart defended the powers taken by the Government as necessary to tho effective working of the tariff quoting a recent Ordcr-inGouncil issued in connection with gas cookers as a case in point, that the step effectively prevented the dumping of these cookers, and when tho circumstances were explained to those concerned they admitted that the step was justified. So soon as the Order-m-Council served its purpose he revoked it, and in spite of the criticism levelled against him he would do the same again. Ho contended that the duties had not been raised against the working man, for most of the duties complained of by Mr Ho land were old duties. The trouble with the Labour Party was that it would not declare its policy on tho big tariff questions. Complaint hud been made that precious stones were admitted free, but the fact was that there was so little importation of precious stones that it would be absurd to maintain a special staff necessary to check smuggling. Neither art nor music had been severely taxed under tho tariff; and the taking of the duty off silk from Japan was perfectly justified, because such silk was the raw material of. New Zealand blouse-makers, whose industry was worthy of encouragement. With regard to Mr WilforcTs suggestion for a ( tariff board, he thought it better to wait and see how it worked out in Australia He hoped a reciprocal agreement would be made with Australia at an early date. If it could not be arrived at, then it might be necessary to do something with regard to tea coming in through Australia, but that

could be done by the much-discussed Order-in-C’ouncil. He paid a tribute to the excellent work of the Customs officers and the good temper of the House, which enabled them to pass a tariff which was fair to all, in spite of the many conflicting interests. The Hon. J. A. Honan said he was glad to see certain improvements in the tariff, and ho was particularly pleased to see that town and country .members had worked harmoniously to secure this end. He, however, wondered what effect it was going to have on international trade. There was grave danger in world-wide high _ tariff walls but as this was an age of experiment, he would watch its effect with interest. In any case, if the people of the dominion did their duty to the country and themselves he had no doubt we would surmont all our difficulties, and come into an era of prosperity. , ' Mr T. K. Sidey clamed that the tariff had been greatly improved by the criticism of the Opposition, and much of the expedition with which it had' gone through was due to the conciliatory spirit of the Minister of Customs, who was always willing to listen to suggestions from members. The Prime Minister had recently declared that he would not permit the power of taxation to pass out of the hands of Parliament. So great were the powers taken by the Government that it could reframe the tariff from top to bottom without any reference to Parliament at ail. He predicted that it would be many years before a revision of the tariff again came before the House. He also predicted that when the Minister came to negotiate with Australia his task would be much more difficult than he supposed, for the reason that the British preferential tariff adopted by both countries was so different in range and amount. . Mr J. M‘Combs said the Prime Minister had stated that he was out for more revenue, and he had got it, hence the effect of the tariff would be to increase indirect taxation, and so hold up the cost of living. When the acid test was applied to the muoh-vauntod British preference, the consistency of many supporters Of the Government, and of the Liberals, had not been able to stand that test. ■ , Mr G. W. Forbes congratulated the Minister and the Customs officers upon the care with which they had compiled the tariff and piloted .it through the House At least no one concerned could complain that he had not had the opportunity of stating his case. It was at first supposed that this was to be a revenue tariff, but experience proved that there was a good deal of protection in it, and he thought it right we should give a certain amount of protection to our industries, but along with that we should have a Tariff Board to watch over the interests of consumers against exploitation by manufacturers. This board should be appointed without delay. The debate was interrupted by tKe 5.50 p.m. adjournment. EVENING SITTING. ; When the tiouse resumed at V. 30 p.m. the debate on the third reading of tne Customs Amendment Bill was continued by ivir G. Witty, .Ur jVl'Oullum, and JJr Aeivaiau. ,ur Massey, m reply, sard he believed this was the most satisiaciory tariff ever passed in „\ew Zealand. It was neither a treetrade nor a protective tariff, but it was just tue tariff me country wanted. He was glad to see that no party question had been raised in connection wiui tne tariff, particularly no cry ol town v. country, and thoroxoio the passage of the Bill was an object lesson to all. He advised all sides to drop i'arty and support a good Government when they have it. The tariff was, to some extent, a revenue' tariff, but it was more, it was a taxation-distributing tariff. He had Iramed the tariff in such a way as to enable him to reduce the land and income tax. So tar he had been able to reduce the land tax by 10 per cent., ami he did not think there was a single member ol the House who luvoured me continued high taxation on land. Mr K. M‘Galium: Put me down as one. Mr H. Atmore said the Prime Minister was not strictly correct in claiming the rebate as a reduction in taxation. Mr Massey claimed that his contention was perfectly sound, as everyone could get benefit of the reduction. Continuing, Air Massey said he was out to reduce both tho land and income tax at the first possible moment, because no country, could be prosperous while staggering under heavy taxation. On the subject of a tariff board, as suggested by Mr Wilford, he was prepared to give it consideration, as soon as it was convenient, but his personal opinion was that the board was not necessary. Our position was not quite tho same as Australia. The steps taken to give preference to Great Britain were most valuable, and they went a step further than hitherto. He felt it was most satisfactory, and not to be gone back upon. He defended the tea duty on the ground that the Treasury wanted money. It was not imposed bv the present Government. It was put on by the National Government, and was put on for the same reason as it was being kept on. It produced £150,000 in revenue. Something also has been _ said about the duty on sugar, but the Britishers produced sugar, and New Zealand was enjoying the cheapest sugar in the world ■under the arrangement made with the Colonial Sir gar Company. He thought they were justified in the measure of protection given to local industries, and what Parliament had done would d of good. He regretted that he would be unable- to do more in tho direction of taking the duty off children’s boots, but he was bound to conserve the finances of the country. He thanked members for the assistance given in passing the tariff. He did not think they should go longer than five years before they revised the tariff again;,, as that was long enough, but they would always be able to look back upon this tariff as olio of tho most useful over passed by Parliament, The Bill was read a third time and passed.