The Rangitikei Advocate. TWO EDITIONS DAILY. MONDAY, JULY 12, 1920 TARIFF TINKERING.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLV, Issue 12102, 12 July 1920, Page 4

The Rangitikei Advocate. TWO EDITIONS DAILY. MONDAY, JULY 12, 1920 TARIFF TINKERING.

WE warn all outside the “protected” factories that .very shortly there will be a great increase in the cost of living unless some- action is taken to frustrate schemes that are now in progress. A namber of determined men are busily at work with tbe object of having the Customs duties increased so that they may gain larger profits at the expense of consumers. If their plans succeed the Treasury will ifse revenue which will have to be made up by special taxation and the lessened imports will create a certain amount of scarcity which, of course, will mean higher prices. This injurious work is being promoted on the plea that it is necessary to extend what are called “local industries,” which are not industries, but merely costly exotics that cannot flourish naturally, but have to be developed under hothouse conditions. However profitable tbe products may be to those who own tbe hothouses they are always extremely costly to the people who have to buy them. Ever since this country first began to “foster” these exotics the cost of living has been mounting up in exact- proportion to the effect of a hostile tariff in shutting out the cheaper products of other countries, and at the same time enabling monopolists to exact higher prices for similar articles. The State has, indeed, by its vicious system of restriction, enabled profiteering to bo done on an enormous scale. Long before the Great War the cost of living was increasing every year as the restrictive tariff became more effective, as was evidenced by the demands of labour unions for increased wages because of the advance In the cost of living. The war merely accentuated the evil effects of the policy adopted and now, though peace has come and our wealth creators have been getting splendid prices for the natural products exported, the cost in so steadily and surely advancing that the judges of our Arbitration Court have declared that there must be an auto-

matic increase in wages every six months to meet ttie artificially raised cost of living. It is amazing that the facts do not force conviction of the folly of the system and the injury it is causing. In the Home lend the evil effects of a restrictive policy are well understood, and on the Ist of next month all restrictions imposed daring the ’war are to end so that the people will obtain cheaper supplies. The so-called Tariff Reformers there had short shrift at the last election; but in our own country the same class no'»v hope still further to plunder the people. Unfortunately our political leaders are strongly inclined to favour these schemers, mainly because they are not well grounded in political economy, but partly because the monopolists are bringing great pressure to "bear and, using spacious arguments in .support of their demands, The intention to use the Customs tariff to inflict still greater injury on the paopie and the producers, in the interests of monopolists and parasites has been clearly revealed and ifproducers and con-* Burners wish to escape it they will have to unite and exert their pressure inother directions. If they do not, then it is as certain as that, night follows day that the cost of living

will increase with greater rapidity than e er before.

THE result of Mr Statham's motion in the House last week will be to defer improvement of our system ofGovernment and fix the party system still more firmly. He should have put it in a form that would have been more acceptable to those in office, who naturally treated it as one implying no-confidence. If he had desired to perpetuate the party system he could not have chosen a better method. The discussion on it, however, served to disclose the rottenness of the party system, the manner in which support is gained by members “taking what thby can get” and the way the eleotbrs are fooled by all parties. The ideal system of Government is the Swiss under which party wrangling does not affect administration. As a matter of fact, too, wo have no real party divisions in this country, because with the exception of the Labour combination, no party has defined its principles and the sole aim of each is either to keep in office or to get into office. For many years past the electors have had to vote, not for or against political principles,>. but to further the purely personal interests of politicians. This is by no means good for the State, nor does it conduce to good government. It is merely a great aid to the professional politician and a manufacturer of political puppets. The people have seen all sorts of devices used to ensure retention of office. The politicians have stolen the planks of each other’s platforip whenever these were likely to enable them to float into the haven of safety. They have sunk party differences only when the raising of their own salaries was in question. They oven, on quite insufficient excuse, extended the term of their engagement from three years to five, and they even formed a sham coalition In the hope of still hanging.on to office and pay. Our party system is indeed one that should be abolished without delay.