The Working Man and the Tariff

Southland Times, Issue 8046, 29 June 1885, Page 3

The Working Man and the Tariff

'♦TheLytteiton Timeß, howevefj giveia sample of the Rind of stuff it thinks the woricing man is likely to swal* '■, low; It Baye:— • The working man in New Zealand may take a very simple panacea against the panic with which freetraders would infect him. He may look abroad a"nd compare the positibn of ;his class in protectionist America add Victbriift veitb its position in free trade England and Sew South Wales.' With regard to America; JheLyttelton Timeß itself gave the work^ ing tuan some very euggestive information recently when it published a table from its Ainerican correspondent showing the fall* ing. off in wages paid An the vflriotis trades, to which was appended the follow* ini note; — ' It wiil be Been. that those industries whioh enjoy the highest p'roteo* tion show tbe heaviest decline in the percentage of wages paid.' The working man will ' pat this in his pipe and. smoke it,' and it will go a long way in assiaiiog him to make up bin mind on the points submitted to him. If he wants any information as to the condition of the work* iug classes in Victoria tie will find a good deal in the report""of the Faotory Oommiaeion which will nhook andhorrtfy htm, and make him firmly resolved riciver to have anything to do with a system capable of bringing about such a deplorable state of affairs. In regard to New South Wales the working man both in New Zealand and Victoria has shown in a very practical way his opinion of that colony by always emigrating thither if bis 'means will enable him to do so in times of depression in his own land, TinaUy., if bo wants to compare free-trade England with protectionist England, the only fair comparison to be made, let him reflect on those ' dark ages 1 previous to the abolition of the Corn Laws, or let him read the able pamphlet sub* routed by Mr GifEen to the Statistical Society. As a matter of fact, however, it is not necessary for him to bother his head with statistics or anything of the kind. . He possesses at any rate a fair allowance of common sense, and he knows that to make things artificially dearer than they are is not the way either to encourage trade or promote his own personal Ooin* fo«."--Tim8rn Herald.