The Sun SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 1914. ASIATIC COMPETITION AND THE TARIFF.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 61, 18 April 1914, Page 8

The Sun SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 1914. ASIATIC COMPETITION AND THE TARIFF.

A very serious state of affairs made public at the conference of furniture trade workers yesterday. The conference had before it a letter.from a manufacturer, setting out facts which are all too familiar to those in the trade. The position is that Chinese and Japanese furniture, made from rattan, and sea-grass, is being imported into the Dominion in large quantities at [.rices which make it impossible for the local manufacturer to compete successfully. There is a duty of 25 per cent, on imported furniture generally, and this is sufficiently effective to_ protect the New Zealand manufacturer from European and American competition, because the total imports of furniture in 1013 only amounted to £50,987, while the value of the output of the furniture and cabinet-, making establishments in 1911 is set down'at £49Y,681. But the present tariff is utterly inadequate when it comes to Asiatic, competition. The w r ages paid by Chinese and Japanese manufacturers of. rattan and sea-grass furniture are trifling, and the cost of raw material will be small compared to what it is in New Zealand. Under these conditions an award of the Arbitration Court, compelling; an employer to pay standard wages in New Zealand simply means the extinction of the industry and a clear .field for the foreigner. Fortunately the Minister of Customs, Mr Fisher, appears to be alive to the situation, and has given the trade a hint that as soon as he has an opportunity to do so, steps will be taken to make the, import duties ..effective.' The present Government has had a great deal on its hands since it came into office, and no doubt could give good reasons why it has not tackled tariff revision. But this all-important question does not admit of any further delay. A Tariff Bill ought to be brought down during the coming session and put through Pfefore the elections. The present tariff is seven years old, and every year that passes diminishes its efficiency. Other industries besides the one referred to are crying'out for encouragement and assistance. Imports show no sign of diminishing, and every year sees- hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of foreign goods imported for consumption in New Zealand. There is no reason why the bulk of these goods should not be manufactured in New Zealand. Two things are essential: Adjustments of the tariff, which would make manufacturing more profitable than importing, and a reasonable compromise in respect to wages and industrial conditions between the workers and their employers in the industries concerned. One is not much good without the other.