DAY DREAMS

Colonist, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4174, 25 June 1885, Page 3

DAY DREAMS

I . .-. ■ ■■■■ pßi Insomnus.]: ;.;::v •■':? ■ —Solding no creed, . - ! But contemplating all. ."' 'The amended tariff, is. a.subject v \srhich takes a lot of digestion, and as an.iiidieati.on ;6f' wfi'ai-ia i likely to enaub if ; ii is ' to beooine law, I am in a position to state that a leading

' medical practitioner has annorin'ce'tHhat a naw form of disease has appeared sincu the publication of the Budget, and" which rhe^haa named "Mental Dyspepsia." As thejdiseaif; seem to have attacked most of the mercantu*: community I considor myself .justified in drawing an inference from the coinoidenca. So far as I have read in the^newspaper filti which have reached me, the editors, reporter*, ." own " correspondents," et hoc genus tOnMe.' concerned in printing ink, are in rapture, a* to the " literary ability " of the production, and h the boldnessof Vogel's polioy, with the utaal notes of admiration for the glamour which J the heaven^borh statesman" has contrived toi < throw over the' Colony. Any thing.he gaya or; does,' even to inflicting grinding taxation, ia accepted without question by his following, more especially: by, the members, of tho r House who form the joints of the Treasurer^ A tail. One thing' he deserves credit for. Ha explicitly stated that the object of .the vi.;: csease of the tariff was for ««Fiscal purposes,'?; ;, and quoting -with evident pride from Mr Seed's remarks,1 "It will!secure; absolute I uniformity in levying the duties at the yarioui J. Custom Houses in the Colony ; that moderate ■:; and revenue producing and not prohibitory duties be imposed on articles which can be < produced or manufactured in the Colony.", ;; Now, there is a wide gap between "moderate?' and "prohibitory." For: instance the old \ duty of 4d per lb on tea could be called • "^moderate," but the greatest advocate ,of .'/ free trade sentiments would notforja moment argue that the hew imposition of 2d per lb, extra is " prohibitory," although I have no . r doubt. Sir George Grey will have. .;a ; ;fe'W ■■■_' pertinent remarks to make about this .item. It is just the sort of idea he loves— ■ v_; ________ "To point a moral ■ Or adorn a tale." In the abstract, " Protection " is exploded as a fallacy. The United States went further „ in the matter than any other nation; aud if Sir Julius had possessed the courage of his opinions he would have gone to the same ex- : tent as the Yankees did, and he had at his :: hands a splendid opportunity. For instance, ? when they framed their Customs tariff, they not only protected production and probable manufactures, but they also male a different tariff for goods conveyed in American and Foreign vessels, the difference being about 30 par cent more on goods conveyed., to. American ports in English ships. Now, bur heaven-born Treasurer hap evidently not had in his mind's eye the fac'. that'of the two leading shipping firms trading between Great Britain and the Britain of the South, one , (the New Zealand Shipping Co.) is a local production, and therefore wor hy of proiec--tion, and the other, the Shaw, Saville, and Albion Co., is a, foreign proprietary, : - and for " Fi.-cal purposes." all: goods conveyed to the Colony in their ships," should pay extra duties, so as :to encourage Native : ioiiustiy. That, at any rate, is my idea of a ■' protective policy carried out in its integrity. ..<■. The colony of Victoria, after many years experience of the pernicious effects of protection, is now aware of the fact, and Free' trade New South Wales, can successfully ' compete with.her for the commerce on the neutral ground in the vast Riverina district, . and Mr Service is unobtrusively as possible returning to the more, enlightened and common sense policy of the older colony. And in England, our latest files give an account of Mr Gladstone's speech on his Budget, and any comparison between the Grand old man's ideas of taxation; and the exposition of Disraeli's prototype in this colony, would be" impossible, except to show the extent jof divergence between a real statesman and a counterfeit. The English Premier tellstha country that he is nearly fifteen millions deficient, and that half of that he means to pay off this year; and to do so he intends raising five,and a half millions, by increasing the Income tax, 5d to Bd. Sir Julius tells this Colony that he has changed his opinions '. as to the relative fairness of a property versus a land and income tax, but objects'to alteration in taxation as the taxpayers take sudden changes in this respect unkindly; so he feel- , iugly sticks another farthing on the property : tax, and to finish his Budget, unexpectedly announces the most startling list of alterations in the incidence of taxation any AngloSaxon community ever heard of. And this is the saviour of the Colony. Credat Judceus, ■ A dissection of the tariff reveals a good deal in the shape of curiosities of how the many may be made to pay for the benefits of the few. Coming under the generic head of drapery, there is a pretty kettle of fish when the tangled skein is unravelled. _ There are no less than five separate and distinct rates of ad valorem, 5,10,15,17., and 20 per cent. This is, I presume, to secure the boasted •' uniformity." It will require a specially trained staff of experts to construe the mean-. ings of the terms applied, and another staff to examine and value the' goods. -Drapery importers have a happy time before them, and consumers may ; rest contented with the prospect of a sudden and by no means trifling advance in all soft goods, more especially those of every-day requirements. Here, for instance, is an example of the way this " uniform" tariff will work with calicoes (free before), which are as necessary for existence as bread and beef. Calico which costs less man iv £ioa jaiu am ,iio_iouu«.\,iw*j *.* **..««. Britain, will be charged 5 per cent duty. Calico which costs 4£d, will be charged 15 per cent. As the calicos most used in the Colony cost just about 4d, the calico wearing public will be in this position—either'they must put up with an inferior article so as to escape the difference of 10 per cent, or be saddled with an impost of nearly a penny per yard for a quality which costs perhaps only _d more at Home. It will lead to dissatisfaction with importers, retailers, and consumers alike ; and more, it will piobaldy be the cause of the repetition of what took place in Victoria on a very large seale —the system of . two sets of invoices being forwarded from Home, one the genuine, and the other specially for the Customs. Against this, I find no mention at all of silk or satin goods ; p>rbaps tbey are intended to escspe, or more likely to remain at the old 15 p«r cent rate. Such necessaries as blankets, tweeds, and other woollen goods are subj ot to an'impost of 20 per cent (or really 22 per cent, as 10 per cent is added to the duty in all cases for charges, so as to enable the Kaiapoi. and Mosgiel factories to keep up their 15 per aent dividends. Clothing of all descriptions is charged 20 per cent, to give tailors a chance, but tailors trimmings have to pay 15 per cent. Wire gets in free, but if barbed pays 2s per cwt, presumably because a genius started a " manufactory" in Oamsru for fixing spikes on to ordinary wire. Paper bags have to pay 7d 6d per cwt, to remind tradesmen that there is a mill in Otago'which turns out a poor imitation ©f wrapping paper, but on the lucus a non lucendo principle it is of too fragile a texture to protect anything which may be enclosed in it. It is needless to go through the long list, as the whole tariff is based upon the principle of {exacting the last pound of flesh the taxpayers can part with | —and exist. When Sir Julius, on obtaining om.ce_lft.lt year, persuaded Parliament tbat the abolition of the Sinking Fund would relieve the Colony of a large amount of taxation he was believed ; and an unwilling consent was given to his proposition.: He reduced the property tax, to show that he . was in earnest, about the matter. Less ihan a year has gone by, and £244,000 which would have gone into the Sinking Fund has been absorbed into ordinary .. revenue, and he comes at this early data with an increase in the property tax, an iniquitous tariff, a promise of another million loan, and a hint local bodies will have to finance for themselves, which either means more loans, or more taxation. Above all there'is the absurd anomaly .of a . Government endeavoring to establish Federation with other Colonies, and at the same tme introduce a Protective policy. As well try and mix oil and water together. -Wo have had a very good instance of how our relations to other Colonies will be affected by the protection of the one of our productions^- • v hops. Now we are about to give offence to New South Wales ; 'by the" atrocious infliction of 2s per ton oh coals. It is a dog in the manger tax, for it is notorious that there' is mbre. demand for. native coal than the few i colliery proprietors in the Colony can supply, and it is simply putting 2s per ton in .their pockets, whilst'the chances are that New South Wales?: the largest1 customer this : Colony, has for some articles; of produce, will ' naturally retaliate by imposing duties against :> us in selfrdefence. Tbe policy is indefensible; —more, it is suicidal? Is the member- for;' Nelson" City retrograding? One would think so when he, proposes I to take a step into the dark age 3of nomineeism to replace the voice of the people. , His ? constituents are corioOfl to know who prompt! ' J "l him.