THE COLONIST. Published Daily-Morning. Nelson, Friday, September 27, 1895. THE TARIFF.

Colonist, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8364, 27 September 1895, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Daily-Morning. Nelson, Friday, September 27, 1895. THE TARIFF.

The third reacting of the Tariff Bill having been moved last night, it may be accepted that the Customs duties have now been fixed for at least twelve months, and probably for much longer, as the difficulties which the Government have experienced in their efforts to " amend the Tariff" have been such that neither present Ministers nor their successors, when a change takes place, as in the order of things it must sooner or later, may be expected to undertake a similar task without great reluctance. »It can scarcely be contended that no anomalies will be found under the new Tariff. On the contrary, some additional ones will have to be contended with. Where a dual object is kept in view, such as the making provision for receipt of revenue and the fostering of local industries in the framing of a Tariff, inconsistences are sure to appear, but it is hard to understand how members of the House of Representatives can have determined, as they have done in at least one instance, that a finished article shall be admitted duty free whilst appliances with the aid of which such article might be locally produced have to pay duty. In the instance we allude to the revenue derivable is not worth considering, and therefore we are forced to the conclusion that a number of members must have voted without considering what they were doing. However, the Tariff is practically fixed, and must be made the best of. We cannot close our eyes to the fact that it promises to be of great assistance to a large section of the people of Nelson. The axtra duty on fruit may not lead to higher prices having to be paid for that necessary artiole of food, but it will make a great deal of difference to those growers who send a reliable article to market, and as to those who pack unsound fruit below that which is good, they deserve to loae. In the past the very best of fruit shipped from Nelson to Wellington at times has failed to return expenses of picking and shipping, simply because it has reached market a day after the arrival of a steamer which had brought thousands of cases from Australia. Such experiences as that we have mentioned have discouraged many fruit growers who had always prided themselves on picking for shipment only good sound fruit, for it frequently happened that their labors were unrewarded. The imposition of extra duty on imported fruit may fairly be expected to lessen the danger of local fruit growers finding their market so glutted that their expectation of reward proves vain, but at the same time the amount of the duty will not prove prohibitive, especially in respect to the more choice varieties of fruit. An extra charge of ten pence on twenty pounds of apricots will still enable Australian growers tto find a market in New Zealand, unless the fruit growers of this Colony use the utmost care in getting their fruit to market in the very best condition, and this means, too, that those who simply let their trees bear as they may will be out of the running. The imposition of this duty on fruit opens up extensive possibilities, and we hope that these possibilities will be largely taken advantage of by Nelson people. For the present season the fruit prospects in this district are so far excellent, and if a large proportion of the money which has in. past years been sent out of the Colony can be retained within its boundaries, increased prosperity may be confidently anticipated, and as a natural sequence the revenue will advantage.