THE COLONIST. Published Daily- (Morning). NelsON, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 1906. A PETTY' AUSTRALIAN FEELING.

Colonist, Volume XLVIII, Issue 11558, 20 February 1906, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Daily- (Morning). NelsON, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 1906. A PETTY' AUSTRALIAN FEELING.

>On his arrival in Sydney, the other day, Sir Joseph Ward, in .peaking to a press representative', urged that there sh.tiid b. reciprocity hretweien Australia and New Ze*_anu. as they have interests in common, and it 'appears that Sir William Lyhe, the Federal Minister •for Customs, has taken an early opportunity of referring to this expression, and that ho has done $o with singular want or tact, md, indeed, if thej.e^.t 'be correct, has chosen'lfcd es_ubit anything but a nice feeling. We are told that in the course of an interview, Sir Wm. Lyne said he had noticed that New Zealand was talking of the necessity of preferential trade with the Commonwealth. He supposed fchat this was iv consequence o_ the big slice which Tasmania had cut off New Zealandj|c6mmerce; with AiistraM, and that it~|was evidently be^itining to malco New E.a.and think. The uaattior- had not come before the Cabinet, so he was unable to say whether the Commonwealth Would' be willing or not to» pftt'dr into a preferential RrrMgement with New Zealand. His apparently studied ■effort to ignore Sir J. G. Ward will hurt no one but himself, and it certainly is not calculated to raise the Federal Minister in estimation i a* a Statesman. Hia whole reply savors of a feeling o_ .|oreness, I because New Zealand declined to enter the CommohWeftl'th-, and a desire to be ii'a_ty in consequence. A desire to establish reciprocity in trade between New Zealand and other parts of the Empire is no new idea with Sir Joseph Ward or his colleagues -in the New Zealand Cabinet § and the insinuation that , _jg6 Jrecent remarks were simply made because New Zealand has suffered and is anxious to gain an advantage is petty in the extreme, while it indicates ignorance at -to the meanine: of reciprocity, which involves equal rights; t'6 b£ nsti.ually^granted and ehjoy.d, such as the securing between two States mutual advantages to the same extent, in other words,. tho admission, mutually, of certain goods, supposed to be practically equivalent to each other, either duty free, or at equal duties on importation. The suggestion that a solfish object underlies the suggestion of the New Zealand PostmagterGeneral is, then, ridiculous. It may be pointed out, too, that had his proposals been accepted when they were first mado Australia would have derived very considerable advantage during the years she suffered so sorely from drought. The probabilities are that, in view of the potato blight in this Colony, reciprocity, at the present time, might be of advantage to Australia, but reciprocity within the Empire should be regarded from a higher standpoint than one of selfishness. Seeing that in the past Australia has suffered from droughts, it is not unreasonable to assume that she will again suffer in a like manner, and in view of the fact that there have been shortages in regard to certain ci'ops in this Colony, we may conclude that these unfortunate experiences will be repeated. In either case the country suffering will need to import sufficient for its requirements, and as both Australia and New Zealand levy Customs duties, the people whose needs have to be supplied when local productions fall short will havo to pay the duty, and past experience indicates that Australia will be the more frequent sufferer, for though irrigation is being resorted to a very great, deal more work will be necessary before she is not liable to suffer from drought. The duties that are thus levied on necessaries naturally fall on the consumer, and the workers and their ! families aro amongst the first to feel the pinch. If the prospects were that Now Zealand £and Australia would equally require supplies from each other the duties paid, per capita, might be equal, but the taxation would havo in each case to be paid in years that were not the most prosperous, and consequently taxation in such circumstances would always be^more or less of a burden, therefore even a moderate remission between the Commonwealth and this country, arranged on a judicious and equitable basis, would bo advantageous, and mostly so to those of smaller means.' The relief thus provided would help to strengthen the two. States, and would fortify rather than weaken the Empire. It was assuredly with this larger view in his mind that Mr Seddon recently said that "it is the duty of Parliament to promote the solidarity of the Empire. We do not want a young New Zealand, a young Australia, or a young Canada. We want a united Empire. We do not want the Empire which has cost our race so much gto build up disintegrated, that, the work of those who have gone before should go for naught. No! That work should be intensified —glorified!" In comparison with this ideal how puny appear the remarks of Sir Wm. Lyne.