REVISION OF THE TARIFF

Taranaki Daily News, 7 October 1927, Page 9

REVISION OF THE TARIFF

THE SCHEDULE CRITICISED DISCUSSION IN THE HOUSE. PRESSURE OF THE INDUSTRIES. *>j —Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. The House of Representatives went in_o committee this afternoon to consider the Customs Amendment Bill. Mr. . A. \ eitch drew attention to the duty on wrought iron pipes. He considered the Minister had not given jufThient reasons for declining to inciude lower sizes in the duty. If the <’uttoms tariff was to be dependent on the <oh eminent yielding to pressure, then G«xl help New Zealand so far as the development of industries was concerned. It was not the Minister’s business to calculate the number of votes which would l»e given for or against the Government in connection with this measure. The Minister: I am resisting the •>T€9WP’e! Mr. Veitch said the Minister should take a wider and more statesmanlike view of the whole situation. There was no doubt the Minister had had a hrg task in revising the tariff. He has made a subtle attempt to please everybody, and had finished up by pleasing himself by getting more revenue. Mr. A. Harris opposed the abolition of the duty on galvanised iron sheeting. It was hard, he said, to understand why this was being done. A firm in Auckland which had a galvanising plant said that it would now have to close down as a result of the abolition of the duty. It was the desire or the Government to keep the cost of house building down, but even so he did«not think it wise to remove the slight protection on galvanised iron. Mr. H. T. Armstrong drew attention to the quantity of American soft wood timber brought into this country while largp number uf our mills were closed down, and the men were idle. The Minister proposed to give some protection, but it wds not sufficient to do our local industry any real good. America, in like circumstances, would impose a prohibitive embargo, and we should do the same. Mr. V. 11. Potter suggested a 20 per eeut. general tariff all round on glass bottles. The Dominion bottle workers were striving to capture the hx-al market. The Minister remarked that they were doing all right now on large bottles. “A FAIR ADJUSTMENT? Mr. T. M. Wilford asked for greater protection on porcelain baths which were being made in his district with New Zealand pig iron as their basis. He alco urged the admission of motor chassis free as an encouragement to the motor body building industry. Generally speaking he thought the Minister had not made an extremely fair adjustment of the tariff. Mr. R. P. Hudson asked for higher duty on Indian iron as protection to the Onakaka iron works. Sir Joseph Ward, said strong repn?senta: had been made to him against the increased duty on lemons, which amounted to total prohibition. Lemon® were largely an article of food, and were used freely in the hospitals. Why increase the duty from 6s per case to 12s per case when not sufficient lemons are grown in New Zealand to supply local requirements ? Mr. F. Waite said the farmers generally were pleased with the revision of the tariff which, while it was protective, was not highly protective. Mf. D. G. Sullivan opposed the new duty on lemons, while Messrs. H. Atmore and C. E. McMillan supported them as protection to develop the 'growing industry. The Minister suggested they might compromise the matter by haring a duty of 2d per lb during the flueh of the season ami Id per during the black season. Mr. E. P. Lee said the wrong kind of lemon was grown in the north of New Zealand, and when they arrived in the South Island they were not worth consideration. At the same time he would support the tariff on the understanding that New Zealand growers improved their trees and curing. He was prepared to give them one or two years to do it, but it must be understood the present state of affairs would not be tolerated indefinitely in the South Island. THE LEMON INDUSTRY. When the House resumed at 7.30 p.m., the debate on the tariff was continued by the Prime Minkler, who dealt with the lemon duties ami .he t This trade, he said, had more than doubled in the five years, and the industry was now assuming proportions that Waranted the Government in doing what they were doing to encourage it. The Hon. W. J. Nosworthy commended the suggestion made by the Minister of (histoms to increase the duty during the flush of the season and to reduce it again when the»local reason was over The Hon. D. Buddo complained of the Jack uf support given in the tariff to the woollen industry, which was not in * flourishing condition, though its products were equal to any in the world. Mr. T. W. Rhodes urged greater protection for New Zealand stone. He was afraid that under the tariff Coromandel granite quarries and every other New Zealand stone quarry would have to close down. Up to midnight the debate was carried on by various members whose speeches covered almost every article mentioned in the tariff schedules and some, such as monkey glands, which were not, the general trend of the speeches being to claim protection fur industries or products originating in their own districts. Mr. P. Fraser declared that the House was not in a position to judge of the merits of tariff because it had not the necessary information before it. The Tariff Commission did not get the opinion of the country. So far as he could judge the Minister had succeeded in making a fairly acceptable compromise. The debate was continued till 12.30 a.n>. when the short title of the Bill wat passed, and the House rose till 2.30 pm. to-morrow.