Taranaki Herald. FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 1803. MR SEDDON INTERVIEWED.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12280, 12 June 1903, Page 4

Taranaki Herald. FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 1803. MR SEDDON INTERVIEWED.

Judging from the tone of Mr Seddon's remarks to a Christchurch interviewer upon the preferential trade question, he wishes to "force the pace," if we may be excused a sporting phrase; Apparently this move of Mr Chamberlain's was inspired' by our Premier; on his recent visit to London, arid now that' the' Colonial Secretary has niade his declaration ' Mr. Seddon is 1 determined to let the? British public know what' will happen if they do not accept ids j advice and warning, given them \ through the medium of their own i Minister. If, says Mr Seddon, the British public do not know what is good for them and give preferential treatment to New Zealand and other colonies' products then they must be prepared to find New Zealand transferring her trade favours to other nations, who will gladly opem. their arms and their ports to receive them. That is the long and short of what has the appearance of a thinly-disguised threat by the Premier. Yet if we examine even cursorily, the position of New Zealand with regard to its trade with the Mother Country and foreign nations it is evident that it is we who should first mend our ways and prove that blood, is thicker than r water and that 'trade should follow the flag. England ..takes from us everything we choose to 'send her, and would take double or treble the quantity had we the produce to send; and without imposing a, single duty. or restriction. She, in addition, bears practically the whole expense of guarding the trade routes and protecting the ships which carry our' produce. She finds jus all,- the money we require for developing our resources. .And what do we do in return ? We tax nearly everything England sends us, in the case of things we can manufacture ourselves to tho extent of protection and not merely for revenue purposes. We give the same terms to foreign nations, which tax our products when we are allowed to supply them. Thus while England in 1901 took worth of produce from us we took only from her. Foreign countries^ took only £676,637 worth of our produce and taxed it, while we bought ,£2,0*8, 218 worth from them, and treated them the same as we treated England, who gives us much better terms than the, foreign countries. We subsidise an American line of steamers to bring us- American manufactures, while . America places severe restrictions on our shipping to her ports. We send our Trade Commissioners to try and find markets for our products in foreign countries. And what does Mr Seddpn propose to do to encourage England to tax foreign produce in favour of ours ? Not, to relax, the restrictions we place pn British' goods, but to place Jrather if England .will not tax foreign

goods, which will not hiirt them much on keep them out, but rather increase the cost of goods to our own consumers. He suggests that if England will not tax foreigo products in our favour we will give preference to foreign countries as against England for the purpose of obtaining from them rather better terms than we now get, but still not the "open door" that England gives us. We cannot believe that Mr Seddon's views, as expressed in Christchnrch, will be endorsed by the people of "this colony for ,they know that they are infinitel}' better off trading with the Mother Country than with any other, and that no foreign country is likely to give such favourable terms, however much they choose to court them. Even to hint at "dismemberment" if England will not tax, her people still further than she already does through the Navy for our benefit is unpatriotic.

An unusually heavy hailstorm passed over the district around Pungarehu on Thursday afternoon. Blyth and Co. are offering cash purchasers of winter goods very tempting baa-gains, judging by the price's quoted', in our advertising c6lumns. * Th« death is announced of Mrs. McDavitt, wife of Mr Jno. McDavift, solicitor, of Opunake, and formerly .of. Stratford. . . In this issue, J. Chambers and Son, Limited, Auckland, advertise their\ stocks of oil, gas, a^nd steam engines, Mr R. Chambers is the jlocal agent." The Chief Postmaster forwards a Pacific Cable route map with the compliments of the, Pacific Cable Company. ' , Messrs Boon Bros, have the contract for erecting part' of the block of buildings on the site Messrs McEwen Bros. ]jremises in Devon-street. Captain Edwin telegraphed to-'dey: — Strong winds to gale from between west and southwest and south ; glass rise ; tides high ; weather very cold! The Feilding Star to-day completes its 21st year of publication and the proprietors the same term of partnership. The Auckland City Council has de-. cided; to ask the Municipal Conference to request Parliament to legislate in the direction, of the cost of fire' brigades being borne in equal by the local bodies, the Government," and the Insurance Companies. ' • Lady Ranfurly entertained some 600 members of the_ Auckland Mothers' Union at- an "At Home" at Government House on Thursday. An v address on the objects of the Union was given by Bishop TSTeligan, who, on behalf of ihe mothers^ presented,. Lady Ranfurly with a handsome New Zealand rug. " Owing to. the epidemic of whooping: coiiglvVnd measles amongst the sch^l" 1 ari , the' t'ow\i schools I " Courtenay and Central, were closed to-day for the midwinter holidays, - a week .earlier than the ,, usual - time. !Mr Collis, the chairman of the committee, - states* that there are about* 150 scholars' aY sent "through the above causes or the circumstances created. , Mr J*aa. Hodgers who was injiired recently at Tahora by a fall of earth, has left' the New Plymouth Hospital where he has been ah inmate for nine weeks. ( ,The' Roads ' Department has granted him two months leave of absence, . and next week .leaves for 'IV Aroha to recoup. He speaks highly of his treatment at ihe Hospital. • To-morrow being the last 'day of Messrs Leydon ~ and Worthingtori's •stay in New Plymouth, they liold a clearing sale guaranteeing dispose^ of every line offered without the slightest reserve. They state, this is', a good opportunity to secure necessary and useful goods at your own prices. See advertisement in other column. To-morrow Mr Newton King will sell, by public auction. at # his mart Mr Jrio.; Hoskin's choice property in Hincstreet, close to Messrs Brown and Co/s timber yards, also a. number of sections in . Fit?roy p township' on ac.count of James. J. Thomason's estate. Investors should., , attend the -sale as there is money to be made out of these properties. * ,■> The shops situated in Dovon-street and now temporarily occupied by Morey and Son have been let to a per* nianent tenant about the middle -of next month. Should. the present state of the weather continue the firm doubt whether their own premises will : be finished by that time, and are making gigantic efforts to materially reduce their, stock.-, The notice -is in this issue. , ,' t . ' Mr* A. H. Moore, West Coast Land Agency, reports the sale of section j '3 block 23, Opunake, and< 3 acres of sec- . tion 24 suburban, < to- local- buyers, also •Jhe disposal, of section -72 block .11], Opunake, 85 acres to a local investor .| There, is a demand for small farms of 100' to 200 acres on lease, and slightly improved bush' sections. Owners wishing to lease would do well to communicate with Mr Moore. Since the lady passenger by the Gracchus landed "and developed smallpox at Dunedin, her luggage had been detained by the Health Department' in the "V" shed. On ' Wednesday • night some one broke /into thte shed and went through this luggage. A good deal of personal effects were thrown oveA' the : wharf, and letters and photos and articles of attire were floating about on Thursday. Boxes containing the lady's- jewellery were not touched, and it is supposed some boys must have broken into the shod. .Whether they will develop sinaU-pox remains to bo : seen. St. ' Mary's Baud^ of Hope- this Friday evening at 7 o'clock.* \ A goott Chesterfield, overcoat is a , great .benefit this weather. ,At the ] ''Melbourne" you can pick up a smart 'tailor made Chesterfield- in navy or ' i dark grey, faultlessly, finished at 29s , j (id. It is a wink snap for mon.*

We acknowledge a parcel of "Books for Bushmen" from Mr W. H. Bartlett, photographer. The secretary of the" Star Football Club desires to acknowledge, with thanks, a donation of £1 from a lady supporter of the club. Subscribers to the address ,to be presented to Mr W. K. Hulke are reminded that the presentation will take place at the Town Hall to-morrow at 2 o'clock p.m. ? In the Police Court this morning a maintenance case against W..T. Massicks was called on, and adjourned for a week. The Clerk of the Court stated that defendant had remitted £S£ of the money "due. < - r '"t" t The imposition of a condition on the Hotel Commonwealth license, that .jao barmaid be employed,-, is stated to stand thus : — The committee-, haye imposed the condition, but, as it is not legal the licensee can ignore the con.dition. This all goes to prove that the law, after all, is a. "IJass"' in many respects. v - ; ' j The /inancial result of the Taranald Rifles ball, held on Prince of Wales's, Birthday, is understood to be most satisfactory, though the exact aniount netted 'a, cannot be ascertaiiiect until some tickets still outstanding 'are handed in. The company - 'desires to thank the following ladies, who* formed the working ' committee : — Megdames Geo. Cock, E. M. 'Smith, £. E. Clarke, Duller," Whittington/. O'Driscoll, and C. 1 Clarke,' Misses Sole^ B. .Cock, Ljimbus, Clarice, and Rowan. To the .Mayor and Mrs R : . jCock ,alsq a deep, debt of gratitude „is due for ,the interest tney took in . the function and thevaluable assistance thoy rendered. The Hon: J. V. O'Loghlin, of South Australia, who - recently visited Zealand, and .was interviewed' by the Taranald Herald during ,his stay in New Plymouth, has returned to Adelaide. In a letter to Mr Edmunds, he gives -some particulars of his movements after leaving Taranald; special prominence, being accorded to the *"West Coast welcome" , which Mr Seddon Arranged for him at Westport and other .places clowja the coast. ' After thoroughly "doing" the whole of ike colony, Mr O'Loghlin' s opinion is that "you have, a great country,, if you could, only keep the fog away." Since* his return to Adelaide, he has been 'ad> vertising this country by ' lecturing ' on it and writing a .series of articles for the Adelaide Advertiser, , one on" our : Conciliation and Arbitration Act having attracted special attention. By notice in another column,^ the Mayor convenes a nieeting to be Held at 'the Council Chambers on Monday next at 3 p.m., to consider -the ques.tion of arranging a suitable farewell to Lord and Lady Ranfurly: Mr ■Cocli lias received intimation from' Auckland that the Governor arid Lady Ranfurly will arrive here on Thursday niorhing, the "25th inst., and will remain until-- Saturday faaorning. Although it is. 'possible' His' Excellency may be able .to pay. New ' Plymouth { aij<sKe^ visit, Vsus is^hie last; qcdasi6^>j that- s l*adyßanlurly will stay her«, for-; si»e leaves for, Homfein a few month's, and it is thought that the occasion! should n.ot be .allowed to pass without j .some suitable .entertainment being \ offered r .Xa,dysMp. ,At this.ttime, of , the year a. garden party is, 'of course; j quite but of the^' question, .while a concert would, scarcely meet the occar si6n: It is probable,, therefore, that' a public ; ball will be ! suggested as> a suitable aneans of doing honor to Lord and Lady _ Ranfurly. That, however, will, be for the meeting to, .decide. It, is particularly requested that> ladips will attend' ,the 'meeting on < Monday , afternoon, ' the hour having' been fixed to suit their convenience. . . -