COLONIAL INDUSTRIES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13367, 17 August 1907, Page 2

COLONIAL INDUSTRIES.

FUrri'lK OF XKW ZEALAND AND TIMAHU. To the Editor of the "Timarii Herald." Sir, —in discussing the luture ot Xew Zealand, it- is necessary to consider the question of promoting new industries ; but before doing so, it- is of importance that we should .make up their minds as to whether we should adopt protection or free, trade. Now, although from an unselfish and humanitarian point of view free trade is preferable, still if other countries persist in closing their doory to foreigners, .why should we not do the Game? Or, even if we adopt free trade within the Empire and protection against foreigners, it will only be a. temporary benefit, not a permanent one. This can be seen by taking a glance at England's position. 'Everyone Knows that Juigiand's supremacy depends entirely upon h~r commercial position, and her commercial supremacy rusts on the fact that the bulk of her exports go to countries which are not in a position at present to do their own manufacturing. As soon a« tlneee countries —England's custom•eis —ihid themselves in a position to dictate to England, they will adopt a stiff piotective tana', and claim their own imirnets lor themselves, for it is not likely they are going io continue to import goods from i'.ugiauil if. they can make tlio:..e goods themselves. So it can be, s;een that England rdies upon the helplessness of other countries for her large export trade, and the, •slitttot tiling* cannot iast much longer. Indeed, i think England ii jnoivperity is iibw at its height ior many countries (notably, Ireland, Australia and Chine)' are now bestirring themselves to retain their own markets, and.as soon as I hey. do this, England's export trade will decline; and without a. large trad? to keep a country going, it is impo.'sible to maintain a large aimy and navy. Then, when this decline, which I think is inevitable, take place, large numb.is of JJii: t-li workmen will" be, thrown out of work, and will have to emigrate to countries commencing an industrial career. This, therefore-, will have the effect of diverting New Zealand's export trade to foreign countries, and of minimising the benefit.; derived lrom a pieferential tariff with England. So under the circumstances 1 believe the best thing New Zealand can do is to make the t a rift sufficiently high to enable, everything possible to be manufactured in this countiy. This would enable large numbers' of ski-led English artisans to migrate to our shores, causing the population to increase rapidly, and thus the farmers would have a large market-at their doors. it might be said that owing to the high pric;r of labour here, we could not r-U!!iulactur3 so cheaply as. the people of England; but against this,must be taken into consideration the fact that the labour unions at- Hcaw are demanding higher wages, and the day it; not far diiiant when living will be just as dear in England as in Xew Zealand. When we consider that over £12,000.000 wf.it h of goods ;i;-e imported into New Zealand yearly, suiely it is not too much to-.-.uggcsL that fully half of these- goods should be manufactured here. Taking some of the item- appearing in the 1906 Year Hook, we lind that nearly £3,000,000 of these imports diajn-iy and clothing, in spite of the fact that we have a fair number ot wcollen mills in the colony ; boois and ; hoes account-for £282,00 nioie; hardware and ironmongery £314.CC3 ; bicycle, and fillings £230,030 ; peper and statioiieiv (without including books) £160.003: tobacco £281,003. These good.:;!on.- are >:;ffiti r.t to warrant the ettablishnvnt of mills and factories for their mt'iiafact'.ue. If i:.-e.ns ridiculous that we should t:i]«:it woo!, for instance, an 1 iinj:oit UMM'faLLmed wnnlkn goods, while at the same lime we send awav uncured pelts, and iinpott £87.000 worth of leather anlrui'ly. I'i.s' figures, 1 Ihink, ought tn eonvhue anyone that there is a, splendid '■ -i ! in New >'::'*a;id for the investment of money, pauiouhiriy in the woollen, cotton, engin. i ring, hoot and tanning industries, to say nothing- of many others, such ai> tobacco curing, pap.-r manufacturing, etc. liut my aim is not to tell the people of |

XiW Zea.la.nd what they ought to do, so much as to show Tiniaruviaiis what an opportunity they have, of making Tiinaril on-.-of the principal towns of the colony. (Itir hill hour has been proved a success, and 1 am sure that- if We showed a little enterptise. the, Ihivernnieiit could be peuaiaded to pro.ect any n.-w industries lh:it might b. established. ' The people of i hristthurch are waking up to the importance of pushing Canterbury ahead, but unfortuiiaiely the word "Cant: l bury" nev.r doe* iuckitie Timaru to the resid'enis of the noil.li..] n city; mi it behoves our city father;.; and the Chamber of Commerce to go carefully into this ma tt-..r, and sec what can be. done to puuh this district ahead. In conclusion I might say that the imports lor C.'ai.ierbnrv alone "amounted in 19J5 to £2,322X00, an increase of nv.v £1,000.000 per annum i:i 10 vrais. —I ;irn. etc.'. CKXCIiXK.