The Canadian Tariff.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 197, 20 August 1931, Page 8

The Canadian Tariff.

To tha Editor. Dear Sir, —It is difficult to see the justness or wisdom of the attacks upon Mr Forbes in his retaliation upon the present Canadian Government. The Bennett Administration is at best an experiment. The Prime Minister is a lawyer of distinction and a man of great wealth. But as a leader of a party or as a Minister of the Crown he is without a record. The assumption that he has the whole country behind him is far from conclusive. His elevation to the Premiership is not unlikely due to a disposition on the part of a certain section of the electors to accept any proposed remedy for “ hard times.” On the other hand it is traditional of the ex-Preraier, the Right Hon W. Mackenzie King, and the party to which he belongs, to espouse the cause of the people and to keep down that reptile, “ taxation.” An import tariff is wrong in principle and one of the phases of its evil is that in many obscure places it prevents purchasing entirely and therefore the Government reaps no revenue. In other words, in its practical results it does harm to one man and does no good to another. An import tariff should only be tolerated in so far as it can be shown to be an actual necessity. Mr Forbes’s policy is bold, far seeing and statesmanlike, inasmuch as it will give to Mr. Mackenzie King and his adherents encouragement and inspiration to continue in the struggle for the freedom of the people, and to promote the exchange of not only commerce but goodwill, which should flow freely between all peoples within the realm. The example of Mr Forbes will strengthen the hands of Mr Mackenzie King in demonstrating to the adversaries of New Zealand in his own country, and elsewhere, that conciliation, not resentment, pays in the long run, and that by the trade policy of hostility they have simply 44 killed the goose that lays the golden egg.” With the incoming of a new Government in Canada (which is more than probable) the two sister Dominions will enjoy a better understanding and 44 shake hands across the sea.”—l am, etc., CANADIAN.