THE WAIPA POST. Printed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. THURSDAY, 14th JUNE, 1934. TARIFF BURDENS.

Waipa Post, Volume 48, Issue 3479, 14 June 1934, Page 4

THE WAIPA POST. Printed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. THURSDAY, 14th JUNE, 1934. TARIFF BURDENS.

TARIFFS have been a fruitful source of discussion for.years, and the odds are that a perfectly equitable adjustment will never be found. Between the principles of free trade and protection there is a. gap which,cannot be bridged. So many elements come into the reckoning, the interests are so far flung and the repercussions so vitally felt in. trade operations that it beconres well nigh .impossible to blend the systems and produce a perfect balance. Insofar, however, as a demand.arises for the fulfilment of this Dominion's pledged undertakings at the Ottawa Conference there can be no two opinions, and -the plea put forward at last night's meeting has everything to commend it. Apparently our Government has been tediously slow in effecting the contemplated tariff adjustments, J>ut on the other hand the assurance has been given time and time again that the position is accepted by the authorities at Home, and that delay has not created the uneasiness We are--wont to suppose. . But that alone; is! no warrant for delay. The fact,, that undertakings were given ...and: i hat tariff adjustments in-favour of British importations were contemplated imposes on this Dominion a.raO.ral as well as a definite obligation to revise the schedules. Still, all the same, the Government should be in a position to best judge the case. Its contact with the authorities in Great Britain is a vantage point, and the Government can surely be trusted not to jeopardise the international relationships. .... -.-,. Our visible trade however, is not entirely, reassuring, • For-the first four months of the present year, to the end of April,: exports'to the United Kingdom exceeded by £13,130,000 the value of our imports. On the other hand, we imported £217,000 more than we exported" to Ceylon, £276,000 from India, £227,000 from Canada, £203,000 .from. Australia, £509,000 from .the Dutch East Indies, and £696,000 from the United States. It is surely not right that we should buy so heavily from these countries when they.fall so far short in.,their buying from us.. Britain, .it is evident, is unfairly treated in comparison when we-expect to - sell thirteen million pounds more, than' we buy. And these figures, be it noted, are for four months'only. Of course it can be submitted that tariffs are not the only item .in the reckoning. Very many other factors must help sway the : trade movements. Insofar as it affects tariffs, however, experience has proved that concession not unlikely reacts to the advantage of the importer. It could happen, it has happened, that the importer of the tax-free commodity fixed a price, jvfet below that of his tariff-taxed competitor, and in that case the advantage in fiscal policy is at once defeated. In other words, trade is not stimulated, and the only effect is.to divert the tax equivalent from the coffers of the State to the pockets of the importers. It is not beside the point to suggest that much of the pleading for tariff reform in past years has been inspired for personal advantage. Soon now the intentions of'the Go-vernment-will be announced, when the report of the Tariff Commission becomes known. The survey of the whole situation recently concluded, should point the way for. many adjustments. We will then, face the problem of industries in this country which are held to be uneconomic, and then, too, will have to be decided a vital issue—whether New Zealand shall follow the lead of protectionist countries for the increasing of her •internal trade and population, or whether an exporting basis of trade should be fostered and encouraged.