THE SUPERIOR CITY PRESS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXIV, Issue 11561, 9 January 1913, Page 4

THE SUPERIOR CITY PRESS.

The "Manawatu Daily Times" exposes an amusing instance of the extraordinary lack of accurate knowledge of affairs outside of New Zealand too frequently displayed in the leading columns of the superior city press. It seems that "The Dominion"- has been delivering itself of the asinine opinion that ,the ultimate 'results of Mr Bonar Law's recent speech on tariff reform may be beneficial, "since it may lead to the adoption of a scheme of preference into which rood-taxes will not enter. " Commenting upon this, the Palmerston paper, which, by the way, is edited by a very able and well-known journalist, who has a recent and ultimate personal knowledge of English politics, says:—

If the "Dominion" had followed up the history of the Tariff Reform movement it would have discovered

that a system of taxation for Great Britain,' which excluded import duties on wheat and other food-stuffsj would not be possible. It might be, possible in other countries, but under the peculiar set of circumstances which rule in Britain the party advocating preferential tariffs would not succeed without it. This is fully recognised by the Unionist party. Mr Chamberlain's original proposals excluded colonial foodstuffs : from taxation. But /his own Tariff Commission decided that this was an impossible proposition, and that colonial foodstuffs must be taxed. The reason for this, even to the most superficial observer, must surely bo obvious. In the first place, if Britain is to give the colonies a preferential tariff she must devise the means to do so. In what direction other than in primary products could she give the colonies preference. From Canada, certainly, a small quantity of farm machinery is imported by her, but from Australia, Capetown and New Zealand what else of any consequence other than- foodstuffs does she take?. Her only way of giving preference then would be. to raise a tariff against food stuffs and reduce it in the case of the colonies. In the second place, one of the chief arguments in favour of tariff reform is that it will -operate in the encouragement of home industries —farming and agriculture with the rest. No industry in Britain is so languishing as that of primary production. How is Tariff Reform going to help the farmer if no duty is put on foreign or colonial products?

We are glad that our contemporary has drawn attention to the ignorance of Engl is)) politics revealed by the superior city press. It is about time that the real quality of the "mana" enjoyed by the overgrown city journals, with their columns of reprint, were made clear.