THE RECIPROCAL TREATY

Waikato Times, Volume LVII, Issue 8007, 12 September 1906, Page 1

THE RECIPROCAL TREATY

At tLe recent special mealing of the Auckl ind Chamber of Commerce call-d to consider the reciprocal tariff treaty, Mr A. J. Entrican moved : That while supporting the principle of rtc proeity, we protest againct bringing into force the proposed treaty. It falls to open the donrs of the Australian Sta'es to our natural products; it will ruin our wheat growing and milling industries ; it increases taxation by unnecessarily raising the duties on many art.cles of every d>.y consumption; it fails to attempt the Mother Country and sister coloaies from its provisions, and it proposes to remit duties on sugar to the extent of £200,000

in favour of Australia, without any guarantee of cur people being relieved of taxation adequate to this Uss of revenue.

Mr Entrican pointed out that tr.a Chamber was practically cumojntei to reciprocity, and said toat anything like genuine reciprocity would meet the approval of the peopid of this country, in tae articles winch wo couid supply to the Australian Stales there was no tonces.-iion at all, tne treaty failed to open the doors of Australia to New Zealand at all. There was no concession on butter, bacon, turns or cheese. The existiug duty oil bacon, hams, and butter was 2d per it), and so effective had n been thai the only revnaue collected last year was .£o 2s Gd tor hams and uaoon, .£1 on butter, and iM2 12s on cueese, the latter mainly for Jjtiltun aud Bioiil r cheeses not manufactured here. Australia was the natural market tor .Now Zealand's surpius ot eanU;es, but no concession was made here. ; here was reaiiy no concession on dried fruits, fjr Austral a consumed all the currants and raisini grown there. A concession on peas and beaus might have been expected in a reciprocal treaty; instead there had been an advance. No country in the world was better fitted for the preserved milt industry than New Zealand; we h>d some of the finest pastures in the world, and there was one reason why with cheap sugar we should not supply a large quantity to Australia ; but the tariff remained the same against New Zealand aa against the rest of the world. In eucalyptus we had practically given a concession of .£2OOO. ihe buik ot the pertumed =oap used 'jfare came from the Old Country, America, and Europe, and while the tautl temained the same as between the two colonies, on the larger amount of soaps imported there would be a very much increased duty, 200 p*--r cent, on tue bulk of the soap;. He strongly condemned the sugar proposals, and declared that New Zealand would get no bent fit from theremovalof the duty as againat Australia, for the Commonwealth manufacturers would put up the price ill a ton in the New Zealand market, aud would pocktt the difference, while the Chelsea refinery would probably be closed. Mr vV. H. Uunson seconded. The position as it affected grain was serious indeed. It was proposed to put chaff on the true list, the present duty being i;i a ton. In normal seasons Australian chaff could be placed on our market at £2 15s toilli a tou, and it is quite impossible for our farmers to compete with that price under the conditions exiting here. Further consideration .-houlu have been given to oats in a- y reciprocity treaty, the proposed reduction being worth nothing. Our Hour market would go absolutely to Australia it the proposed treaty were rectified, ihree weeks ago a s.mple ton of flour had been sent here from Australia with instructions (or its distribution through New Zealand. Evidently the tariff proposals had leaked out there. A return had been laid before the House purporting to show that Australia would lose .£OOOO and Now Zealand £ 1000. 1 hat information was absolutely of no It simply represented the loas on the basis of past business, but it did not take into account that the tariff would alter the conditions if trade entirely. We could not under the present tariff recognise what our loss would be.

irtue said that it would be a disaster to the colony if the withdrawal of the duty en flour were given effect; to, to allow the Australian surplus of thre» million quarters ot wheat as 11 mr t.> be poured in, thereby crippling both miller and farmer. ISew Ze>land Ci.uid not complete with the world's surplus of 61 miliioa quarteis of wbeif, equal to WS million buaholt, thus cau-isg oniy enough to be grown for our consumption. It the duty were withdrawn on hour, and kept on wheat, it would mean the shutting down of every mill in New Zealand, and the cessation ot wheat growing, so it was obious we must ba protect- 4 ! en both flour and wheat to prevent ruin t • the colony. Australia could pro..uO'' flour ul.v .j s t:om 20s

to 25s per ton cheaper than New Zealand, owing to its wheat being grown cheaper, railage 3u to 35 per ui i nver, also its byproducts, bran a: d sharps bringing consid> rabiy m..ie owing to the absence <f feed dumg the suraner, autumn and winter, it v.;<j gr.'.niying to know notwithstanding uiose iaeis, the price of the ■lib loaf of bread in New Zealand was a "hade ie-s than in Australia, ao it cuul i not be said said tn• • <>e 1 i-<-klaad '. i Iters were tsaiog ad van i. _aoi ; lie ; r po. ja, as no d-.ub; the cu...p ti ion in : ii-i tj: .d bu-i----o-s WiiS at ktvn >■■■■ ;i th ■ Hour a i while the machinery ! '■ r -upplying .v,is greater that the demand, and the pi> lie never ned bo i'fra <l. ip*rt li m the foregoing, there were ho many other Indus-trie-1, etc, allied to nailiicg and wheat growing, viz., coal, artificial mnoiv-, tallages, sett freights, cartage.-, lab ur, sowing and reaping, tint it caused one to hesitate and a-.lt, in the event of the proposed tariff bi'C lining law, what was going to till the gap ? '!'«ke for instance Canterbury and North Otago—the railways would be practically idle, which wou'd c u-a an increase of ratts throughout the c K-ny to nixke gcol ttie deiiciei.o es, there would also be a siuuip in the labour market and a reduction in hind value. Occasionally

freight (.liars of lOi to 12s (id per tou London hid been made, even those low rates had not tempted farmers to S'dp wheat and face tuo world's surp'us, with a harvest for ev- ry month in the year. Waikato could grow wheat equal to any Southern; and even though hi.s Company always pays 21 to 3d per bu-hel more than the Southern couid be lauded at, yet it did not appear to increase the wheat area, as the farmers complained that the prohibitive railage and breaking up of rou land i- fi too small a margin of profit; and he thought they would concur that if the Government were to assist the struggling farmers and settlers by reducing the railage on their produce, it would be more laudable th.sn withdrawing dutiei to ki 1 the:n, as the success of the colony depended on farmers anl settler?. On this point the Minister of Lands should be approached by Ihe Chamber when he came to Auckland. Oatmeal and rolled oats, Js'e.v Zeriand manufacture, is protected with a duty of Is per cental, now both ure to be put on an equal footing of Is per cental. Be uuderstuod Australian milling oats of fair quality c >uld bo bought from Is 81 to Is lOd per bushel, yet our farmers are getting 2s Id to 2s 61 per bushel at Southern ports, so it was apparent this was another slap at the farmer* and miUera. Oats were also used for horse feed, An.-tralia whs Now I Zealand's keenest rival in South African shipments during the Boor war. Mechanical tracti>u was fast displacing hor-e traction, and if the oatmeal millers were uot protected, they must also cloee do'-n their mills, and add to the producer's troubles. A f-.ir quantity of oats was in the Waikato for chatling purposes, but the withdrawal of the duty on chalf, cl afiiog will also disappear. The Imperial Conference shortly takes place, and it might be as well for this Chamber to remind those in power not to aliofl corn sacks which are imported from India to be sent to New Zealand on reciprocity lines,

filled either wi'li wh at . r tl ur, as India's export ibl" surplus i- SO millions of bushels of wheat n r Cms U's surplus of 24 millions. The motion was unanimously adopted, and, ot the motion of .Mr A. li. Roberton. i was decided to tehg apli it to the Premier, t-e Minister for and Auckland provincial members.