SIDELIGHTS ON BIOLOGY.

Waikato Times, Volume 115, Issue 19272, 2 June 1934, Page 7

SIDELIGHTS ON BIOLOGY.

(To the Editor.) Sir,—l have already pointed out how the New Zealand manufacturers have established, through Mr J. A. Lee, M.P., the right of the New Zealand rabbit to be killed by New Zealand ammunition only. But in their enthusiasm they have done one better —- in fact, the best yet. The protected corset maker alleges the necessity for the tariff in his favour by explaining, that “there was a definite and distinct type of feminine figure in New Zealand, and the firm specialised id meeting the requirements of New Zealand women!” And—not to be outdone — the tariff-protected boot manufacturer explains his own existence by claiming that shoes “of a particular fit were in many cases needed for the feet of New Zealanders!”

■Racial differentiation at this rate would leave Darwin, Bateson, Weismann and Co. just a little breathless. However, when the New Zealand housewife finds that the New Zealandmade silk stocking is modelled on a milk can, and' that the Customs duties (procured by the Manufacturers’ Association) have placed the Parisian frock and the Parisian shoe entirely outside her means, she must comfort herself with the reflection that, after all, such articles cannot really be worn by New Zealanders, whose feet and figure are (according to the protectionists) like nothing else on earth. — I am, etc., DOUGLAS SEYMOUR. Hamilton, May 31, 1934.