Correspondence.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVII, Issue 38, 10 January 1890, Page 13

Correspondence.

[W« an not nspoiuible for the opinions expnased by •or Correspondents.]

COLONIAL FEDERATION.

TO TBK EDITOR N.Z. TABLKT.

61*,— la your leader of tbe 27>h inst. on Federation, speakiDg of Freetrade and Protection, you remark that " Freetrade has all the reasons on its side, and that Protection makes liviug more expensive to a community at large, and only favours capitalists, enriching the few at tbe expense of the many." If Protection makes living more expensive, how is it that in Melbourne, the great c ntre d Protec ion in these colonies, tbe working man can feed and clothe himself aa cheaply as in any of the other colonies T And with regard to the assertion that it only favours the capitalist, what about the workmen whom it calle into existence, and who must be fed, clothed and lodged here instead of abroad \ Is this no benefit to our farmers and tradesmen (who must supply these workmen with all they require) as well as to tbe capitalist f Is our working population to consist wholly of farmers and a few miners who are dwindling in number daily I Are we to become another Ireland, with all the labouring population depenient on the land, and the best part of that in tbe bands of companies and capitalists f and would not tbe same consequences follow here as there 1

The fact is that too many people are settled on the land for oor requirements already, for, although I agree with your views as to tbe settlement of tbe people on the land, I hold that the establishment of manufactures is of quite equal importance, and that the two should go together. If Freetrade would allow of this being done then it would be folly to adopt Protection. But such is not the case! Practically it works in the diiection you accuse Proection of doing! It favours a few capitalists at the expense of the general welfare' For after all the true test of the prosperity of a country does not lie chiefly in its possessing great revenue, nor in the fact that the produce of its working classes can be bought very cheaply, but in the prosperity of those working classes themselves. Tkey cannot be prosperous without steady and remunerative employment, and the more sources of employment there are, tbe better chance of that. There are many other points to be considered, wqere the country gains, which can supply her own wants chiefly within herself, such as providing employment for the growing generation, being more independent in case of war, binding the different parts of tbe colony more together, and developing her resources and capabilities, and others which are worth considering in this connection, and are of more value than tbe theoretical beauties or specious logic of Freetrads. Let it be as it may, however, with regard to these side issues Federation is not yet within the sphere of practical politics, and if it were, I do not believe it would be for the interest of this country to be bound up in this way with the other colonies. She is distinct from them, not only by reason of distance, but in many other ways and she wonld be sacrificing many advantages and gaining nothing 4in return. It may suit the ambition of such men as Sir Harry Parkes to be at the bead of a great confederacy, but a true statesman would aim rather at making his people contented and prosperous, a haDDv rather than a great nation. Hoping that I have not trespassed too »ucb,-I am, eto,, CoLOKiax. December 80, 1889,