LXXXI

h.—is;

Printing and bookbinding, coachbuilding, and sash and door factories are only partially affected, the others very slightly by protected tariffs. A total of 3,000 would be a liberal estimate, which added to the total numbers on the previous estimate gives 24,277 as the approximate number of workers engaged in Stateprotected industries, less than 2j per cent, of the total population of the Dominion, which with dependants would te equal to 5 per cent. From the latest statistics classifying the occupations of the people in the Dominion, the following extracts are made of the numbers engaged in occupations which are not protected by the Customs tariff, viz. :— Table No. 57. Professional—Government, defence, law, religion, health, science, literature, civil and mechanical engineering, education, artists, musicians, social .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 32,716 Domestic—including gardeners, coachmen, hairdressers .. .. 44,267 Commercial —banking, brokery, insurance, commerce, &c. .. .. 65,764 Transport and Commerce—Railway, tramway, coastal, marine service, postal, telegraph .. .. .. .. .. .. 36,433 Industrial—Persons engaged in connection with all manufactures in the Dominion .. .. .. .. .. 133,555 Less those engaged in protected industries .. .. 24,277 109,278 Agricultural—Agriculture, fisheries, water-supply, mines, quarries .. 130,580 Indefinite —Pensioners, annuitant, independent means.. .. .. 10,803 Dependants .. .. .. .. .. .. 554,002 Less dependants on those engaged in protected industries (say) 26,000 528,002 Occupation not stated .. .. .. .. .. .. 348 958,191 7. Our great primal industries—viz., wool, frozen meat, gold-mining, coal-mining, flax, kauri-gum, butter, cheese, &c—-directly and indirectly provide employment for the bulk of our population, and are the real sources of our prosperity. The value of the products of these industries is determined by the London market, and our producers have to compete with the cheap labour of India, Russia, France, and the Argentine. Highly protected local industries means that the farmer, goldminer, coal-miner, flax-miller, gum-digger, and all people employed outside protected industries, including the operators in such industries, must pay more for their living. It also means that the British public, who alone provide uo with a free and open market for our exportable products, are treated as aliens and prevented from sending their products into the Dominion on the same terms as they admit ours. If the British Government adopted the same attitude to New Zealand and put a duty on New Zealand meat, grain, butter, cheese, and wool, in order to protect the British farmer, the position would be parallel to our attitude in placing high duties on their manufactures. The plea that by protecting local industries the money is kept in the country is a fallacy, as the quantity of locally manufactured raw material would otherwise be shipped abroad and return the same value. The only real justification is in providing employment for the people ; but it has already been shown that only 5 per cent, of the population are affected. Labour-saving machinery is continually supplanting skilled labour in all industries, and the average wages earned in protected industries prove that other and more profitable channels for employment are open. The best method of helping all industrial pursuits is by actively developing close settlement on the land, which means increased production and increased scope for industrial enterprise.

The burden of protection

xi—H. 18.