264 WHEAT PRODUCTION IN NEW ZEALAND 



supplies to be less than the amount required for home 

 consumption, price could not rise much higher than 

 the English price; for the prospects of a high price 

 here would soon attract supplies from India or Canada.* 

 At present if we are threatened with wheat shortage, 

 the price must rise higher than the price in outside 

 markets by the amount of the duty, together with the 

 total cost of transport. The very evil which advocates 

 of the duty anticipate is accentuated by the imposition 

 of the duty. Again, were the duty not to ensure a 

 sufficient home supply in the event of a serious drought, 

 and assuming that a serious shortage existed in 

 Australia at the same time, the very fact which the 

 advocates of the duty fear, we should then be under 

 a more serious disadvantage in this respect than if we 

 had free trade. Even were the duty suspended for 

 the time, the evil would not be dispensed with, for the 

 difficulty of securing importation where there had been 

 none previously would cause some inconvenience. 



Protection is, therefore, on the whole not necessary 

 for the industry. Production would be carried on even 

 were it abolished. The system of mixed farming makes 

 this necessary. Then, again, Australian millers would 

 welcome supplies of ' * soft ' ' wheats like the New Zealand 

 varieties for blending purposes. It has also been shown 

 that production is profitable here at about 3s. 3d. per 

 bushel. Now, Australia would not export wheat to New 

 Zealand unless the price was an approximation to the 

 English price, the difference being the amount by which 

 cost of transport to New Zealand is less than that to 

 England. This, indeed, in the long run, would amount 

 to very little, for the shipping service between New 

 Zealand and Australia is relatively more costly and 



*During the first year of the War, when wheat prices rose 

 so much in New Zealand, they were rarely above the English 

 prices. 



