In opposing this resolution, I will deal at the same time with amendments which I have down to Resolutions Nos. 7 and 8. I do not intend to debate the other amendments which I have down, because the principle involved is the same in regard to the three. Neither do I intend to go fully into the question of protection versus no protection or free trade. That subject has been fully discussed, and I do not intend to go anything like fully into it. But my Party fear it would not be right to let this resolution pass without stating our attitude in regard to it, and in regard to the other protective tariffs imposed under the Budget. We take exception to this resolution because we object to the imposition of tariffs. We do not believe that the time is ripe for the imposition of protective duties in this country. We are convinced that the effect of tariffs on certain articles will be that gradually the Government will find themselves forced to extend the system of protection and that we will not have protection on a limited number of articles but will have practically a general tariff in the course of time. I believe that in the interests of the predominant industry of agriculture it is not wise to embark on a system of tariffs at present.
It is acknowledged by the Government and by the industries that are being protected that the effect of the tariffs will be to increase the cost of the articles upon which they are placed. The inevitable result of such an increase will be to increase the cost of living. The increase in the cost of living will eventually come down to the industries engaged in the production of articles for export, and those engaged in these industries will find that the cost of living and production has increased, while at the same time they cannot derive any benefit from the tariffs.
It is acknowledged that agrigulture cannot be protected—at least the amount of protection which it might get will be so small as not to be worth considering. But the result of the imposition of these tariffs will be that the cost of production in the agricultural industry will be increased. We maintain that the cost of production is already too high and that those engaged in the industry are finding it almost impossible to make both ends meet.
In regard to this particular protective duty which is involved in this resolution, it is perhaps rather unfortunate that these particular articles have been chosen, because the collection of the duty upon them is going to involve a considerable amount of inconvenience and expense to the State in regard to the staffing of the Customs, as well as a considerable amount of inconvenience and annoyance to ordinary people. To a certain extent the disadvantage of the imposition of this tariff has been cloaked, I might say, by the remission of the duties on tea and sugar. It would be well that Deputies and people outside should keep the two things separate, because there is no real connection between them. There is no reason why the duties on tea and sugar could not have been reduced to a considerable extent, if not to the extent to which they have been reduced, without tariffs being imposed. There is one advantage at least in regard to the collection of taxes from tea and sugar: they are easily collected, the people are accustomed to paying them, and they hardly recognise the fact that they are paying them. Therefore, they involve very little expense and very little trouble to the Customs authorities.
In regard to the duties placed on different articles of wearing apparel, it is apparent from the discussions here that they are very involved and intricate, and are going to cause great trouble and annoyance, so that even with the greatest possible desire on the part of the Customs authorities to facilitate travellers coming to the country, they will, to a certain extent, interfere with and annoy such people.
Certain estimates have been made by the Minister for Finance in regard to the revenue to be produced from those tariffs, and it is liable to be assumed that the estimated revenue of £520,000 is to be the cost to the people of the country. That is not so. In my opinion the cost to the people of the country, in revenue and the extra price which they will have to pay for the articles produced in this country, will come very near to £800,000. If we take the imports of textiles as given in the trade and shipping statistics issued by the Department of Industry and Commerce we find that, excluding boots and shoes, the total value of the imports for the past year is something like £5,245,000. My contention is, that on account of the duty which has to be paid on the textiles coming in and the extra price which will have to be paid for the textiles produced in this country, the cost of the tariffs to the people of the country will not be much less than £800,000. That is taking it for granted that the price of articles of wearing apparel produced in this country will increase.
I think the experience of all countries that have protective tariffs is that the price of protected articles do increase. The probability, in my opinion, is that the price will increase very closely to the actual amount of the protective tariff. That is, that the cost of the articles produced in Ireland will be the same as the cost of the articles produced elsewhere, plus very close on 15 per cent.
We have been told that prices have not increased to any appreciable extent in boots. I say that the experience in regard to boots has been too short and that we have not had an adequate opportunity of forming judgment on that question. It is almost impossible, I maintain, to find out what has been the exact increase to the consumer. I do not know where the Department of Industry and Commerce got its figures, but the information I got casually from retailers of boots and shoes is that the cost of home-made and foreign boots has increased up to the amount of the tariff. They told me in fact that in many cases the price of the protected article has increased beyond the 15 per cent. duty. That means that the Irish retailer who imports boots increases the price he pays to the manufacturer by the 15 per cent. duty as his purchasing price, and he adds to that his profit, so that the actual price charged the ordinary consumer is more than a 15 per cent. increase.
Another matter in connection with these duties is that at present they must remain, to a great extent, revenue-producing duties. The State has to depend on these duties for revenue, and if it does not get revenue from them it will have to get it otherwise. As a result, as these duties cease to become revenue-producing and become more protective duties, revenue will decrease and will have to be got from another source. The Minister thinks that the productive capacity of the country will increase to such an extent that the revenue produced from ordinary sources will increase and that it will not be necessary to go in for other sources of revenue, or fall back on the taxes that were formerly in force. That may or may not be the case. If it is not the case, and if it is found that the ordinary receipts from taxation do not increase, despite the protective duties in force, the Minister will have to go back again to tea and sugar or some other articles to make his revenue and meet expenditure.
I maintain that it is inadvisable to embark on the imposition of tariffs, and that it would be well if we devoted our attention, until the country has got into a stronger position, towards improving our agricultural industry. We should try to produce more revenue from agriculture by getting that industry into such a position that it will give more employment. When we have succeeded in doing that, the question of tariffs might be brought forward, and we might be prepared to consider them seriously.