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tiie sydney chamber of
manufactures.
. DECLARATION IN FAVOR OF
PROTECTION.
By Special Wire.— From Our Corrks-
. poni1knt.1
SYDNEY, Thursday.
The Chairman,, in his address at the annual
meeting of the Chamber of Manufactures this
evening, said tliat the past year had been a
very dull one, as far as colonial industries were
concerned. In and nroiuid Sydney several
manufactories had had to be closed, whilo num
bers of workmen had had to leavo to find work
in tlio other colonies. There were only two
ways to remedy tlio evil, cither to increaso
the price of imported goods by an import duty
to a point tliat would enable tho colony to
increase production, or wages must be lowered
to enable colonial made goods to compete with
those imported. He was of opinion that
the former remedy would be a national
gain, which would cost the country nothing. In
inference to the fact of tlie Chamber refusing to
be represented at the Melbourne Exhibition, ho
said, no doubt there wero sohie mnnufuctures
in which they could have made a fair show, but
in tlie majority their exhibition in Melbourne
wpuld have subjected the colony to a worse com
parative position than at present. Nearly ail
the manufactured goods of superior quality in
certain industries, that were made in and around
Sydnoy a few years back, hove bceisiiperscded
by imported goods. At the prescnt'time only
cheap and common goods are made, nor could
superior be even produced for exhibition, ns the
best tradesmen have left the colony to find em
ployment in Melbourne.
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