TAXATION IN NEW ZEALAND.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1515, 24 March 1887, Page 2

TAXATION IN NEW ZEALAND.

("N.Z. Times," Maroh 21 )

It is the fashion at Home to talk about the heavy and rapidly increasing taxation of New Zealand. Muoh capital is made of this alleged increase by those who with to deter emigrants from making New Z aland their destination. And yet the statement is only true m one sense, and that not the one most important. Ihst the aggregate amount of taxation has increase i is undeniable. Tb.9 revenue raised by taxation amounted to £1.881,024 m 1881, apd to £l 999 000 m 1882, and to £2,080.084 m 1833, bat decreased to £1,869,496 m 1884. There was therefore an increase for the first three of those years. But this is not basis on which a fair comparison would be made. The trae question is : What is the amount per head of population 1 Here we can glean some interesting and instructive information from the official sta'lstics. It appears that although there was a substantial lnorease m the aggregate amount obtained by taxation, the yield per head remained Almost stationary. It w*b £3 13s 3d m 1881, £3 18s 6d m 1882, and £3 18a 7d m 1883, while m 1884 it fell to £3 7a Bd. In 1885 there was a email increase to £3 14s 2d, but c'en this is muoh below the results of 1882 and 1883. Clearly, then, it is inaccurate to assert, as some of oar English critics do, that the taxillon of New Zealand par bead of populati n is increasing with gisDt strides. On the contrary, It was Jess m 1885 than m 1881, owing to the steady increase cf the population, which enables the harden to be more equitably shared and more CSBlly borne. 'Ihe larger uur population the leva onerous will be our burdens. We should be glad to hear that eoraa «reUcomidered aoheme of immigration of the right kind formed a prominent feature m the Ministerial programme.