A PERFORM LEAGUE MANIFESTO.
The " New Zealand Radical Reform League," which has its headquarters at Auckland has forwarded to us a copy of a v Manifesto " issued under its auspices m favor of an entire change m our aystcm of taxation. Herein, the League sets out the following as the leading principles of a fair system of taxation, viz. that.
Ist. It must be laid m just proportion upon all classes .
2nd. It must be certain and not arbitary. r f he time, manner, and amount of payment should be clear and plain to all.
3rd. The time of payment should be Buited to the convenience of the payer. And it proceeds to show that taxation through the Customs is not proportioned to the ability to pay, but is arbitary to the last degree, while " it conceals from the taxpayer the aggregate amount he individually contributes," and is further characterised by the League as mean and cunning device for abstracting from the thousands of little hoards of the poor, huge aggregate sums that ought to be drawn from the treasuries of the rich." It is contended that if the Customs taxation fell m equal and just proportion upon all classes, " the rich man would pay according to his wealth more duty on a single article of goods than does a poor man, whereas every every man, lich and poor, pays the same. For instance, if it were possible to levy Customs duties m just proportions, a man m receipt of £30 a-week should pay ten times greater duty on a single article than the man earning £3 a-week. That is, if the man m receipt of £3 aweek paid one shilling duty on a pound of tea, the man m receipt of £30 a week should pay 10s a pound duty. This vronid be paying m fair and just proportion." As such a differentiation ot taxation is not possible under any conceiveable tariff, the League proposes an entirely new departure by removing the Customs duties on the necessaries of life and by repealing the Property-tax which is characterised as " iniquitous," substituting m lieu of these modes of raising revenue a direct tax upon land The League argues that land is a proper subject of taxation for the following reasons, viz.
Ist. Because it is the primary ([source of all wealth.
2nd. Because man cannot exist without land ; therefore those who monopolise without using it, should be made to pay for keeping those from it who would use and live by it.
3rd. Because those who do use and live by it are quite able to pay a reasonable tax upon the actual value of the loud m their occupation.
The tax proposed by the League is upon land values only, all improvements effected by outlay oi capital to be exempted, it being argued that it is only by such a tax that the " unearned increment " can be reached, and those who have benefited by our enormous public works expenditure made to contribute their fair quota to the revenue m return for the benefits they have received. Before proceeding to show how such a tax would work out the League refers to the present distribution of land m the colony as follows : —
"In a young and sparsely-settled country, such as New Zealand, the most natural industry for the bulk of the population to be engaged m is agriculture but owing to various causes, the chief oi which being our selfish and illiberal Land Laws, all the best and most available land has been monopolised by a few private individuals, and laud settlement is impeded.
t( lt is frequently stated that mno country is the land bo equally distributed as m New Zealand. To show the extreme incorrectness of this statement it is only necessary to refer to recent Parliamentary returns. The landowners will here be found to be divided into classes, and the largest number of holders m any one class will be found occupying from one to ten acres. The total number of holders m this class is 9172.
" Next to them come the holders of from ten to fifty acres ; these number 7507, or a grand total of 16,679 families who are occupying homesteads of from one to fifty acres. These 16,679 families occupy an area of something less than 300,000 acres.
" As against this it will be seen that there are 1924 families who possess amongst them an area of no less than twelve millions six hundred and thirty thousaud one hundred and twenty-five acres, m estates of from one thousand to two hundred thousand acres each.
" Jt will be seen on examination also that four out of these 1924 landowners occupy amongst them over 600,000 acres, or just twice as much land as is held by the 16,G79 families who are struggling along on little plots of from One to fifty acres."
The " League " goes on to say that it is calculated that a Land-Tax of £1 per cent, would produce an annual revenue of nearly a million and a half, and that its substitution for the present Property-Tax, and (m part) for the Customs duties, would result m considerably lightening the burden of taxation m the case of the working classes. Thus a working man, with wife and family, having landed property valued at £100, would, as against the £1 direct Land-Tax he would be called upon to pay, be relieved (according to the " League's " estimate) of from £14 to £19 a year, the amount now paid through the Customs, while also the email farmer would be similarly benefited. The case of the latter is put thus : — " The small farmer whose land with improvements is now valued and t^ xe d under the Property-tax at £1-500 but whose land without improvements is only worth £500, would pay unser the proposed tax £5. Un(Jjsr the present Property-tax, for the same, property, he is liable for £6 os, He would, therefore, not only be a gainer of £1 ss, but his contributions through the Customs would be so. materially lessened that he would be a, considerable gainer financially." There is a great deal of truth m what the "League" advances, and there ia no question of greater importance than that of securing a just incidence of taxation. We have always Btrongly supported a Land and Income-Tax m preference to a Property-Tax, but the repeal of the Cutstoms duties is desirable only m the case of those articles which we have necessarily to import and which we are unable to produco or to manufacture for ourgelyeg.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AG18880315.2.28
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1790, 15 March 1888, Page 4
Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,097A PERFORM LEAGUE MANIFESTO. Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1790, 15 March 1888, Page 4
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.