PUBLIC MEETING.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 405, 22 June 1880, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETING.

A public meetingtwaa held at the County Council Chambers, Duvauchelle's Bay, on Saturday last, to consider the new property tax. It had been convened by the Chairman of the€ounty Council in accordance with a petition,signed by Messrs Piper,,, Williams, ShaclbqU;,., Coop, and ■others:'." . ■','"'•' "

The Chairman opened the meeting by reading the notice which . appeared in the Mail and likewise the petition he had received.

Mr Williams then addressed the meeting. He" said he thought; the tax was generally unacceptable throughout the Colony inasmuch as it failed to reach the very men who.were the best .'able to afford to pay : a tax. , He "referred especially to professional men and men receiving a regular income, and shewed--that those who had property or effects w.ere made tb'bear all

IxMie brunt of the tax. : He considered it , ni'ost arbitrary;and oppressive in the power j v *-. to officers collecting;the.tax, throw'jij. -r the onus on those who:' had to pay it jtb u'oye that they were fairly and projperly' irated. He read several clauses of the A\ a " of-which he contended evinced art, -μ-b i-trary and oppressive spirit. In clausp 3. V,' ne said the conditions were exceedingly ' toard, as plenty of people never saw a ,ne\\, a P er i rom one year's, end to another, at' l * 1 tno Assessor might put an exceedingly. h savy value on the property and no robin appeal was left. Again, he deemed it vfc'wrpg that so much power Bhoul,d be yeste*" l '-Jn-.the Justices' hands. He thought it w'ouW have taen hotter to have made it a ,Sirpre,me Court matter rather, .than to leave th/em at the mercy of ,men .who. scarcely < knew, what justice Wartt; He thought it would be , unnecessary for him to say mo.re «n the subject.

Mr Shad bolt said , he- l'uHy concurred wijfch, Mr Williams' remark*.; considered the! Act rriost'arbitrary He ■thCrUL'Ht"there was enough but he •noticed'; the : Colonial ■ Treasi tier promised , ■still taxation, and:hfl< thought it was time something was done. Their lands had" been taken from them, and they had been promised subsidies in lieu, aird now the'subsidies had been withdrawn..

-Mr Coop said he considered it onJy right that' the public-debt should be jJaid i'or the credit sake . of the , Colony. The onJy question iwas'who was to pay it, and how it was fo be paid. He considered the Joan had been contracted aria the" -money spent by a-people with -wMJin they had no connection,' and that they bad derived no benefit from it.. Hβ considered the Peninsula suffered, more than any other part of the Colony. (Hear, hear.) He said he had other matters, which he would like to bring before the public, but .he had been informed that he could riot do so at the present time, as the meeting had been convened only for the purpose of taking injfcb consideration the new property tax.. He said;that' he , believed every other man who called at one's door' now. was a tax collector of some kind. • He had occasion a day or two back to enter the hotel in his neighbourhood, and he had found there an Inspector of Machinery, a. Property Tax Gatherer, an Inspector.of Maori Schools, and a bevy of Surveyors. There was only one hard working msm besides himself'in the crowd. The Peninsula was. over-run with J.'rP. Inspectors, Police Officers, and Government Officials of one kind and another, and to keep these Gentlemen going enormous taxes had to be levied. He. considered tho Peninsula had nover had fair play ;-.with- the exception of the late 11. Buchanan, Esq., who in his own quiet way, both as member of the Road Board and member of the Provincial

Council, had always honestly served their interests, they had ' never been either fairly or honestly represented in Parliament. So far as the tax was concerned he was willing ,, to pay as many taxes as the government might think fit to impose provided they placed the Peninsula on an equal footing with other parts of. the Colony. (Hear, hear.) He would move the resolution—" That the meeting is of opinion that the property tax is unfair in principle and unsuitable to the present condition of the Colony, and considered that a Land Tax and an Income Tax would be more equitable and create a - larger revenue, and need not be so inquisitorial; and 'further, it is of opinion that greater facilities should be given to the Assessment Rolls in having claims heard and adjudged, and" that the exemption be below £300." He considered that a man with an income of £300 a year was as well able to pay taxes as any man in the Colony.

Mr Shadbolt seconded the resolution

Mr Dawber asked whether a storekeeper's stock-in-trade would be rated under the new Act. He thought if it was it would be very unfair, and likewise exceedingly difficult to- fill' in the papers. He was informed that stock-in-trade vras included* • * '•'.■'

Mr Copp said another unfair thing was that having no other means of conveyance he was obliged to keep teams of his own to do the work which in other places was done by railways, and he was actually taxed for these teams. •■■■'•

Mr Boothroyd said he found machinery would be taxed, and he did not approve of such a plan, as he thought it sure to retardj progress and improvements. • .

The resolution was put to the meeting and carried, Mr E. Lelievre alone dissenting.

Mr Williams asked that gentleman if he would express his opinions on the subject to tlyJse present, and give his reasons for not acquiescing in the general feeling. Mr Lelievre replied that he inupt be excused, as he was no hand at public speaking. All he could say was that he approved of the new property tax. Mr Williams then moved—" That a copy of the foregoing resolution, passed by this meeting* be forwarded to William Montgomery, Esq., M.H.R., respectfully requesting him.to act with-'members of other districts in procuring a more equitable system of taxation." Carried.

Mr Coop seconded the motion which was carried unanimously. At the conclusion of the meeting Mr Williams said that he, like Mr Coop, had another matter which he should like to see discussed at a public meeting. He referred to the • Akaroa railway. He considered the Government had acted most unfairly in the matter. Their 20,000 acres of. land had been sold and the money for it realised, but seeing that the Government had not accepted any tenders for the continuation of the work it looked very much as if they were using , the monies to help themselves out of their present pecuniary ernbarrasment instead of fulfilling the promise made by the Minister of Public Works to the deputation who waited upon the Commissioners of Railways. He would move—" That the Chairman be requested to call a public meeting for Saturday next, ■the 25th inst., to be held at the Council Chambers, after the County Council meeting was ended, to consider the question of the Akaroa railway."

Mr Coop seconded the motion which was carried. The meeting then adjourned.