THE PROPERTY TAX.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 406, 25 June 1880, Page 3

THE PROPERTY TAX.

To the Editor of the Akaroa Mail. Slß.—After having carefully read ihrough your report of the meeting at the Head of the Bay, re the above tax, I have come to the conclusion that those gentlemen who have been spouting there have been wasting good time, and I should advise them to throw their resolution in the waste-paper basket, and not trouble our member about it. I consider that with the alteration proposed it is the fairest mode of taxation we can have, and it is admitted by all that we must have taxation of some kind to put the colony on its legs again after the way Sir George Grey has mismanaged it. lam sorry to see.so many of our public men and our member stick to him as they do when the follies of his administration are daily being spread out to our view. The first speaker at the, meeting remarks that the tax is unacceptable, as it failed to reach the, very men who. were best able to pay it. That statement I deny. It is not to ,be. supposed for an instant that professional men,.or men of means without any profes-. sion, escape the tax. We will suppose a professional man living in town ; he. owns a few acres of land, which will be valued at three or ..four hundred pounds per acre, and liis house at a thousand pounds ; if he has a carriage, and horses, and a good balance,: in. the Bank, or money let out at interest, he will have to pay on all that, deducting the £500. We will say .nothing., abqut his furniture, as that will most likely' be .exempted; but if that item had been rated accordingly, it would have told very; seriously on the aristocracy of the country, who most people think would escape; they tax altogether. .It is not generally known;. ih'ty £10,000 would n6t furnish some of>; the houses' in and around Christchurcb. 1 he. .next speaker also considers the Act very-.oppressive and hard to bear. Wo, will suppose A. is the owner of lOOO.acres,. which will bo valued at about £6. per acre. Under the Land Tax he would have to pay. 6000 pence (aa the tax-Was to be rose to a. penny in the pound) ; that would be £25. Now, under the Property Tax, we will suppose he is mortgaged for about £3000 •; that is charged to the mortgagee. The question is, will his sheep, cattle, and other, properties, amount to as much,as will make, him still payj£2s? You see in this case ttje money-lender has to pay his share, whilst under the Land Tax he gets off. Mr Coop considers: that a Land Tax and an Income Tax would, be more equitable. You're wrong, William. Why should a man who has invested his'money in land, and perhaps mafcea his £500 or £1000 per annum out qf his crops or wool, or whatever it riiay be, pay a tax, when a merchant who hie invested hie thousandain' drjr goods would pay nothing on his stock? I certainly think a man having-an income of £300 should .pay his isbttradf taxation ; b'ulj jhflt is very different friom.i iiian T wha is ; o%,worth £3QQ.;v Mr Wvtbfvitantf! tq; is ; to; 6e taxed. Of conrjise::it!wiHit'«rtd.why not? Jf you keep a stock;of.£3oo|,(h4VXyill;.cpst ! you ,£1 5a per..annum ■; vbnt thfen you deduct your debts, which , wilt "bring it dpwn to a mere nothing ; so you need not' sing out before you-are hurt.i I really think that a great many of those who are 'making such a fuss over'the Property Tax are afraid that their affairs will, get exposed —that it may leak-cut how much they are mortgaged for,.and how inuch-they are indebted to others, and perhaps bring it out after all that they cannot show £#00 to the good. Mr Lelieyre believes in the Property Tax; but ,as he could not ftn'd■words , to express, himself at the time, ho gives us his' ideas in print. I was not nwaro until I had seen it in his letter that it was the quantity of brain a man possessed that made him clever. I have s«eii ;«Ist?ui© • galoots that could not get a Jj&t -Jarge enough to fit them, and,l have.yftleo known some of our cleverest statesmen, who possessed the smallest of heads, and I.suppose a small brain in proportion.- There was one point in the way of taxation that was not.mentioned, which I think, should have been, namely, enforcing school rates. I think that parents .of children could very well afford to pay.sixpence or njnepence a head: per week, .which would help to pay most, of the salaries paid to the masters by the., Government. ,_,,. ,-, Youre, &c.,

. To ..the Editor of the Akaroa Mail. principle,o£ the Property Tax isjnow boiiig very widely diacussexLbyiaU sections 'yf''the ; and,' Beehia generally.{o'te condemned —r witty <&&tyi as nq thinking pei'eQti <boiild arrive at any other conclusion, at all acquainted with the mauy. oppressive clauses. The only wonder,is that a.stronger opposition to it was not. earlier* shown. However unpalatable..we must ipetiept the fact that now the land . fund ia..nearly exhausted ttie country will have •to look. to other means to pay the public ; creditor from whom the f nil lions have ; been borrowed under the Public Works system. It matters not whether we .have had' a fair share of the "uioney expended, we shall certainly be called upon, to pay our quota, which, under the, present system of assessment, will be far larger than- many more favored districts which have bad considerable sums expended: upon them in railways and other public works.

The resolution adopted at the meeting held id the Council Chambers, to consider the Property Tax question, seems to be in unison with many that have been , accepted iv other places, and it.appears to bo the universal feeling that, these who can afford should be made to bear,a ; fair-share of the burden. To do justice, it only remains to determine who are able, or, in other words, what the exemptions should be. The first proposal of tlie '.Q-overrnqpiit was to exclude from paying all who did not own £300 worth of property, which was certainly a-liberal exemption asno- ,- body owning that amount of real" jjrope'rtjr call be looked upon as poor ; they pro raia have equal privileges so faj as protection, and good government are concerned with their'more highly taxed neighbors,.

In altering the incidence of taxation, there h no doubt a great* difficulty; experienced by those- in- power: 'to determine what changes would be most acceptable to the country. That difficulty is lioflesseiied by the anxiety of members representing

different. -'.epnstituehciea to make the burden fall as lightly as possible on*thcJße.: they represent* .That, coupled with the very,, hasty nianrfe;r in which, tfve s-eveml measures'' were hurried tfirrfits.i close of last i'e°sk>ii,"o.an srun-ely be cmsidered an-^exfrW'/fnt , n Rill like tinProperty Tax, liiivijig refti veil tie sanction of the Hotfse"" of Assembly. A'ii y form of taxation to be equitable "<nt »•« fair nn<l impartial, and bear as lightly upon those paying it as the exigencies of the Stnt" will'permit, and OV-ie will bo n<> pn,u\

reason why men ; \vho itse their brains, wMi" little or >jio money invested, 'should'-'be placed in a better position than those who have to work brain, bbdy, and capital; benidps, it is mainly through propefryholdors 6ur professional m«n pet their incomes, and it seems .manifestly unfair that aninvestor of say £10.000, who has aIRO to work his brain, and gets a return of £1000 per annum, should be placed in a worse position than a man who.has the same protection afforded him by the State, but without much capital can draw from the community an equal amount yearly.. The only way such can be made to contribute their share is , through an Income Tax ; that and a LancT'TaX'iropartially ..'administered, with' 'a ijre'iifptibn,. and the same amounf levied Jin present considerable reyfefiue^frhii^" VftJulfl long way to meet' birf' l fhjmedia ; te, require-,, rnents.; But under tfte'; present Bysteiri'c-J', partial taxation 'the' revenue can;never be. .large, and the Government will be continually forced to; levy' [ fresh imposts to meet its liabilities , , anil if done, as heretofore, solely upon'the energy of men who have done much to' advance the Colony through fheir hard wofl^'arid.perseverance,., .will tend 'greatly that progress which has been so' c\>iispicuous in the pa,s,t. ■• •' ■■■• :,:':::;*} \ >■;