The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, MARCH 25.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 490, 25 March 1881, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, MARCH 25.

Mkmuekb of the Government have been moro than usually reticent duriuy the

recess which is now coming to n close. Various reasons have been nssi,:ii"(i for this conduct. It hns been impossible to avoid the suspicion that they were waiting to hear what leading men on the opposite side of the House had to say

before announcing their own policy

However, the Colonial Treasurer lu\s at length spoken, nml the reason for tlic

prolonged silence of himself mid his colleagues is at once apparent. Jn the words of Canning's knile-grindfr, the Government miyht exclaim to an expectant public— Story! God b\o<* you, I have none to tell, sir! As became the office he holds, Mnjor Atkinson dwelt at great length on the subject of taxation and fin-neo generally. On the former head he speaks as follows :— An initial step in the rectification of the finances was to eliminate the hind fund from the ordinary revenue, and this involved the withdrawal of the 2C per cent, from the counties. That was an unpopular Act, for which lie had been blamed in his district, but it was necessary, for the reason that like the Colony the counties had been treating their land fund as ordinary revenue to maintain made roads, instead of applying it to opening, up the land. Still there was ii lurge deficiency, and it was decided to impose fresh Customs' duties and a Beer tax a.id Property tax. In defence of these necessaries he would call attention to the first principles of taxation, and it was the more important he should do so because this question of taxation must have great attention in the immediate future. As the taxation of the country must be moderately heavy, tho points to' be considered in taxing were that every subject should contribute towards the support of Uoverment in proportion to his means ; secondly, that every tax-payer should pay his quota in the best way and at the most convenient time to himself ; thirdly, that every tax should be certain and unarbitrary, and th t each man should know how much he had to pay ; and fourthly, tnat taxation should take as little as posible out of the pockets of the people. Practically, these rules were impossible of attainment by any tax which could be devised. The Income tax certainly would not secure these ends, and then came the question which tax went nearest to the result. TYixes must be levied to catch different classes in different ways, and he claimed that

the Property tax possessed the merit that it caught classes which could not be otherwise reached, while that class which received the benefit of exemption was amply taxed by the Customs. Speaking of the Customs, he was sorry to say that the only effect of the increase of duties had been that the total y:eld was no more than it had been two years and a hal f before. That showed that much more economy was observed in the Colony, and some might agree that it indicated decreased spending power, but from examination of statistics he was convinced that the spending power of the people of .New Zealand was higher than that of the people in any other part of the world. Then there was the Beer tax. There were various objections to that impost, but the only question which with him was the inadvisability of commencing excise duties. However, an increased basis of taxation was absolute necessary, and the tax was unavoidable. With the principles of taxation as laid down by the Treasurer it is needless to say that we entirely agree. In fact, with a very slight exception, they may be considered axiomatic, their truth Living been demonstrated by all writers of eminence who have handled the subject. Nevertheless they hve been practically ignored by ?uccepsive Administrations in New Zealand, notably by the "continuous" Ministry of which the -honorable gentleman was a loading m?fc»]}er. We say those principles wers successfully ignored till the advent into political life\f Sir George Grey.

However, whatever be the cause of the Major's conversion, we are glad to welcome it, and to believ.e that he has abandoned the errors of his to.'mer political lile. On the whole we congratulate the Treasurer on his exposition of the finances. We are not at one with him as to the fact of the large deficit to which he alludes, but we fully agree that two tilings were necessary in the altered circumstances of the Colony—viz., re. duction in expenditure a.nd increased taxation. The increased taxation has been trade mainly on the lines laid down by the predecessors of the present Government, and we can therefore only congratulate them on docility and willingness to learn. With regard to the reductions, which the Treasurer estimates at £252,000, time alone will show whether they are of a permanent and satisfactory nature. If they prove to be so, we shall be the first to congratulate the Government, which will have succeeded in performing an onerous and disagreeable duty.

We gather from M;vjor Atkinson's speech that the cause of Mr Bryce's retirement was the one generally understood to be the case. He says :-—" Air Brjce was disposed to take moro vigorous measures than the Cabinet approved at that time. The statement which had appeared in the papers gave substantially the reasons for Mr Bryce's retirement, and there was nothing behind, so far as he knew. He left simply because he advocated that more vigorous

action should be taken." Here, again, we must congratulate tin 1 Cabinet on the stand they- appear to have taken, which has prevented, probably, the outbreak of hostilities, an event of which it might hi difficult to foresee the end or caluutate the disadvantages.

Again, we must congratulate the Treasurer on the tar more hopeful view, he is disposed to take of the prospects of the colony generally, than that which he enunciated when he first assumed the reins of office. As it is impossible to believe that purposely blackened those prospects for the purpose ot damaging political opponents, we can only a.am congratulate him on having been convinced of the error of his ways, and having the manliness to own it. On this head the lion, gentleman says :

—"It was quite fallacious to say there are so many people in the Colony, there is such a debt, they are taxed to such an extent, and then to institute a comparison on the same basis with other couutries. The true method was to

ascertain the annual income, and see how it compared with the annual out-

go."

The charming candor with which the Major stigmatises as "quite fallacious," the very line of arguemeut with which he and his friends were wont to tupport lugubrious vaticinations is one of those things which are never-to-be-sufficiently-admired, Having frankly recanted his former errors, and partically admitted how muuh he has learned from his political opponents, the treasurer goes on to sketch out a programme for the coming session as lollows :—" With regard to the coming session, he should like to see the House look carefully into the finances, so that the retrenchment which the Government claimed credit for might be found real, and the finance secured on a firm basis. That would be a great work, and if, in addition, the House passed the necessary iiepresontatiou Act Bill, Charitable Aid snd Hospital Bill and a Licensing Bill, he should thiaic llie session by no means barren." Now with regard to the first of the measures indicated, its principle has been affairmed more than once by the present House of representatives. The other two belong to the domain oi social rather than political legislation. They are rightly to be undertaken by a Government, but no party question

beiiiLf involved, a Government can also rightly accept suggestions from all sides of the House as to their details. The yearning alter political rest, which has been a characteristic of the party to which the Major belongs is plainly indicated by his remarks. On the whole the first Ministerial manifesto is both encouraging and disappointing. Encouraging, in that it shows how much the present Government has profited by the lessons it has received from its political opponents. Discouraging, in that it betrays v timi-

dity amounting almost to cowardice in the promulgation of any original ideas or policy, and seems to indicate a willingness to follow any lead rather than take tlie position which ought to appertain to a Government—viz., that of originators of a policy and leaders of

thought,