THE PRIME MINISTER.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17470, 2 June 1922, Page 7

THE PRIME MINISTER.

ISI ,j nffERCARGILL. mmtrnmrdtl^' 1 SWjjp the cost of Government, opposition. That was increased, but DeiHTC*» sffflien during the oiheers had to go. tickled anything so unJHK ifaeb had been done, but ! flH£gtesate!y, remained to be here was, as nearly that in Great Britain. ■EJEwmpanson with the AusgKr&L ibowing that the income was substantially HSlthm in New Zealand. The IHwit « a « J ' vas a very satis " Wm£iim*ti~n a "d showed the WixS "J the British financier in fflfSto. He thought the cor■ttiwo turned. Money would SKftfir »&Tl, and in his opinion flCr ja broad acres would, before Hfett ti» favourite security in ■Eowfo the rebates on the HaTvcoroe tax, Mr Massey said ■fcaperuneot bad been a great Hkml the money came in as well Hay tine before the slump. He jHwttT what would be done next MmH they could reduce taxation KfMewt of the rebate he would ■Ed to do it. It was possible Bfe lebate system would be conHi. Be hoped that the Taxation Ktee now siting woaldbe able Hm MM sugftestions. ■ * Meat and WooL Bteat the last fire or «tx months ■» W Aaen » great toprovement Hh» fpdal ana wmteerciaj posi- ■>. pauSf due to tk Meat Pool, mp briftktffydom *phndid work. JJL *" n occasion shipments had B f/* | en nearly gone, and HBfegfo* wtmld depend on orHo predicted that would open with wool tha n now - &e present |H|phe Government finance was going to be the HHKptacaiifce the improvement HBBif would not have time to Accumulated surpluses from previous years and were availexpect a two milincome tax; At it plainly that there of £330,000 on the HBfiii>l Preference. criticism of the HHHK Mr Massey showed i& Now Zealand, the lowest in the »* would soon be tariff revision, tiioy industries, to note at the at Dunedin wme which KSSBHRb at the- expense of K9K. He was glad to V-wHaH** ** Home, the iuIV- nHP S»v-« preference Hr jHHßf**' WQ ' ca n * hoped ■ fliSHf are ong " lto ,aoro He aid HfiHHfi*™ within the Empire relations in trado, year's deficit, Mr the fact that they of coal in stock importations He hoped necessary to the money on coal, given taxation reHHBHffifk** 0 na *l a surplus, HHsSQ*** the right thing *» relief of taxasession was int*x exemption of HHgP$H> to £6OOO, which HHK|I the Land. costing a very Minister conadmit that the ■nKtur;. The settlers in which many come grief. HHk. majouty' would HBH^S?S. ,in d come through. }P connexion with |HgP*weTeii those who would be they would-be ■■KKgra many thousands ,* producing of what had mßmStZut* Co ' !r,tt '.T hnd

J5L* "8,759,606 Soldiers' Settlement Act £ the sr tl'r 'the™ 'w"t r "*> B «P»'««S Act [»i/pS^2 ,^,, sifi l srtErysj had ]>ecn repaid £9ll,llo,'making total repayments £2,388,261. The land held tor settlement and ready for selection totals 430,000 acres. Permanent Charges. lo™ M , inis . ter quoted the fol--8 / f lrn showing the expenditure under permanent charges for the year ended March 31st, 1922, compared with the corresponding period of 1914:

Economies Effected. Dealing with pensions and other humanitarian expenditure of the Government, Mr Massey quoted a speech-by Mr C. E. Stntham, M.P., in which he eulogised the Government as "the friend of the widow or the fatherless." Turning to the economies effected by tho Government, the Prime Minister read a return showing that the saving effected under the Consolidated Fund was £4,592,336, that in other Departments and services £1,054,499, a total of £5,616,835. Increased charges had been, however, £610,665 in scale increases, and in classified salaries £226,443. The Coming Election. In the course of a brief reference to the coming elections, Mr Massey said that Mr H. E. Holland. M.P., had said he would help Mr Wilford to win the present Government out on condition that the Liberals did what Labour dictated when they occupied the Treasury benches. Otherwise they would help to win the Liberals out. That statement had been made in a manly way and straightforwardly by Mr Holland in a speech to his constituents. He (Mr Massey) would not hold office for two minutes longer than he could help if he were dependent upon the support of the extremists. He wished to impress upon the people of the country the importance of having a stable- Government until they got through the preßent crisis. There were only about two on the Treasury benches now who were with him when they started, but the members of the present Government were of the same characteristics as the first. Their aim throughout had been the same, and he pointed to their record of'administration, which he contended entitled the Government to another term of office. The Prime Minister was accorded a vote of thanks.

TAXATION. (special to "the fbess.") INVEROARGILL, June 1. In the course of his speech to-night, the Prime Minister quoted some interesting figures relating to the rate 3 of taxation in New Zealand and Australia. The Australian taxpayer was liable for State and Federal taxation. In West Australia no distinction was made between earned and . unearned incomes. The rates of taxation on various standard incomes were; —

Year Year Mar. 31, Msr. 31, 1922. 1914. Civil List £ 29.834 £ 32,071 Interest and Sinking Fund— w ar expenses 4,657,766 Rise. Soldiera' Sett. Land for Settlements Cr. 4 Public 'Works 709,095 296,507 hiectnc supply Cr. 26,969 2,286 Greymouth Harbour Bi. Cr. 37.027 Westport Harbour Bd. Cr. 9.000 Miscellaneous 3 148,416 2,589,188 £8,442,278 £2,867,981 UNDER SPECIAL ACTS. Pensions— Old Age Pensions (including Nat. Endowment Residue allocated for Old Age Pensions, £21,721 in 1913-14, and £30,741 in 1921-22) 742,244 416,279 Military Pensions 37,647 . 33,453 Widows' Pensions ie6,197 27,073 Police Widows' Pensions •' 433 Miners' Pensions < .. 28,855 "War Pensions 1,722,596 Civil Service Act. 1908 36.852 35,405 Defence Act, 1909 2,925 Judicature Act, 1908 .. 3,433 Miscellaneous Pensiong 146 - £2,761,328 £512,552 Education pun>ose» 167,954 78,443 Subsidies to Local Bodies 217,988 144,774 Subsidies to Hosp. Bd's. 471,711 193,539 Subsidies account butter 240,270 Miscellaneous 542,748 384,748 4401,939 £1,316,036 Grand total .. £12,874,161 £4,236,088 Increase .. £8,638,073

Income from Property. £ too Hew ZealandKate .. ISM Tax .. £32J C'wealth slue Queensland — itBto - • 28.83d la* • • C'wealth »lua N.S.W.Bate .. MJtta Tax. •• && C'wealth i>lua Victoria— Bate .. 15.82d Tax .. £86 C'wealth plus . S. Australia— v Rate •• 232d . Tax .. #7 £ 1000 21.6d £90 33.97d £141J 36.37d £161 26.97d £112 33.09d £187 £ 2U00 33.6d £2eO 52.Sod £436 51.57d £429 43.80d £360 61.74d £431 £ 3000 46.6a £5<0 B8.18d £8o2 64.62d £S07 66.16d £703 65.05d £813 Earned Income. £ boo New ZealandBate .. U-Wd f |'nv £29 Cwealth slu* Queensland — Bate .. ".30d Tax • ■ C'wealth ?lus N.S.W. — Bate .. 23.Sld Tax • ■ C'wealth ?lua VictoriaBate .. H.Sld Tax • • C'woalth slue S. AustraliaBate • • 15.06d JJX •* £31 C'wealth piuj W, AuBtr»ha— Rate •• l 3^; a , Tax* •• san £ .1000 19.44d £81 28.51d £98 26.81d £111 16.01d £66 20.01d £33 20.02d £83 £ 2000 80.24d £262 35.90d' £299 33.86d £282 28.41d £195 80.9ld £357 SS.SQ' 1 «277 £ 3000 42.56d £532 48.80d £603 41.14d £511 80.81d £378 38.81d £486 1 46.624 £562