TOBACCO AND LUXURIES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 688, 13 December 1909, Page 3

TOBACCO AND LUXURIES.

Sir,—No doubt by tho time this letter reaches you an additional tax will - hare .been placed on tobacco. Out in tho country we are often weeks behind regarding news, and I have only now got hold of a paper containing Mr. T. Taylor's remarks on the subject. What a lovely place (to be'out of)' New Zealand would .be if ever Mr. Taylor should become Prime Ministor. But as an old comic song says: "Is it. likely ? Oh dear no; such, things can never be.". ■■■■ V v '■'''■■.' '■•''■ : "■■ Considering the enormous amount already levied on smokers, surely there are other articles that could have been taxed to produce *the amount Sir Joseph Ward wants (for another trip'to the Old Country probably!). Let anyone tako. a ' walk past' fashionable tailprs', bootmakers', and drapers' shops, and iCpnsider nbsolutenocessarieSi..A vory serviceable suit-of clothes can be bought for £3 10s., yet £5 ss. and upwards is often paid. A good pair of boots can-be had for 155., yet 255. and upwards is common. White shirts'and collars look .very, nice,, but are they necessaries, and so on.. ■".:".," : -■•'- ■-..'.■ i [lam wearing, \as I write this;--.■ ,',:■: '. .;■') : : . .-■■ \'. • : .'. "'■ Country '■■'. Town' - : ' ■'■ •."■■ , :■■ '..••■ ■ •■' "•' Price. ■ - Price. ; '.'.' .'.. ; ■ ' ■',-. '.' .-■■ £s. d. £s.d. . .'jWoolioii shirt 0 7 (i 05G Woollen underpants 0,7 6 0 5.6'. Pair Denims '....'....■ 0 GO 0.4 0 Pair boots 015 0 , 011 0 , Pair'socks ;.............', 0 1-ti 0 10, , 'Coat (new .£2) 0 15 0 .Cap ..........:.... 0 2 « 0 16 ,1 am quite warm and comfortable, - and out here in.tho country my- costume is OK, but to go into town i have to bow to public opinion, and put on gear costing .£7 NJs. to £10. Now, as a matter of fact; the ..biggest part of that sum is luxury. ■ . ,- A very small proportion of doctors .condemn .pipe-smoking. In crick*', football, and rifle matches between the two classes, smokers win as often as non-smokers. Cigarettes, on tho other hand, are bad, very bad—and.should be -taxed heavily if :■ not 'altogether prohibited. I am like Mr. Taylor. He doesn't drink, so he says "Away with tho booze." I don't smoke cigarettes, so I say tax them. We all;have weaknesses of our own. Tea, is not nourishing—only stimulating. There are hundreds of tea-drunkards in New Zealand. They are irritable and bad-tempered unless constantly supplied with their tipple, and their memories in various stages of'failure." They-can't" remember where they left a thing two minutes after they, have,laid it down. I have prbved this myself. I used to carry a billy of tea on tho fenco lino whon working, and take a pull whenever I passed it. After, a while I was always hunting, for a hammer, axe, staple-drawer, or other tool. . I knocked the tea off and tool: to cocoa and coffee, and in a few days -was all right again.. ',- : : Sir ,T. G. Ward evidently forgets that the man who made him (R. J. Seddon) distinctly pledged himself to knock Is. a pound -oil tobacco, recognising that tho amount raised (about .£450,000, I believe) was hitting workers, especially country workers, too hard. I firmly believe that if this additional tax is imposed it will decide a largo number of able-bodied working men to leave Now Zealand. Remember white' Australia is booming.—l am, etc., , THE BEACHCOMBER. Patoka, Havrke's Bay, December 1, 1909. ;