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FRENCH FINANCE

ARE TAXES ADEQUATE? REPLY TO FOREIGN ACCUSATION American and British critic? of Fronch ■ financial policy have been vcrv severe on tho supposed want of effort on the part of tho French Government to raise revenue at. home. The criticisms have boon particularly harsh on the neglect of taxation as a means of obtaining revenue. It is curious that French criticisms have rather reproached Government v.-ith delaying a new consolidation loan (wrote th° Paris correspondent of tho New York "Evening Post" recently). .Andro Tardien some days ago rave the figures for publication in America concerning the taxes really imposed on French citizens to-<lay as comnarrd with taxes levied before tho war. The amount has bepn considerably more than doubled. What lie did not say if: IhaHhe ppr capita taxation, as usual, is very much heavier in France than it has ever been in England or Germany or tho United -States. The French Treasury has since mnde a. statement that something l'ke <W0,000.000 francs of taxes already due have not been collected, not because of any difficulties made by taxnaycrs. but presumably on account of s'mvthandcdness and other present difficulties in fbp tax-collecting D°nnrtmenK Tt should bo ndded that in France such taxes always come in sooner or later. j France's Tax System. Tho error in judgment of foreign critics, K> far as it is an error. ari=es in nart from their ignorance of French habits of maim* the nvuckle of State revenue "lit of counties.? mickles of minute taxes. Op of tho latent private Bills that h"s ' - »en presented to Parliament, which th» Government that will face the new Parliament may easily nit accent, pronces a universal tax on sales of every kind of 5 centimes per franc (about 1 cent "o every 20 cents in normal values), the seller raying the tax bv a =tamp on his sale stubs. It is osfnialpd that sue 1 ' a ti~ would yield 20,000.000.000 francs /2.5M.C00.0M dollars at present exchang"!. Tin mrmher of Parliament who has this brilliant idea would >eoften Hi" novelty of the t«x bv doing away at the fame time with certain Other faxes which wore lately substituted for old, traditional, direct taxes. The history of taxation in T'ran'" > =hows that an increase in taxes In which the population is accustomed is the easiest way of obtaining revenue for Ihe Stato. It is probable that foreign critics would have been less severe if they taken the pnins to follow out in del»'l th° taxes actually collected from the French people. M. Oarmichael. who fairlv r°nresents the industries of Lille, whem .Wf1.000.000 of British capital is invested, on a. sfable and known system of taxation, ' which in tho past-he* r n nlly been reducible to tax on capital The late changes, he remarks, are imitations of taxation in other countries and often reflect American ideas. The Tesult is not always what was .exnected. For instance, the tax on luxuries yielded i'tlle over one-tenth of what was calculated beforehand. Budget and Revenue. The general yield of taxes, in" spite of the ill condition of taxable property in tlis devastated regions, which formerly counted for one-fifth of producing ! France, is steadily increasing. In Rep- , tember, the Treasury received from'taxes ■ 072,000,000 francs, which is 32 per cent. ; beyond tho Budget estimate. April was 25 per cent! ahead; May 22 per cent.. , June 20 per cent., July 3(1 per cent., and j August 19J Per cent. This is certainly , a showing that many other countries , might envv, and it is to be expected in- . definitely from French thrift, which first , is minute and then infinitely patient.and persistent. ' i j The clearest and briefest expression • of what all Frenchmen feel is a , bitter necessity might bo thus: ; . The League of Nations, if only it e.in c get to work, provides France, however ' insufficiently, with' military guarantees j against sudden invasion by Germany. There is no league, not even a union of ' Allies, that provides financial guarantees v for Germany's making reparation to J Franco in this interval of peace—and ' without such guarantees the way is not e clear to the. restoration of Franco from ! : the deliberate and complete destruction ' wrought by Germans among a great " part of her population. ( i Senator Leon Bourgeois, whose past ' record should give him some authority, c •begins and ends by establishing tho fact ■ that the financial guarantees of payment I by Germany_ aro far from secure. Yet 1: such insecurity cannot hut weigh heav- a l'ly on tho finances of France, while if g increases beyond measure the difficulties o in the way of her economic revival. The li insecurity, in fact, is so great that all o the energy and labour and thrift of !ho h French people and all the financial aid - that might result from the union of tho c Allies will barely be able to remedy it. d A simpler expression, for which Sena- c tor Bourgeois must not be made responsible, would he: German payments must li be made negotiable before Germany acta- s .ally pays-elso all the taxation of j, Frenchmen to the limit and the issue of •> French loans to the limit will not put - R France on her financial feet again. ,1

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19200105.2.30

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 85, 5 January 1920, Page 5

Word count
Tapeke kupu
871

FRENCH FINANCE Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 85, 5 January 1920, Page 5

FRENCH FINANCE Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 85, 5 January 1920, Page 5

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