The Feilding Star. "TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 1890. Mr J. G. Wilson, M.H.R.

Feilding Star, Volume XI, Issue 146, 3 June 1890, Page 2

The Feilding Star. "TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 1 890. Mr J. G. Wilson, M.H.R.

Mit Wilson, the member for Foxton, addressed his constituents at Longw burn last Friday night. In ref erring to last session- of Parliament he said it was a xery\ humiliating thing that the Governnient should bring in measures Which they desired to pass and yet be unsuccessful in getting a single one of them brought into force, and to accepb the position of being too weak to oarry policy measures, was the greatest misfortune that could befall any Government. Mr. Wilson attributed the misfortunes of last session to the weakness of the actions of the Government the previous session. They had then a majority of Protectionists, and determined to remain in power, they had brought in a Protection tariff, relying upon the unswerving support of the Freetrade member* of their party. The latter, however, took astand, and Ministers were then placed in the ignominous position of having their "tariff proposals carried by the Opposition. It was this very action which caused them to be weak last session. Mr Wilson considered the Premier was a man of great strength and great weakness at the same time. He was weak because he always-fol-lowed the majority. His strength consisted in his great powers of persuasion, and above all great fighting powers. Kef erring, again to_the question of the tariff/ he stated thaft the severance of Messrs Bbuoe and Macabthur and himself from the Government party was one of the greatest blows the Premier had ever experienced ; so great was the blow that , when the Premier became aware. of the fact that these gentlemen had left, him, he had threatened to resign forthwith. Mr Wilson did not agree with the proposal to make any altera» • tion in the Property Tax, nor did it seem to him there were very many good reasons why a Land and Income Tax should not be brought into for.cc. His reasons for holding this opinion are somewhat singular : — v ' For instance, there was very great danger . of wholesale swindling being indulged in by the wealthier classes in the event of a land and income tax being instituted, and evidence of this was given Jt the present time when the property tax return was in existence. The total amount eet forth as being on deposit in the* property tax returns was five millions, whereas the total amount of deposits in the bauk returns was thirteen millions, a difference of no less than eight millions. It was obvious, therefore, that if the people, who were no doubt the wealthier class,' defrauded the. Government to the ex-, tent of -eight millions under the property tax, would, under a land and income tax, indulge in the fraud still further if a land and income tax were instituted, and the loss to the general revenue would be very considerable. And, moreover, there was no possibility of discovering the fraud and ascer- j taining the au>ount of their incomes*" Mr Wilson has drawn a wrong conclusion from the figure* supplied by the bank returns. The eight millions referred to as escaping taxation ife, for the most part made up of fixed deposits and current accounts^ the average of which would be far below the £600 exempt from the tax. Such being the case the belief that the revenue ib defrauded thereby is not based on true premises. ' ( Wholesale swindling may be indulged in by the wealthier classes" but in the matter of the eight millions, that belongs to the "poorer classes" who have no "returns" to send in, and are therefore removed from the temptation to " indulge" in defrauding the Government; Mr vVxlßon does not approve of the single tax, which means that every tax should be a tax upon the land; To show how hard this tax would fall upon landowners he stated that if the whole of the taxation were to be raised from land alone the taxation upon land owners would be fifteen times greater than at present. Mr Wilson did not approve altogether of our present system: of education; but at any rate we w»re placing our children on a uniformity in that respect, and the advantages would be exemplified when their: children came to take up positions in life, and take part in local and general- politics. On the subject of the redistribution of seats, Mr' Wilson would like to see the Government postpone the elections, and re-ad junt the boundaries after the next census, was taken in March 1891, because it was manifest the population of this portion of the district had increased by at least 5000, therefore should the boundaries be re-adjusted it might be found they were entitled to another member on this coast. This would not cause the holding of another session ; but .would mean the postponement of the elections until of ter March next year. Mr Wilson considered the colony was to be congratulated upon its increased prosperity and quoted the exports for last quarter of £3.794,000, the highest ever known in New Zealand. Mr Wilson announced himself a candidate for the next election, and received v vote of thanks and confidence.