The Globe. MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 1877.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 983, 20 August 1877, Page 2

The Globe. MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 1877.

If the speech of the Hon. Major Atkinson on Friday night is tairly summarised, then the opponents of a property tax have very little indeed to say against the proposed change in the incidence of taxation. The first point raised by him was that at the present time the mode of levying taxation was such as not to press unduly upon any class. The whole interest and sinking fund this year, he said, was paid by duties on luxuries, contributions from the land revenue, and the earnings of the railways. This may be quite true, but it is nothing to the purpose. It does not prove that taxation is properly adjusted, and the burdens of the country thrown on the right shoulders. The Premier does not attempt to say that the duties on the necessaries of life are as light as they ought, in justice to all classes, to ho. What we complain of is, just that the Customs department is burdened with the payment of the interest on those loans which have been contracted chiefly for the benefit of property. As has been pointed out again and again, property has increased enormously in value during the last few years, chiefly in consequence of the construction of railways and other public works, and yet it does not contribute its fair share towards the debt which has thereby been incurred. Major Atkinson asserts that property is already considerably taxed. “ Property,” he says, “ was also taxed by stamps to the extent of £120,000. Property indeed contributed £220,000 to the ordinary expenses of the Government, in addition to paying the cost of the public debt." This must he a mistake, which a fuller report of the lion, gentleman’s speech may tend to explain. The estimated revenue of the year 1877-78 is £3,292,685, and an examination of the items which comprise this sum shows that a very small revenue is received directly from property. Stamp duties contribute £121,000; Native Lands Court fees, £10,000; registraton of land, £13,250; registration of deeds, £16,250; Crown grants, £6,060; fees and fines sheep inspection, £11,000; making a total of £180,560, as the sum directly contributed to the revenue by property. From what source Major Atkinson derives a revenue from property sufficient to pay the cost of the public debt we are at a loss to conceive. The profit from the railways cannot he regarded as a tax derived fron| property ; _ as, if railways were not in existence, other and more expensive means of conveyance would have to he resorted to by our producers. Neither can our pasturage licenses, or the land sales, be regarded in the light of taxation at all. It was not the poor man, Major Atkinson said, who contributed mostto taxation. Whether this assertion is true or not depends altogether on the meaning of the words “ poor man.” But we do assert that the _ great mass of the population, as distinguished from the propertied classes, do contribute more than their just share to the taxation of the country. Out of a revenue of over £3,000,000, only £200,000 at most can he shown to he derived from property, and from that sum considerable deductions ought to be made. Fees for the registration of land and the registration of deeds and fees and fines for sheep inspection, may he regarded, in a sense, as taxation, hut they are levied for a specific purpose, and do not add largely to the revenue, being expended in the cost of carryingoutthesedepartments. Neither is the railway revenue, as we have already said, in any just sense of the work a property tax, nor the Laud Fund, nor the Pasturage Licenses. With stamp duties of course it is different, hut they only produce £124,000. Is this a satisfactory state of things ? We think not. It is high time that some change was effected. But it is an unfortunate circumstance that Sir George Grey has succeeded in placing himself at the head of the movement in the House. If it had been in the hands of men in whom the country had confidence, wo feel sure the House would have affirmed the principle by a large majority,