THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1871.

Grey River Argus, Volume XI, Issue 995, 4 October 1871, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1871.

Last night Mr Yogel was to move, in the House of Representatives, a resolution proposing to tax corn and timber. Much has been said and much has been written about the policy of protection to native industry, and so far as protecting articles manufactured in a country this may carry some weight, but certainly one of the most objectionable features is to tax breadstuffs. The subject has engaged the attention of the home authorities, not so much in. relation to New Zealand, as the action taken by several of the Australian Colonies^ leading to the introduction of a Reciprocity Act, and in a despatch from Earl Kimberley, the Secretary for the Colonies, the policy is strongly condemned. There is no doubt but that the object of the proposed tax is to catch the votes of some of the southern and agricultural members, and, as a set-off, to meet the views and stifle the objections of some of the northern members it is proposed to tax timber. The effect of this tax will be to raise the price of flour to all consumers. It is a tax that will be severely felt by the' mining population, and the residents of districts like the West Coast where from the nature of the country it is impossible to grow grain in any quantity. Can it be contended or shown for one moment that in consequence of the tax one quarter more wheat would be grown, that any more ground would be put under/cultivation, or that the agricultural interest would be directly fostered. The true policy of a legislator is to impose taxation where it should be least felt, and can it be said that in imposing a tax upon breadstuff's that it will, be felt less in this direction ? If, as it is said, the miners dp not object to the gold duty, they will certainly object to the imposition of a-tax on the staff of life, which will only, after all, benefit the speculators in grain. ' In the last budget, Mr Yogel reduced the duty on Oolonial-distilled spirits to six shillings per gallon, and this has been found not to answer, for he says:— "The operation of the Distillation Act was producing a very large loss to the revenue. The Government did riot wish to show any harshness to those who had embarked their capital in this industry, still the result waa unsatisfactory. The revenue loses L 25 ,000 on account of spirits already 'manufactured in the Colony, which manufacture has led to a consumption of 43,000 bushels of grain." And so to make up this loss on an artiole which can very

well pay duty, bread is to be made clear, and the whole community is to be taxed in the most necessary article of life. Is this consistent with the teetotal and prohibitive ideas and enunciations of Mr Fox ? Does it not show that he is only a puppet ii the hands of "the man vot manages the show ?" Does this remission of duty on spirits cheapen it one jot to the consumer? Certainly not, and on the. principle that "good wine needs no bush," so will Colonial-made spirits compete favorably with foreign, even at the same rate of duty. It is against all iule, againat all policy, againat all principle, against humanity, to tax braadstuffs in order to keep up a loss sustained by the reduction of duty on Colonial-made spirits, and in order to obtain the votes of a few agriculturist members. It clearly shows that the policy of Mr Yogel is a reckless one, and one that will not stand the test of time, or the test of the opinion of the mining population of the Colony when fairly considered.

There is, however, an aspect in which, in all fairness this question ought to be considered — namely, the cheapening of the carrriageof goods to the mining community by means of railway construction, and the corresponding benefits which would thereby be conferred upon the population on the gold fields of the Colony. It is proposed to construct a railway in this district over six miles of rugged country ; and there is no disguising the fact that its construction will immensely benefit the numerous miners who are striving to develop the resources of the back country, and leaving it open for any party of speculators to carry the line on by tramway or railway as far as they think it will pay. There is no doubt that the immediate construction of a line from Greymouth to the Ahaura, or even further, would pay ; but under the conditions of the Act, the inclination is to be cautious, because, in the event of its not paying interest on the cost of its construction, provision is made for raising the the balance by a local rate on all residents who are benefited by the line. This is not to be the case so far as the railway to the coal mine is concerned, as the Governmenb have resolved to seek permission to construct the Greymouth and Brunner Line immediately, out of the loan.

The constitution of the Board of Works is another important question with which we will be required to deal separately. The remarks which we made in our leader yesterday have a very strong bearing upon this question, and we are much inclined to believe that not a few of the votes which are now at the disposal of the Government have been obtained in view of the constitution of the Board of Works. Reserving further remarks on this subject> we quote the following from the Nelson Examiner :— "Whatever may have been done in the past will assuredly be eclipsed during the present session. A stray Agent-Generalship or Registrarship will-be trifling in contrast with the Commissionerships of Boards and Works, of Education and Immigration, so temptingly displayed. Not that we for a moment suppose, that the patriots who represent the people in Wellington could be induced by the prospect of any of those valuable bits of plunder falling to their share. The Premier, however, haa openly stated in his place in Parliament, that he considers a Government bound to look after and throw all it can in the way of its supporters. For this frank declaration we give Mr Fox the greatest credit, btit unfortunately it is calculated to throw suspicion over those who vote with the Government, more especially those who having been against them, now show signs of sudden conversion, as we observe some of the members are plainly doing. For our own parts, reading the proceedings of this session by the light of the past, we are prepared to see many of the honorable members display the most touching patriotism in sacrificing their principles on the altar of ther country. Nor should we be suprised to find the spirit of self-sacri-fice carried so far as to induce many of them after the close of the session, to increase the sacrifice by retiring from the public life to which they are so much attached into the more serene atmosphere of the Board of Works and other comfortable havens into which they may be wafted. Probably the same influences may be at work in all Legislatures, but the openness and audacity of the process in New Zealand is another of the phenomena which has already earned for us in the other Colonies the character of being ' a peculiar people.'"