MOUNTING TAXATION

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 183, 20 August 1937, Page 3

MOUNTING TAXATION

Nearly £100,000 a Day Collected THE" PRICE OF SOCIALISM Speaking at Halcombe last evening fhe Hon. J. ti. Cobbe, M.P. for Oroua, dealt extensively with the .tendency; and danger of recent legislation enact-. ed by the Labour Government aiid after repeating earlier remarks made at his| 'Feilding meeting concerning thej changes in the constitution of the Re-i serve Bank, the member touched upon New Zealand 's mounting taxation. ''The Prime Minister," • he said, "was not very complimentary to either the memories or the intelligence of the people of New Zealand," when, on the eve pf his departure for fhe Coronation, he boasted of an estimated increased surplus for the past year. He omitted to xemind his hearers .that that surplus, together with more Ithan £4,250,000, came from additional taxation imposed upon the people by his Government. He .also omitted to mention that he won his election, partly on his pre-election statement, made in Christchurch, that 'further taxation was out of the question. ' And yet, as soon as he had the opportunity, his Government forced through Parliament authority to collect additional .taxation, estimated at £4,460,5S5. "But as a matter of fact the actual direct taxation collected from the peoplo amounted to much more. Tho Government Statistician, in tho Ab« stract of Statistics for Juno of the pre-. sent year says: 'The taxation receipts for 1936-1937 are tho highest ever recorded, .the figure being nearly £5,700,000 higher than in. 1935-36 which . pruviously held the record. ' "The actual amount for .tho past year was £31,164,302. This means that ior each of the 313 week-days of s ,tho year the people paid a daily tax of £99,536; and if taxes continue to grow, • as they have doue since the Socialists came into powcr, next year we will be paying more than £100,000 for each week-day in fclie year. " The Meat Producers' Board xeturns up to March 31, 1937," continued Mr. Cobbe, "show that for this year of high prices, tho total (f.o.b. value)", as measurcd by- the export statistics, of our meat, wool, hides aud skins, tallow, etc., amounted to £33,230,425. The position now is that if the present wild oi'gy of expenditure continues, and eveii if to-day 's high prices for our produce are maintained, in a short time the whole of the export proceeds of our great pastorai industry, with the .exception of the dairy ing iudustry receipts, will be taken to pay taxes. This *ie part of the price the country is payling for the privilege of being governed 'by Socialists. In effect this oxcessive 'taxation is the carryihg out of th£ Socialistic plan of climinating those in fairly good circumstances, so that their assets will fmally come under the control of the State. This is plainly indicated in a book entitled 'A Summary of Socialism,' intended for the use of .Socialist lecturers, which says: 'It will | be neoessary eventually to eliminate the rich, but this can be done gradually, over a period of time, by means of taxation. The main thing is to get the industry of ihe country out of private' Lands. 1 " . '