Who k To Pay For 10/- A Week Child Allowance?

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 89, Issue 15, 10 October 1945, Page 4

Who k To Pay For 10/- A Week Child Allowance?

(P.A.)

CHRISTCHURCH, Oct. 9.

The opinion that in the long run the family man was going to be worse off than better off as a resUlt of the payment of the family allowance of 10/- a child a week was expressed by Frdfessor A. H, Tocker, retiring. president of the Cahterimry branch of the New Zealand Geographical Society, when addressing the annual meeting, on "Objectives in Population Policy." Professor Tocker added that any increase in taxation over the population as a whole would mean that The family man would pay more. Professor Tocker said that what amazed him about the announcement • of the family allowance and the discussion in Parliament was that nobody said who was going to pay the 10/- a week. It seemed to be forgotten that every penny the Government spent had to be provided by the people in taxation. In 1935 ordinary taxation was £21million and thre was an extra £4million of emergency unemployment taxation, To-day taxation was £61million, excluding taxation for war purposes, and a large amount of that was for social security. It was estimated that the extra 10/- a week would cost £13-mil-lion. After the war it was unlikely that taxation would be much beloW £61-miIlion, and the question was where the extra money was to !• obtained. The suggestion was; "Take it from the rich and give it to the poor." But the rich had been hard hit by income tax, and it was unlikely that very much more could he obtained from that source. Therefore, the burden would fall on the poor. Three-fifths of the in-come-tax was company taxation, and a lot of the increased taxation eventually was passed on in the form of higher prices. It was the family man who Was most affected by these higher prices. It should be remembered that - any gift from the Government to the people meant that the money was taken from the people. The expenses of collecting it were deducted. and the Goveriimept handed back what was left. ti ■—