The Chronicle LEVIN. THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1916. A MOOT POINT ABOUT MOTOR CARS.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 24 August 1916, Page 2

The Chronicle LEVIN. THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1916. A MOOT POINT ABOUT MOTOR CARS.

heiher tlii' motor car is siillii--i'-:it share (il the custom;; taxation in New Zealand a question that lia.s lieen disturbing i'arlianientariajns of laic, and from the tone of a recent debate in tlu' Ilonso oi' Representatives we judge that next, session there will be a ill 1 term i tied attempt made to raise the tariif against t.lio importation of these carriages. The opinion has been expressed by several members of .Parliament that' tlie motoi; car i.s absolutely a. luxury; and although Sir Joseph Ward ro.-e t.o di.spme this contention, and to si|ite iliat Taranaki fanners in particular used tlie motor-i-air ior working needs, hi.s contention seemed to fall lar sh-ii't of convincing the members wiio were prepared to increase the v duties forthwith, so far as motor cars were concerned. The question involved is ;a varying one. To most people, the undertaking of the purchase of a motor car is the mark ill their progress that certifies to a level of relative prosperity hairing been attained by the purchaser; bill in many eases the aftermath is a crop of different nature. It is now some fire years since the Chronicle first made the .statement t'hiat motor-cars occasioned mere poverty- than strong driink doe*. "\Ye have seen our statement repeated in print (without acknowledgments. of course) in two Xew Zcaland publications, and not even the Rev. f,. M. Isitt ' has written in to challenge the accuracy of this deduction, we take it (hat the postulate of 1011 becomes the dictum of 191(5, and that there is ia consensus of public opinion that the average owner ol a motor-car make*; 110 special target for taxatiorf. Any surplusage oi wealth that characterises in the first few months of his proprietors]!, p gradually disseminates itself in drinlc- lor the motor -anil in rubber renewals. If we have discussed in apparently jocular vein the experiences el" a not innumerable type of motorist as as they present themselves to us, our levity must be put down to our vint of personal sorrow over rueh matters: but without joking ive would make a plea against tlie evident determination of a .section of the House I of Representatives that there shall be, I a substantial increase made, next M - sion, in the duty levied upon motorcars, amd, by inference, upon motorcar 'accessories---for the one proposal assuredly- will suggest the other when the debate revives.