COURAGE WANTED

Hokitika Guardian, 6 August 1920, Page 3

COURAGE WANTED

MR FORBES ON WAR BURDENS. \Y Hi-LI NO TON, Aug 3. Instead of meeting the Dominion’s obligations, said -Mr Forbes in the House to-night, the Budget proposed to push the whole burden of the war on to posterity. He wished tp protest agiiinst this failure to make some provision to reduce the war debt. He was proud of ( tlie part New Zealanders had played in j the war. He believed that they could be proud of the part played by wealthy men in New Zealand if it was properly put to them that the country required substantial contributions from them to i reduce its debt. New Zealand would : borne heavier taxation burdens during the war, but the National Go- . vernment was too dull an instrument to register the reelings of the people. ; They could look to England for statesmanlike provision to meet the heavy burden of war debt. Already Britain was repaying 1:230,000,000 of war debt. New Zealand proposed one per cent sinking fund. It asked the wealth of to-day to pay 0800.000. How miserably weak compared with the. Motherland's example! Surely Britain, with the advice of the best economists in the world, could not be wrong. As far as one could read in Ihe Budget there was no intention to increase stamp or death duties or income tax. The whole thing was being referred to a Select Committee, but would it Have power to make increases if it thought* fit r 1 For instance, one member recommended an increase of stamp duty to check speculation in land, and there was no fund better able to contribute laxaion than the enormous profits made, from land speculation.