WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Hokitika Guardian, 19 August 1921, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

BURDEN OF TAX A 7 SEEKING”RELIEF. 'Our Special Correspondent;. WELLINGTON, Aug. 17 'There is a growing feeling among business men in Wellington that the present rate of taxation is unnecessarily high. They are not foolish enough to imagine that by any rearrangement of the incidence or by the practice of any measure of public economy they or any other section of the community could escape from the sore burdens imposed upon the whole world by the ruthless destruction and inevitable waste of the great war. They are disclaiming any party bias they declare that by the application of sound business principles to the administration of the affairs of the State it would be possible to save from two to three millions a year and at the same time make the public service more comprehensive and more efficient. They have not yet reduced their scheme of reform to precise figures, but they have indicated many directions in which very considerable savings could be effected. EXTRAVAGANT EXPENDITURE. There can be no doubt that during the war the Government and the country acquired habits of expenditure which are altogether inconsistent with the needs of the present time. While the very existence of the Empire and nil it implies were at slake the cost ol success could not be counted in the terms of well-ordered finance. The Empire simply had to win and New Zealand had to do its part “down to the last shilling and the last man,” as the iterated and reiterated phrase of the time ran. But the habits of extravagance have remained with us after the return of peace and nowhere are they more flagrant than in the various St ate Departments, where war expedients havt become settled practices. This is ;ln> state of affairs to which the business men of the capital city wish to direct the attention of the people ol the Dominion, not with the idea of embarrassing or discrediting the Government, but with the purpose of finding by investigation ;ind discussion a remedy that will relieve the workers of every degree—business men, producers and wage-earners—from some part ot t’. c load of taxation under which they are staggering. THE SESSION. The announcement of the date of Mr Massey’s departure front flic Old Country lias set the authorities on such mutters speculating ns to the probable length of the approaching session of Parliament. Apparently there will be only six or seven sitting days between I lie nooning and the arrival ol the Prime Minister, and it is expected the leader’s presence will materially shorten the preliminary formalities, the debate on the Address-in-Reply and the other more or less time-wasting proceedings thm mark the beginning of every session. But do what .Ministers may there will he no hope of Parliament proroguing before the Christmas holidays. A member of the House who lots seen many sessions under many different conditions predicts that there will he an adjournment for a week for the holidays ami Jin! the session will not be finally concluded before t’lie middle ol -March. This authority allots as much as six weeks to the revision of the tariff’ and if this time really were occupied by a single question there would he no doubt of the session'running into the sixth month. STATE OF PARTIES. The state of parlies in the House, of course, remains unchanged since lasi session. Mr T. M. Will'ord returned from America yesterday and presumably will resume his activities as leader oi the Libetdi Opposition, hut these activities an* not of ;i militant character ; nd are not specially directed against the existing order of things. .Mr E. Stalham has not yet inspired his new I r rty with any vital enthusiasm Lit tie groups of discerning people have liecome I letter acquainted with the youne i:min from Dunedin Central and his lofty ideals, hut the great mass of the eh etors remain unmoved by Ins appeal for the consolidation of the progress•ve iorces. The benumbing cloud of apuflit. in short, hangs heavily over Iho wluiie held uf politics, affecting the “ins ’ almost as much as it does iiie ’outs.” Many of the Reformers are as dissatisfied with the position as are the Liberals and the Labour groups, but Iliev can see no alternative to the existing order that would he in any way consistent with their election pledges, and so the existing order is maintained.