WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Hokitika Guardian, 12 May 1922, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

THE TAXATION COMMITTEE. 1 SCOPE OF INQUIRY. SPECIAL TO GUARDIAN. j WELLINGTON, May 10. The members of the committee appointed by tiie Government to inquire into the "taxation of the Dominion of New Zealand in all its aspects” hel 1 their first meeting on Monday and after listening to a brief address from the Prime Minister, electing Mr AV. D. Hunt chairman and agreeing to an outline of the work to 1)0 undertaken, adjourned for a fortnight in order that tlie information required from the State Departments might he collected and that organisations wishing to submit evidence might have time to prepare their statements. In the official report of the proceedings supplied to the Press it is indicated that the Committee would prefer to have evidence and suggestions submitted by type-written statements ‘‘as far as possible,” but this is not takeli to mean that verbal evidence would be unacceptable. It is hoped indeed that the authors of written statements will attend in person if convenient, so that members'of the committee may have an opportunity to interrogate them. Ah D. G. Clark, the Commissioner of Taxes, will sit witli the committee, presumably to look after the interests of the Treasury.

THE COMMITTEE’S TASK. Tlie address delivered by Mr Massey” to the coiilmitteh was not for publication, hiit it is easy to imagine its general tenor. The Prime Minister provid- 1 cd every reasonable facility in the way of setting up the committee and doubtless he will he glad to have tlie advice and assistance of such a fepresentative body of commercial men and producers in solving the extremely difficult problems that are confronting him at the present time. But lie is not going to allow tile committee to dictate the amount of taxation to be levied nor to determine its incidence. With huge declines in the Customs revenue and the income tax revenue, the Minister so far from relieving the country of any part of its present burden will be extremely lucky if he can avoid adding materially to its load. The most that can he expected front the committee is a practical scheme for tlie readjustment of the burden. This and the reduction of expenditure, which seems so far to have scarcely fulfilled Mr Massey’s expectations, present the only hope for the immediate future. CONFLICTING ELEMENTS.

The personnel of the committee lms not Ix'en received with universal approval here. The idea of setting up such a hotly originated, as already explained. with a group of business men, who had in mind rather the provision of information than the discussion of policies. But when the heads of the Farmers" Union heard of the suggestion they clamoured for representation, and after Mr Massey had acceded to their demands the Labour leaders proceeded 0 put. in their claims. The Minister’s discreet reply to Mr Holland and his friends was that he thought it would be better for them to consider the matter apart from the other interests. Later a representative of the Law Society and a representative of the Accountants’ Society were included in the list and according to a fairly well informed (-ount of heads it now looks as if two opposing schools of thought on the taxation question were just alrout evenly balanced on the committee. However this may he, it appears tolerably certain there will be two reports and that the Government and the public will l>e invited to examine the various problems involved from two opposite points of view. IN THE INTERVAL. Meanwhile, with the possibility of additional taxation looming ahead, the public is beginning to take additional interest in the Government’s economy campaign and lending a less ready eat to complaints of staff reductions, lessened services and so forth. The main complaint in this respect heard in the city now is that the Government is not proceeding fast enough with the enforcement of its retrenchment policy and that temporary war departments with their temporary heads and temporary hands continue to swell the national pay-sheet aryl lean heavily upon the sorely perplexed taxpayers. It has Ireen stated publicly that one of these departments still is costing the country nearly £BO,OOO a year and that the distribution of its functions among the permanent departments to which they naturally would fall would save every shilling of this considerable sum. And this, well-informed people stnte, is by no means an isolated instance.