The Hokitika Guardian WEDNESDAY JUNE 7th 1922 A CRITIC OF TAXATION.

Hokitika Guardian, 7 June 1922, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian WEDNESDAY JUNE 7th 1922 A CRITIC OF TAXATION.

It is ono of the commonplaces of political experience, says an exchange, that an administration pledged to satisfy the demands of a purely sectional and minority interest cannot long continue to give satisfaction even to its own clients, Too essence of tne art of successful government, in these democratic days at all events, is that it should be broadbased on the public welfare, Point is given to these observations by a fairly lengthy but extremely significant leading article from the columns of tbe I'Now Zealand Herald,

the .~nd journal of Reform. The “Herald” girds at the Government for its procrastination in giving effis't to its promises to reduce taxation. It shows that in tile last eight years land tax Ims increased by 113.4 per cent and income tax by 983.5 per cent while at one stage in the period the increases wore even larger than this. The “Herald" tells the Government that if the balance between land tax and income tax was just in 1914 it is A grotesque” to-day. and that it should be adjusted cl the earliest opportunity. The “Herald'' has been accused, in Reform circles, of having “private reasons” for hostility to the political machine manged by Mr Massey. Outsiders may he excused if they connect these “private reasons” with the fact that the Auckland journal is more closely in touch with the Reform machine than journals in other centres. It sees the wheels go round at close range and apparently it does not like the method of their motion. But putting party prejudice ifsidc, is it not natural for any responsible newspaper to draw attention to the fact that ih a period in i which oMe class rtf taxation lias doubled and another increased over tenfold, the administration has not once shown any voluntary inclination to examine the incidence of taxation with a view to discovering whether tile tremelldo's and obviously inequitable increases which it has imposed are susceptible of adjustment and revision ] If it be true as nmily inoderh political* theorists aver that just taxation aiid a wise management of national finance arc the most important aspect of politics what must he thought of the wisdom of any set of politicians which ploughs its unobservant way through the greatest financial crisis in history without a thought as to the effect of flic abnormal changes it has inaugurated under stress of circumstances in the realms of taxation and finance? The doctrine that the interests of large landowners are paramount to every other social consideration has had a long innings in this country. There wn s a time when the farming community as a whole believed that the doctrine would be helpful to its interests. But to-day the fanner is loudest in his outcry against the crushing burden of taxation imposed upon him by his self-styled friends Certain Manawatu farmers who have apparently reached a stage at- which taxation i s the most important factor in their business, have made grievous complaint about the taxation they are hearing. That stage was reached long ago by most urban industries, but the latter are not encouraged in the present political atmosphere, to kick against the pricks. The “Herald” expects the Reformers to reduce taxation and condemns them for not doing so. It points to a growing debt and the increasingly unprofitable character of public services as tendencies that, require to he checked, and gives its honest opinion tjbat Mr Massey’s show of correcting these tendencies is merely bluff. May we, says the “Lyttelton Times” gently remind the “Herald” that the good Reformers came into office pledged to put New Zealand into the right path financially and to redeem the country from gross and flagrant error, and that ever since it lias been mainly occupied in falling into pits which its predecessors avoided? Tf the “Herald” wants a new policy it must help to oust the muddlers who have got the coach of State into the mire, all four wheels and axle-deep.