WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Hokitika Guardian, 9 August 1922, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

BANKING AND Sill WIN T LABOUR’S LITTLE JOKE SPECIAL TO GUARDIAN.

WEiA-'.yOTON. A:l>4 7 ! a Members of the Labour Party are ijiaking merry over the request oi the ( ( Farmers’ Union for assistance from T the Government in establishing; farmera’ banks and farmers’ shipping Jmcs. i “It is only the other tiny,’' one of tliein said this morning, "that the i Union tv ns denouncing our dem.u d ( for the nationalisation of the means . of production, distribution and exchange, and now with the most 11S " founding effrontery it is asking, not that these . tilings should be nation- , alised. hut they should he male the perquisites of the farmers at the expense of the rest of the comm unity. They already have the main part of the means of production, and now they want a hank of their own, and , ships of their own, but guaranteed by 1 the State.” perhaps this was putting the matter rather too strongly, l,ut it certainly is a little anomalous that an organisation which has so strongly deprecated State interference w) tli Private enterprise should now (•„id virtue in the State providing it with money or its equivalent for prosecuting its own hazardous schemes. Circumstances may alter eases, hut they are not expected to over-ride oreat principles. THE BUSINESS MAN’S VIEW. At the opposite pole, the Farmers Union has the business man criticising very severely its proposal to establish a shipping line .controlled by the farmers and guaranteed by the State. He says that shipping is absolutely the most intricate and hazardous branch of Commercial entdrprfco in which an individual or a company can embark and that a scheme, such as the Farmers’ Union, appears to have in view, would require an expendituie of at least five millions to begin with, and several more millions to earn' to completion. The Parliamentary Committee, composed entirely of funnels, which reported upon the proposal two years ago, this authority went on to say, paid little attention to the trend of expert evidence and recommended that ;i line should he established with “Government guarantee, financial assistance, or otherwise.” Mr Massey did noi sec his way to proceed with the matter at that time, and the conditions odviously arc no more favourable for action now, foil Sir Walter Buchanan and other advisers of tile Government are very insistent, ami with strong Xarincr .following the Prime Minister may require some assitanee from the other side ol the House in resisting this inroad upon the public purse. NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTIUVUA The “Dominion" having taken two or three days to think about the matter, Jias endorsed Air Massey's statement that the taxation per head of the population is lower in New Zealand Ilian it is in Australia. “Comprehensive figures of Australian taxation for the financial year which ended on .lime both last,” it says, “arc not yet available. For tlie preceding year, however. State and Commonwealth taxation totalled £711,631,007 or £l2 19s fid. per head of the popu« In lion shown in the 1921 census. The aggregate collection was greater in the year which ended on June MtUh last, and the amount per head may also show an increase. New Zealand taxation per head in I !)21-22 was £l2 Ms 7d.. it Maoris are included, and £l:i os od if they are excluded. There is not. much doubt that when the Australian figures for 1921-22 are mailaide they will show an average rate ol taxation per bead appreciably higbei than that, of the Dominion.” Mi .Massey himself put the position much quire adrotly than this and did not so plainly invite the obvious retort. TAXES AND HKYENUE. The “Dominion” lias the grace to say, that “amongst other things it fs thus demonstrated that in a country, .similarly eiu iimstauced, it is possible without recourse to excessive compnnj

taxation to raise more taxation per head than is at present being raised ill New Xenia lid;” lull this does not touch the main point disclosed liv its own figures. Tlie rate of taxation in New Zealand is substantially higher than that in Australia, ns it must lie oil account of the relatively larger volume of the Dominion’s public debt, to say nothing of its somewhat more lavish expenditure; hut the revenue ■per head received from taxation here is lower than that received in the Commonwealth, for the very simple reason that the taxation is higher, so high indeed as to cramp and cripple the very industries and enterprises which ought to he making the burden more tolerable and at the same time adding to the revenue from taxation. The presence of a large number of unemployed people and the eonse<|uent fall in the revenue, may serve to reduce t|ie taxation per head, hut it most emphatically does not contribute to the prosperity of the country.

not look behind, hut ran virtually to his death. One witness said that if deceased bail looked, he could not have failed to see the motor. He practically jumped in front of the motor. The electrician gave evidence that Dent’s car had tl leakage in the engine, and this affected the speed of the vehicle. A passenger on the tram said it was still moving when the accident occurred. Accused’s mother said the motor was travelling nt fifteen miles an hour. The tram stopped quite suddenly, and deceased appeared in front of the motor. Her soil sounded the horn, and swerved to the left. The hearing was adjourned.