POLITICAL NOTES.
LARGE ESTATES DISAPPEARING. Replying to suggestion that the. increased graduated ta:i had not broken up large estate;, the Lion. James Allen stated thai: he was informed by the Department that, taking the assessment of IT! large landowners for the two years ended March blsf, Idl2. there were subdivisions end sales which reduced the areas he'd oy the origins! owners to the extent of over 2?. per cent., while it v.'a 3 estimated that the efreA; of the graduated tax imposed by the p;e".;c-nt Government v/oulci be shown in :i reduction cf these holdings by 50 per cent. when' March, 1014. came around. INCOME TAX PROBLEM. ■ Though the New Zealand income taox does not recognise any difference betl|g|: earned and unearned incomes. :he^£?-- ; 3tf r for Finance states that this cjestion is receiving his atten tion. There is. he told the House this week, a rough and reedy distinction because companies get no exemption, whereas private incomes, which 3re more likely to he derived from persons! exertion, bear an exemption of £•300. "I don't say this is absoluteIv fair." added the Hon. James Alien. "'lt is impossible to draw the iir.c. bu" I am not allowing the thing to rest where it is. I hope to uive a good dee! of more attention to this question of earned and unearned incomes. 3 ' The Minister quoted an English Select Committee's report u'on this subiect wherein it was mentioned that; th? subject was full of nif3euHies. even in connection with company taxation, because it could not be said that it wa.s unearned income which a man received upon forming his business info a company and continuing to give his personal attention to its management. RAILWAY MANAGEMENT. A return of considerable interest was tabled in the House this week by the Minister of Railways, on the motion of Mr Witty, in reference to the appointment of a general manager for the New Zealand Railways. The return shows that there were in all no fewer than 104 applicants for the position. Of those domiciled outside New Zeaaind st the time there were: :S apDlicants in the United Kingdom, Canada 3, India 4, Australia 1; in the United States 9, Egypt 2, and South America 2. The number of applications for the position from persons at present employed by the New Zealand Railway Department was 25. HIGH COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE. The Hon. James Allen, who looked into the question of accommodation for the High Commissioner in London, stated that as far as New Zealand 13 concerned, we have practically agreed to move from Victoria street and to take premises in the Strand, near the Adelphi Theatre, not far from the Queensland offices, but we are not erecting the buildings ourselves. They are being erected for us, and we are simply tenants. Whatever may ba the result of Earl Grey's scheme of grouping the Dominions offices, it is pretty clear that it will take some time to bring it into operation. Meanwhile, New Zealand ha 9 to make provision for better accommodation for the High Commissioner, whose office is entirely too crowded, and efficient work cannot be done in it. Should Earl Grey's scheme prove Fuccessful there is nothing to bind New Zealand, as far as he knew, to continue as tenants of the premises in the Strand. BACK-LOCKS TEACHERS. Replying to a question from Mr Poland* relating to backblocks teachers, the Hon. Mr Allen declares that the Government is fully impressed with the need for the improvement of the condition of teachers of backblock schools, both as to salaries and residences. The Minister adds : ''Over £BOOO was spent in I'JIO and 1911 in adding rooms, bathrooms and washhouses, and in some cases <m additional room to teachers' houses in 200 of the most urgent cases, and very shortly I hope to be able to consider a number of other similar applications from the various boards." SURVEY DEPARTMENT REPORT. The work of the Survey Department covers Mcial prediction and astronomical observations, but its most important feature is surveying for settlement. Last year's operations under this head were pushed" on with special vigour, reports the Surveyor-General, surveys to th« extern of 430.b0l acres being completed, nearly ail of rural land. A further area of ?o/557 acres situatel in the lane districts respectively cf Auckland. Nelson. Westland, and Canterbury has been topcgraphicaally sur veyed for the purpose of promptly tnrowing the land open for selection before final survey. -'lt is needless to add," states the report, "that the great aim of the Department is to meet the keen demand always existing for suitable settlement land, and the areas ouoted above show to extent the Survey Department has endeavoured to satisfy the call for mor, land To further meet tms still unsstLfieu want, it may be stated that for ike coming year an area oj. ordinary settlement land rearing a total 01 T20,621 acres is m nana by staff and contract surveyors, a tdir proportion of which has been comoJeted in the neid. mis area = „ rcar ] ov3 r the following disnnct.3: Bay, 122,274 acres; Taranaki, 56,543 ac ~.p~- Wellington, 56.27!) acres ; Nei son"" 1 "2,674 acres; Marlborough, 714 a acres; Otago, 28!) acres; Southland, 7499 acres. The area of native lana total cf 671,343 acres in 2755 subaivisions. which is a record xor more than twenty years «n ox GIJ Qd7 ercss represents survey* m hard, and those waiting survey during 'the coming" year romined a moac pxclusively to the districts or amKjand. Hawke's Bay, laranakp ana Wellington.
PREMIUM BONDS. The Premium Bonds' Yaiidaikm Hi!!, after a hard struggle for life in its earlier stages, was positively killed for eerta;;] 00 Wednesday evening, when toe committee stage was recharge 01 £:ii Bi:i, moved, as soon v.'i he was placed in the chair, that prc-p-ess be reported, and leave asked to sit again. This mads it evident that wise counsels had prevailed with the member, that his Bill had no chance or becoming law. It will ba remembered that on the last occasion a motion by Mr Russell, "That the chairman do leave the chair," deprived Mr Harris of his opportunity. His motion voluntarily to relegate the Bill to the limbo of the past, was quickly agreed to by the House.
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King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 602, 13 September 1913, Page 5
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1,041POLITICAL NOTES. King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 602, 13 September 1913, Page 5
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