Marlborough Times. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1881.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume III, Issue 316, 25 November 1881, Page 2

Marlborough Times. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1881.

R.ki'Kiiimno to the. Property Tax, Mr.'' mour said »t bin Blenheim meeting tluC 1 : in l approved of its introduction, as an other could have Leon so fairly levied to meet the urgent r.nd present necessity th'.i existing. The Lund Tax he justly nouncud a* abominably unfair, for muh • that iniquitous .scheme an acre in Blenheim, for instance, would only pay precisely the same as an acre in the most barren coui.tr/ districts though worth perhaps a thousand times more. Ths records of the Colony undoubtedly Mipp'irt him in his aU'.emont tint the Land Tax drove capital out. ot he colony, end that ,-iuce it? abolition a great inllnx of foreign capital has taken pi; :a. Cipit.al is liie one tiling needful to eu'.tic

this young Colony to prosper, and develop its great resourcss. Since the repeal of the Land Tax, the rate of interest rapidly decreased, until now it is lower than at any previous time in the history of the colony, a fact which not only indicates that the tax was a deterrent to enterprise, hut also that the labors of the Hall Ministry have inspired confidence among business men. All who have thought out the subject will agroo with Mr Seymour that an Income Tax would not have relieved the necessities of the colony so wsll as the Property Tax, and would also have been very undesirable in other respects. The Property Tax, as a matter of fact, lias been scarcely felt by the great majority of the electors, and only onethird of the freeholders and leaseholders of the colony have been called upon to contribute undor it. The exemph’on being fixed so high as it is, viz., LSOO, makes it really n tax upon the comparatively rich and therefore the great body of the people luv* no cause to find fault with it. Nor hare those who are now called upon to pay it, for every sane and reasonable being will admit that property should pay in proportion for any benefits it receives, while they are. also comforted with an assurance that next year only half the sum will lie required from them, thanks to the judicious management of the Ministry. Then again the Customs and Excise duties have also been amended in * favorable direction to the working man, and also in a way which will benefit a forr local industries. Tn due course of time, if the direction of affairs remains in the hands of those who have already accomplished so much, there is eyery hope that- the necessaries of life will be admitted free, and the Customs duties only levied in so far a* they protect our young industries. Wc certainly entirely agree with Mr Seymours views upon the matter of the Peer I ax, and believe everyone who is not directly interested in the. trade will hold similar opinions. We pass over the question of its hearing in regard to temperance though that is an important one, but simply draw attention to the fact, as stated by Mr Seymour, that LI per pound lias liaen taken oil'sugar, and all ingredients can be. procured here as cheaply or cheaper than elsewhere. Tn regard to barley our local brewers are even in abetter position than their fellow tradesmen in the old country, for ours is not only of a better quality, but it is so cheap that it lias actually been found more profitable to the farmers to send it to London for sale, and pay freight, Ac., upon it, than to dispose of it in the local market. It- is quite plain that any brewer who is satisfied with using pure ingredients can suceessfullv compete with the outside world, and • pay even double the prasent amount of the ! tax. and lie is also protected by the import j

duty on baer, which would balance matters even aside from the other considerations we have alluded to. Mr Seymour was also perfectly right in styling the Qualification of Electors Act, the Registration of Electors Act, and the Triennial Parliaments Act as tli* liberal measure* of a liberal Ministry - a Ministry liberal in deed ax well a* in word. The country lias long been convinced that these measure* would not. hare 1 icen passed by the (trey Ministry if their existcnc* had continued for twenty years, and the voters under the new Acts, we trust, will rightly estimate tli* privileges which hare thus been secure 1 for them by the Ministry of which Mr Seymour is a supporter. His action in reference to th« “ aton* wallers " lias been subjected to a certain amount of adverse comment, but wo think it will be generally admitted that lie was fully justified in putting a stop to the disgraceful proceedings that took place during the obstruction to the passage of this necessary and just measure. As iie explained, his ruling did not any way check free discussion. On the contrary, it forced the oh-

structivo minority to revert to the di*cus»ion upon the Bill itself, and abandon foreign subjects, thus enabling the House to pronounce its opinion upon tli* question at stake, which it did by a crushing majority. In all places, except Nelson of course, his action was warmly approved of by the people, and any advene comment upon it on the part of a few interested persons in this district is simply uttered for electioneering purpose*. The very man who most freely complains about it is the very one who, in a smaller body, did most tyrannically use hi* power as chairman, and this fact possibly warp* his opinion. It lias been stated that Mr. Seymour expresses nothing about the politic* of the future, hut wc think that Ilia views upon Local (fovernment effectually disprove this. Tli",' are such as we bdieve will, if

carried out, create a great furling of satisfaction throughout the country. If the Road Boards are given theextended powers he proposes to confer upon them, ami the districts are enabled to regulate their affairs in the same m inner as the boroughs do at present. we believe all that is required in this direction will lie accomplished. Mr ■Seymour, of course, is not prepared, like others wc could mention, to produce some wild and Utopian scheme which would hive the off'ct of spoiling the good work already done, and throwing the country into tiic same disastrous condition it was in under the management of Sir (!. Urey, when schemes for the improvement of the whole human race, on entirely new plans were cheap and plentiful but’all utterly absurd. He is concent tint the present growth of prosperity should he allowed to continue and gain in strength, and will, wc are certain, work his utmost to secure that desirable end. Upon the c !u nation question he is also sound, cxprcsiing as lie doe* a full seas* of the consideration to which Catholics are entitled on account of their conscientious scruples. He has every desire to see ths Catholics receive justice as speedily a* possible, and states that he will support a measure to secure this whenever it is introduced by Uovornincut, from whom any alteration of this kin 1 should cm mate, and we have no doubt will at an early date. It i* certainly not the place of a private member to introduce such a measure : if lie did so it would not he likely to have any pisetic.il result.

but on the contrary might delay the matter for some considerable time. If the electors return men with broad and liberal views, such as Mr Seymour, this just concession will probably lie made to our fellow settlers, hut if they return a number of so-called freethinkers or rather narrow-minded Atheists it will lie no use oxpccting justice to be mated out to all. We shall take a further opportunity of referring to Mr Seymour’s speech in a future issue.

Os' Wednesday evening our local eontemporary expressed its deop disgust with Mr. Seymour’s speech. It was only natural that this should be the case, for the speech was an able and effective one, and calculated to greatly diminish Mr. Dodson’s chances of election, already sufficiently weak. Our contemporary strongly objects to the ex-member for Wairau recapitulating the work of the session, and the part lie took therein, but most people will think that it was liis boundeii duty to do so, and would have been much surprised had lie not alluded to his past labors. His opponents have all along been in the habit of asserting that lie did nothing, but his speech was such an admirable refutation of this unfounded charge that it roused their ire, and an amateur writer was deputed to quibble with the speech, and distort its meaning to suit, the purposes of the party. \\ e are not surprised to discover our contemporary finding fault, with Mr. Seymour for voting for the Licensing Bill. It is well-known that its views upon this matter are subject to considerable bias, and the electors we have, no doubt will have no difficulty in deciding which candidate can he best trusted to chit) out the wishes of the people on this subject. The writer then proceeds to quote Stuart Mill in support of a condemnation of the Property Tax, but as lie makes literary basil of that admirable writer, and hungits his meaning, the arguments ensuing art necessarily very weak. The remainder of the article is devoted to vituperation, the writer evidently believing that Mr Seymour, in obtaining (Joveniinent expenditure for this district, lias been doing it a great injustice. On various occasions wo have alluded at. length to the various work.* Mr Seymour has obtained for his district, and no further allusion to these is iicccsssrv, n* t.hc settlers along our railway and road lines have, sufficient evidence before them, and the I own of Blenheim itself call supply numberless instances. \\ c have only to express our firm conviction that-as a single member Mr Seymour has done wonders for his coustituenev, and has seemed more for it. than has been obtained by many constituencies which have been hitherto allowed to return two or mors members. By his past services ho lias earnod * lie gratitude of the elector*, and proved hi* competency for the position, and as an able politician with matured view* for the future, lie is fully entitled to re-election, especially as the opposition to him is *o very weak, and so manifestly interested in retarding the progre** of the di*triet.