THE NEW LAW RE STAMPS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue 6, 21 September 1880, Page 2

THE NEW LAW RE STAMPS.

Folio wing upon the heels of tho dreaded tea per cent, reduction, conies another iunovation which will cause " weeping, and wailiug, aud gnashing of teeth" amougs: thut onethirteenth of the population which ia dubbed the Civil Service. On the first of October there will come into force a new law regarding- t- tamps, by which " all receipts given by or on behalf of the Corporation of any county, borough, lioad Board, Education Board, or Harbour Board are declared exempt from duty; not, let it bo remembered, receipts givon to the local bodies mentioned are free from duty, but receipts given by them or on their behalf. To compensate lor this tiemendous stretch of liberality, in saci iiieing so largo an item of revenue as the stamps used by the local bodies would represent, the Government lias hit upon a delightfully simple method. The new stamp law will necessitate the purchase of a penny stamp every month by each officer of the Government, from the Queen's Representative at Government House to the lowest flunkey who washes bottles at Bellamy's, for is it not written,*' all receipts given to her Majesty, cr to any person on her behalf, shall be chargeable with stamp duty under the provisions of the Stamp Act, 1875, and any exemption of such leceipts from stamp duty is repealed ?'' b'ancy the Viceregal tongue being compelled to lick a vile stamp, to attach the same to the voucher paying his " screw ! "' Picture, for instance, Sir Goorge Fergusson ltowen, tbat Prince of (but we daro not finish the sentence) ordering the gorgeous Emelius to " attach the stamp which a parsimonious Government had extracted from his exchequer to the pnltry voucher s called a receipt ;'' picture the gentle Emelius seizing the Queen's penny head in his hand, * aud carrying it out for the flunkey to lick ! Really, we ure surprised at Sir Hercules giving the lioyal assent to this measure; but perhaps the faot that he himself was about to de. part from the Colony may account for his willingness to pass so obnoxious a Bill, which would entail untold annoyance upon his successors in office. And then, think of struggling Government officials with large families, to whom T2 stamps per annum would represent three loaves; or dandified young fops " who, ah, belong ah, to the ah. Civil Service, ah," and will bo compelled to smoke Swiss cigars for one week in the year, instead of perfumed llavanas, to save their contribution to tho stamp revenue S One shilling per year! "Why that would buy three "beers," two " nobblers," or ouo pint bottle of Guinness's brown stout ; it would procuro a pit seat in the Welliagton theatre, or a yard of ribbon for a popular barmaid,! Oh, Major, why this other sweeping attack upon the Civil Service ? "AY here

will it end ?"• Seriously, this /alteration in the law does pavtuKe very much of the natu o of a Jarce, and the Government would Jb^e acted in . a a more dignified way ifTt had either jffr*- Hft mat:er3 in smtu quo, or had simply reloised local bodies from the trouble nnd expense of giving stamped raceipts.