FLAXMILLERS AND THE WAR TAX LEVY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1574, 8 July 1916, Page 3

FLAXMILLERS AND THE WAR TAX LEVY.

DEPUTATION WAITS ON MINISTER.

A deputation of Ilaxmillers, introduced by JUessrs D. Buiek, W. H. Field, D. 11. Guthrie, and E. Newman, M,s. P., waited upon Sir Joseph Ward at Wellington on Thursday to place before him what they termed the probable unfair operation of the taxation clauses of the Finance Act so far as the (lax industry is concerned. The principal speakers were Messrs A. Seifert and C. Loughnan. They stated that the Jlaxmillers fully recognised that the Bill was a fair one in regard to the general body of Ilaxmillers. It was only in regard to the cases of a minority of millers who were unfavourably situated that relief was sought. Tiie cases referred, to were those who had met with misfortune such as the destruction of their llax or their mills by lire prior to the war, and those who, owing to the high juice of flax, had been encouraged recently to establish mills in portions of the district which were difficult of access, as well as those who, owing to various circumstances, had not been milling their flax for several years jirior to the war. in some cases the millers now operating were spending capital in lira tiling their land and conserving I licit' (lax, which look four years to mature, and therefore earned no profit, just jirior to the war, whereas since the war broke out they had been milling and making eonsiderahle incomes as Ihe result of their jireviotts expenditure of capital, and the high juices ruling. The six per (•mil. provision did not meet llte case, as that was (he rate of jireuiiiuu charged by insurance comjiauies for insuring the llaxmills. Taking the three years jirior to the war they had one good year, vi/,., 1913. That yeai' would he selected hy them us (he one for calculating their standard income. Therefore, the projmsed taxation would fall less heavily on I hem than on the class of millers previously mentioned who had no jire-war history. If Ihe Kill were not amended to meet (he case of (he lasl-iiieiiliuned seclion of millers, many of them would cease milling, in which case the llax would go (o waste. The dejmtalion suggested that a fixed standard jirice should he jilaced on (lax, say, .(.'24 jier (on (the 1913 juice), and that all excess should hear (he excess profit taxation. Sir Josejih Ward pointed out the jirovisions made for dealing with cases of hardshij), and the difficulty of separate treatment of the (lax industry, although he recognised the difficulties of the Ilaxmillers in question. The same argument, however, might be applied to some other businesses.

If wus finally arranged that the millers should prepare a slalenient of the lands for the consideration of the Minister, who promised to go into tile matter with a view of deriding’ whether provision eonld bo made to meet the ease submitted.