The Manawatu Times SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 1878.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 87, 10 August 1878, Page 2

The Manawatu Times SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 1878.

Ti^e very high opinions entertained by, his supporters of the ability of the jrlon. The. Treasurer, have, it mu*t be. .freely confessed, been fully realised by tho masterly manner m whicli he has acquitted himself of* his Financial Sta'teinent, on Tuesday- night. We haye 1 - not 'been amongst those who have been continually belauding the member forilvangilikei or looking upon him as a kind of modern . Admirable Cbtchton, but we believo m bestowing honor . where, honor, is- due, and ' tho ■' Mini ster'al utterance of fhe Treasurer was certainly" "sufficient to satisfy the most exacting, and silence "all but f chronic grumblers. Notwithstanding the amount of work undertaken' by Mr Ballance during the Eecess, he has lost not a moment m placing the House and tho Country inpossession of the transactions of thepasfr, year,, and the proposal which tho Government rilondcd to make with respect; to the future. The amount ' of space at our command, precludes us from publishing the Statement m its I entirety, and m fact had we the facility of doing so, we rather doubt the advisability of such a step, deeming wesumS of its contents would be more acceptable to our readers, as it would obviate the necessity of wading through the bulky document to grasp the salient points. As a matter of course tho first item touched upon is the expenditure for the year 1877-8, and -we learn that the total ordinary expenditure was £3,030,241 125., against an estimate of £3,206,183 9s. lid. This disbursement, however, doesinoi include the total expenditure for the year, »for to that sum must be added £725,307 14s 3d for various purposes. TJie t next matter is the revenue for the year 1877-8, and with regard to this we find that the surplus brought forward by the Treasurer, was estimate! at £148,220 8s od, wherein only £123,110 7s 9d has proved realisable, being £25,000 Og 8d less than the esti. mate. Tlie revenue of the current year was estimated by the late Government at £3,153,685 — consisting of ordinary revenue, £2,263,160 \ and territorial revenue, £8bb',526. The net revenue ac r j tually collected amounted to £3,915,315 15s, consisting o£ ordinary revenue, £3,323,752 15s 7d, and territorial, £1,r58,5b"2 19a- sd, showing an excess on the 1 estimate of £761,630 15s. The Treasurer, however points out • that: the Consolidated Fund has been'augmented ..by the absorption of the balance of several 'accounts amounting , to, £190,922 0s sd, and that sum added

to the balance, with which ws commenced this year, £123,922 0s sd, and the ordinary and territorial, together with revenues collected from local bodies, produces a grand total of receipts for the year of £4,445,560 5s 6d. Having dealt with the several matters of Provincial liabilities, Treasury Bills, Loans,' and the Public Works account, Mr Balance proceeded to deal with the estimated expenditure for 1878-9, under two heads— the permanent appropriations, and the annual charges. In estimating the revenue for the present year, it would appear, the- Treasurer did not base his estimates upon alterations which it was proposed; to. make m the,Tari£f, but rather to d|a) with the : revenue ito be raised under AKc existing; law. -From the, various sources, the total estimated revenue would be i 4,062,037, or— including the/fees, &c., payable "to local bodies, estimated at £200,000— £4,262,037, To this amount^ a!dd the balance o£ the surplus of last year, £20",46& 13s 2d, and we have a total, pi £4,282,305 13s 3d as the esti-' mated receipts of the year. Peducting the" estimated expenditure, £4,193,509 8s 6d, we have a surplus of £85,996 : 4s Bd, available to meet supplementary vjotes or contingent expenditure. Iv referring to the form of the tariff, lie stated that every observer pf~ the effect of .the system of ad .valorem .duties, which was applied to a multitude of articles m 1873, had been led to condemn it; -as it was. a r§jriarkablo:£act that the revenue, derived from these duties has shown no increase. No doubt fihe ■ imposition of ad valorem d ntles. offers special facilities^ to importers . for- fraud ulent , entries, and consequently wo deem the . proposed change to specific duties ./a; wise and prudent step. In the matter^ L qt . taxa- ; tipri the Treasurer pointed out that ' hithertqu.tlhe burden^ 'hud borne with unequal pressure on Hifferent. i cjasses of, the community; and that the colonialisatioQ of the Land Eevenue had placed m; the hands of the Government and the House; a powerful reserve force, capable of immediate expansion m emergencies; As this particular portion of Mr Ballance's utterances must pqssess especial interest to all, wo will quote Verbatim from the speech : — " We assume then, sir, that the Land P\ind was not eolonialised m or.ler to supply deficiencies m the ordinary revenue, or to prevent a consideration of; the question of taxation. If this view of the character of the land revenue be generally ' entertained, we shall be able to approach the question ofi a change m the incidence of taxation with our iniiids free from consideration abiout the probable amount likely to bo derived from that source m the future. Exceptionally favored years m respect of land sales will mean simply that a large auxiliary aid to the prosecution of public works • will be . forthcoming. With this distinction between land and general revenue understood, I may at once state that we do not see our way, even were it desirable, to propose largo remissions without at the same time providing a means of compensating the revenue." On this point I will have something more to say as I proceed to develop our proposals, and I shall refer now to reductions. It often follows -that if the remission of Customs duties are gradually and jndiciously made, the consumer is relieved, whilo the revenue soon recovers itself. This experience,, however,, does not apply to total reniissiob ; bufc I would point out that the revenue '_ derives' less benefit frpm.a great number .of trifling duties, than- trade -sustains injury by their imposition. Having brienyalluded to the principles on which wo have proceeded, the committee will be prepared to hear our proposal." Proceeding to point out how this end would be brought about, the Treasurer stated that it was proposed to abolish altogether certain Custom duties, which either fall on the necjessaries of life, or clog the wheels. ; of ■indu-s'tryj or render more pomplcx or costly the system" of collection. Tho last embraces the following :^— TJie duty on igrain, the duty on flour, on maize and ; cpr|iflpur, on sago, on arrowroot, on bacon arid. v hams, on butter and chebse, on artisans' tools, on building materials, , cfn; axles, axle - arms* . . aud boxes, on cart-shafts, spokes, on photographic, goods, on baskets and wickerware, perambulators, on steel, on ironfencing wire, oh paints" wet or dry ; the total of which, remission amounted to £19,726. The estimated revenuo on tea was,- £84,000, and it was proposed to reduce the duty from 6d to 4d per lb., thus giving a relief to tea-drinkers of £28,000 a year. The duty on sugar was one penny per lb., aud ifc was proposed Jo reduce it'to half that amount, thereby decreasing "the 'duty. on the total "by £68,500^ The quantity of Australian wine imported into the Colony m the year 1877 was 12.075 gallons, yielding m duty,' at 4s a gallon, £2,415, which certainly to us would appear to uiake it almost prohibitive, and the reduction would; from the stimulus given to h\creased consumption, '"probably 'result/ in n_o actual loss to the revenue. Evidently the Government take tho same view of the matter, a3 we perceive that •while reducing the duty by one-half, they expect no reduction m the revenue. It is, however, proposed to extra-tax the luxuries by increasing the duty on sparkling wines from 4s to 6s per gallon, with a corresponding increase of one-third to the revenue. The remissions, however, are intended to come into effect m January,' 1879, and consequently the loss to the revenue m the present financial year will be about £58,000. The foregoing included the whole of the items on which a decrease was proposed, and the. Treasurer next proceeds deal with fresh taxation, which is to be levied m three different directions— by a land tax, an impost on joint stock companies, and a duty on colonial beer. There can be ho doubt that the policy of openiug up for settlement tlie lands of the colony by means of railways, roads, and other works, -executed out of loans contracted m the foreign market, has eijffaiiecL. upon the -colony t a. heavy responsibility m the shape of interest. At the same time it be denied thaif?dne of the most marked effects of that policy has been t6 enhance^ the value of all property, especially land, which .derives a periuanfent- benefit from the extension of railway and other mean|^of communication. In'pointing out the means by which the proposed impost was to be levied, JVIr Balla-nce stated that there were two methods by which the unimproved value of land may bo fpund. This first is '

classification, ■with a fixed arbitrary value attached to each ciass, as m Victoria, where the distinction is arrived at by estimating Mib sheep-capacity of the land. At first sight this system appears simple and easy of application. It has the obvious effect of diseouragiug the, holding oE large areas, unless, the gualityj of the soil is «ood, and there is abun-, dance of capital to work it. The princi-> pal objection to it is, v that, with ai given^ number of classes, it does not recognisethe position-value of urban and subur-' ban property, or sufficieutly.distinguish between the capacity of the holder of poor land, and the holder of rich land, to contribute the tax ; between property m proximity to railways and roads, and •property isolated from arterial lines of cpinmunicatipn. .. r But, . perhaps, tlie strongest objection' is that , ttte tax is odmpara tively stationary^ 1 arid' does not bring under it the -.-increment of uniaipfoved value which takes place between one period and another. It is .proposed to follow the prepgdpntr of[ the Inconfe Tax m England, m exempting values below a certain amount.- Every holder will be entitled to claim an exemption to the extent of £500 on the?-- total value of all his holdings, and, no r one will b r e called upon to pay the tax J the value of whose property Js not more.than^that sum. The leaseholdei", except where the lease is held from the Crown, will have the right to deduct-fromi-hia- i?en£ at the payment the amount of the tax?The minimum unimproved value^of land, will be fixed at £l,an acre, The measure introduced to give effect to these proppsals willTprovide ;fpr a systemlof ,Tasscssment Within each county and municipality, setting fdrth the iniproved and unimproved va.lue,-and it, will (empower: the local bodies,. at their option r ,tp.ac^2 cept the valuations ' required under, tlie . Eating Act. It will be observed, that the owner of lauded property will not begin to contribute under the., tax. until.two deductions or exemptions of a very material ohar-acter .are. Qiaota vJfyrv.ijhc' exemption of improvements,' thVin_dustry. of ; the improving settler escaped taxation ; and by not taxing the first £500 of unimproved value, the settler commencing with small means is left unburdened until m making a start m life he rises aboro his difficulties, while the class character of the exemption is destroyed by making it universal. As the results of this tax, the Treasurer estimates that- thoro will bo £50,000^000 of a taxable valuo, which, by imposing one halfpenny m the £, will yield to theTevenue the nice little sum of £104,166, less about £10,000, the cost of valuation and collection. With rogard to Joint Stock companies, ifc is estimated that the paid-up capital and profits shows an annual income of £800,000, and 3d m the £, or, Hper cent., will yield £10,000 to therevenne. ■'" As something lite 2s 8d per hogshoad has been taken off the brewing of beor, m the shape of hops, malt, and sugar, the Government think the brewers cannot i cpmplaiji very much of a tax of 1 jtl per gallon upon tlio beer, by which it is estimated some £30,000 will be raised. The above are the principal features m the Budget, and before qoneluding, we may draw a comparison between the imposition of fresh duties and the reduction on the old ones. As .we have shown, it is calculated that the new Land Tax will add at least £90,000 to lhe>evenne ; theimpbston Joint Stock Companies, £10,000 ; and the. Beer Tax, £30,000 : -making a total increase of £130,000. Against this we have a reduction of £19,726 on the various articles enumerated by us, — 28,000 on. tea, and £68,500 on sugar ; while the reduction on wine* would not alter the reeeipts',-;inas-mneh as it ia expected the increased trade would compensate for the reduction. Thus it will be seen that while the revenue will be increased- by £130,000, it will be decreased by £117,000, leaving a balance to the good of £13,000. That small item, however, is nothing beside the consideration of the fact that the accumulating wealth of absentee land-owners will be taxed to boar its burden of responsibility.