MR, HURSTHOUSE ON THE LAND TAX BILL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 204, 7 October 1878, Page 4

MR, HURSTHOUSE ON THE LAND TAX BILL.

At tho tA-A-mfc of a largo number of our Mqtueka readers we publish the following Hansard report of Mr Hursthouse'.i speech on tho motion for the second reading of this Bill :— I am surprised thii; fh e Government aro not wdimg lo a./cep,: » v ntl,,,„rnJnent cf Ibis tit-bale until next 'week for it puis honorable gentlemen in the «ncr mlortable position of having to speak without preparation, I had no idea there would be a chance nf the debate closing to nij-ht, and therefore I wus not rowdy with any grt-vomarks for the occasion. J t w i:i be remembered— the Mouse and the country remember •jt u-fil— that last session a 'proposal was made wiu-rtby the incidence of taxation would he mi ;.i!iu,ted that propeny should bear its fair pmrorlion towards the revenue according' i„ t|, e L, L . m .|it 'which it rited irom ihe lnr»o public exper.dilure since 1870. L/ amongst other.--, acquiesced in such a proposal. I advocatjd such a tax when I first appeared before tho public as a candidate for election, and, -evei-y timo 1 have heen before my munslil vents since, I have taken tin; opportunity to ur^e on them the advisability of such a tax. And whilst advocating these measures 1 lullv- believed I was doing that which was best for the country aud for the district which I had the honor to represent. But when 1 find in the proposals ofthe Government that a large portion of the Southern Island, including the district I represent, Uto be altogether cut off from the proposed expenditure ou public works for the ne_fc five years— that we are not to have what is our just right, what wa-* promisd to us, and what was enacted in the Railways Act of 1873, -namely, railway communication from Cook Strait to Dunedin— when I find that that is the proposition, I feel bound, much again. fc my convictions, to oppose the Land-Tax Bill, and. in fact every measure that a Government so full of imquity has brought before the country. Sir J say that this Government have not only broken the pledges which thoy gave te the country when tbey first took office, and which they did uot cease to repeat during the recess, but they now propose in the Public Works Statement to do great injustice to a large portion of the Middle Island. What will be the position ofthe Nelson and Marlborough Provincial Districts sf the proposals of the Minister for Public Works are carried out? How, does that honorable gentleman anticipate .'ibat tbe thirty thousand or forty thousand people who inhabit those provincial districts are going to exist? It is known to many honorable members that in our part of the country we are not blessed with particularly good soil, and that, out of the mauy" millions of acres which are comprised wi bin the boundaries of those districts, there are at the present time some five millions of acres of Crown land unoccupied, and the restrictive price that this Government have put on the land hns effectually stopped settlement there. Here I may mention one, at a'l events, of the pledges which the Government have broken. When they passed the Land Sales Bill last session, it was passed with the distinct understanding that a measure would be brought down this *, year whereby the land of tlie colony -should be classified, and sold at a uniform price. The country was led to believe that that policy would be fulfilled ; but now, when we are assembled in Parliament, we find that the Ministry, backed by a large majority, are not prepared to do anything of the sort, and the consequeuee is, they leave us without land and without hope in the world. The matter is much more serious than many honorable members are inclined to believe. The people in our provincial district are, as a rule, small settlers who have been striving for many years to compete successfully with the large corn growing districts in the Soutli, and we are all getting gradually into a worse position than we were in before, and unless the lands are opened, so i that we can increase our holdings and j get direct communication, it will be impossible for many of us to maintain the hold we have in that part of _\ T ew .Zealand. It has been said, and particularly by the Premier, that the land •was well capable of bearing the tax, which he intended to impose upon it. With tbat statement I partially agreed and partially disagreed. The land may be capable of bearing a considerable amount of extra taxation if it is held iv suitable localities, and if it is all of a good description and in large areas. I take it that the people on whom this tax will press most heavily are those whom the Premier is pleased to call "the yeomanry of New Zealand "'—a class which I, as well as himself, and all who have the good of the country at heart, wish to see increase and multiply. I know that the wealthy aud large landowners can well afford to pay a small portion of the interest on the public works loans which have so immensely enhanced the value of their properties ; but this yeomanry class— these men who hold properties of from fifty to one hundred acres — are not in a position to pay any extra taxation. Already the taxes iv some parts of the colony are very severe. We have highway rates, county rates, municipal rates, and numerous other rates, which •we are compelled to pay ; and in some parts of New Zaaland with which 1 am acquainted, the local rates amount to 3s. in the pound on the annual value to let. If, in addition to these, a lax ib imposed upon the land, the yeomanry class of New Zealand will have to succumb, and tbe land will fall into the bands of large owners, and n state of

things totally different from that which the Premier wishes to see established in this country, will, I fear, be the result There is another view ofthe case that I take, aud ifc is this, I would not say that to mipose a lmd tax is altogether unfair, if ifc were not tbat other. pro periiesare to he exempt from taxation. : Why, I a-dv, should a man who possesses laud io the value of £"500 pay lo lhe State a certaian amount in the shape of a land-tax, whilst the merchant, or the doctor, or the lawyer especially, goes i'ree? Why ehouid not these latter persons be made to contribute their share? The lawyers havo benlited, especially, from the immense expenditure ef money that has gone on for the last seven years. Thoy have been enriched teufold by tho amount of business thafc hns been brought to them through the immense rWin the price of land, which has increased enormously. And we must admit that, while the Public Works polh-v has enhanced the value or land through the greater part oi the colony, so also has it improved business generally in all branches of commerce and in all professions. Persons of this class have all benefited' and, in my opinion, to a much greater extent than the small yeomanry class in New Zealand. It is* , a id that this expenditure of public money has increased the value of lnnd in every part of the country. lam very sorry to say that my experience goes to prove thafc in the district irom which I came the land is absolutely of less value than ifc was in 1870, and here appeirs to me to be lv immense injustice—that we whose laud is not unimproved are to be taxed to pay iu!e**rst on money which hai gone to improve the land of other people. My impression ia that i.' this land-tax ia to !»e carried into operation, some system will hava to be adopted, by the appointment of a royal commission or fome other authority, co il a', the land wliich lias been affected by the Public Works policy shall be taxed, ond land which it can be posiiiveiy piot-ed has not bereQt9d by that expenditure shall be •-X'-mpted. All the class of people w.'om I reprfgnnt want ig just ies in the Uk >tion. They desire fair play and no tavor to any one claes in particu'ar. Ia my op ; nion thia tax wili press very hardly upon the small farmers of New Zetland. The pioposals of the Govern, ment not only left us without, milwny communication, but the Minister for Public Works absolutely trtlls us that we ara cot to have any voes for local works. Can the honorable gentleman imagine the slate in which such a disiiict as that which I represent will be phased ? We have immense tracts of Crown Lands which, by hia arbitr t/ land law he prohibits us from buying. We are compelled to make many miles of roads through these barren Crown lands, nnd wo have to tax ourselves to the extreme rato which the law admits to keep these roads in even passable condition. 1 am sorry to say that, the roads ibrojghout all that part of Njw Zealand are getiing gtalually wors-, uud tbe monf-Y which we can raise is totally inadequate to keep them in passable repair. This is a serious matter, \ nnd will hate o reeouaiderad \ y the Government sooner or later, Thot it is a very peculiar fact that', although last year measures were carried by wbich the land fund was colonialiseJ, jettbe propolis of the Government are now to return iho lond revenue to th-i dilferent districts ia which th<-y accrue. We see tbat (he Minger Jfor IVhc Woiks proposes to take a large B-aut of money out 0 f ( h Q revenue or land /uad fur thn construction of railways in _\ r evv Z -a hmd. We also find that thDse railways are to be constructed only in those districts where waste lands of the Crowu are to ba cold. When we colouialised the laud lund my impression was that all parts ofthe colony wero to be served ahk * out of iha land fund, and that wo wlo had tbe mi.-fortune to live in a part ot tbe country where the land ia lesa fruitful and whero thero is no Land Fund, would have the pie-sure of sp_odin» come ol the Canterbury Land Fund for makiug our roads If the Laud Fund is to be cobniaiized one year and provincialized the next, wa should do batter lo leave it in its original state. I view with great dissatisfaction tha proposal to remit tho duty on grain and Hour. Although I can hardly be called a strong* Protectionist, I think that this email ux, whilst it does not increase the price of flour and bread lo the consumer, yet nets bf ntficially t Hhe * reducer, aud enables hira to compete successfully with other colonies. No honorable member will supple for a moment tl.at if thia duty ia t.keu off, br ad will be sold one farthing cheaper. The Treasurer said that the ahipa which take coal from Newcastle to Ciliforuin, do not bring back grain acd Hour to Aufitra'iii. But. ho must he aware that those ohipa are not regular colliers, but, j are superior veasele, which perform a round voyage, nnd, when there is no return freight, t«k? coal to San Francisco, where they load with wheat for London. The honorable gentleman must be aware tbat freight l'rom San Fiancisco to Newcastle ia higher than from San Francisco to Aucklun.l. lam saiis-fidd that tbe rcmisdon of this duty will thia year have the df ct of bringing several thousands of tons of breadstuffs into the Auckland market, because we know tbe English market is a* preaert fully supplied witb corn, and California ha 3 hundreds of thousands ot tons lor which it is bound to find a n-arket, and fl a ton will bo the difference between profit and losb. The Treasurer quoted a letter which he receiwsd from a corn-exporter in Christ- \ church— Mr Cunningham, 1 believe.

That gentleman has a partner who ia aleo -"ngaged in milling business further South, and an honourable member of (his ITnu-e ham letter from him— the •mili,*,- eitJe of (he fino-fakim** an exactly conltaty view of t.|, B ol)gp< j t*.ke the jauib exception to the beeitajr and tho tax on join-stork corrP'lnica that. I h,i*e tufeen to the tax on lini. I consider die | JP „. (BX essentially a class tux, B1 „] t!lia j Touge h«8 oo ri B ht to impose a class tox <> D •be community. Why should the brewer be t*»xed and ,ha manufacturer of wool, ropes, or any other artirla po, free ? Tbe same argument. *nppH P8 (o tbe tax on compani-s. Why -should tbe mm who lends his monty through acomrany i.c taxed, while ,h 6 man woo lends in his own name is not. t»xed .' A {rreat deal hns been enid abj.it the benefits which the workwoman ia lo derive from the revision of ibe tariff. I urn essentially a woikiuaman myself. I ( | 0 not gee (hat I n " m going to b-nefit very much by thin change. I j-m to p„y a halfpenny less on sugar ani twopence Ipps on tea ; but I H-m to pay a penny n glass more on my beer. I cooaider that beer ia as much a necessary as t*-a and Bugar. It appeals lo mo to be uking money out. of one pocket and putting it into a --.other, It. appears to hnvtMieen done to mystify tbo wo*king-man whom our fieada are so fond of talking about, I sometimes feel very much ashamed at bting male a stalking-horse io this House. I do not believe that tbe wo.kiug-oien are co ovc-ridden and down-trodden as soue of their friends make tbem out to be. I am content, with my positiou as a working-man ; aud so long aa working-men get justice then they will not complain. Tbere ia a cettiio claaa of woiking-men who are l«d by gentlemen down South, and excited at public meetings, and we hear of deputations » frit ing tbat poverty is in the land; but these are not worktngmeo. They will uot woik. We heard las- session that a lot of them wero sent to Blufcskiu to woik on the rtilway f..r Gi » day, and in a week oniy two of them were lef*. I came from the Thames as one of a deputation of five hundred working m?n to ask for wotk. We wero offered _=* a day, with tools; but do you think we took it ? No, because we could get 10-j a day. The honorable yentleman told ns that the working-man passed by with scorn lvady-made hoots in shop?. That is quite true in ono respect and wrong iv another. We are perfectly well aware tint workiug-meu get boots mado to order, because ihey ars the cheapest in the long-run. But who consumes all tbo ready-made boots tint are imported? I say that working-men's wives aud faraili-js buy up nearly a'l the shop goods importtd iute the colony. The Attorney General said (i good dad about ths reductions made in the estimates of last year; but in my opinion, it the estimates have been reduced, tha efficiency of the departments bus also beeu i educed. What has been tho r.-sult of our neglected couutry districts? If any money has been voted ior n work, how long does it take to get it ? Tbis time last year there waa a cum of £50 placed on the fs'irnates to build a lock-up in my district. The existing lo:k-up wus not fit lor a pig. It had neither roof, floor, ior wall.-. It was the remaios of a buildiog in „ public piund. This money was voted, and tnera were innum r„ble applicutions tnide to tbe bead of the department. We ot last succeeded in getting this place built; but now it is found to be in the wrong place, and will have to be removed. My opinion has always been tbat thia central Government will never work unlenß you have a responsible agent io each provincial district. There ar- many email ruatteis like thia that tniglit be brought up to show the faulty aimiuistratiou ofthe Government.