WAYS AND MEANS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 18, 27 May 1871, Page 12

WAYS AND MEANS.

For the-first time for these many years we faith in the Provincial Executive'than" in the Provincial Council; ! We believe, and the public share in‘ ; the belief; th at it will be rather the ' fault"- of the -latter : than the former if " the province - does not now go-ahead. We are persuaded that jVIr =; Fitzherbert* would 1 never have accepted his present office, under existing . circumstances j if he had not feltthat his administration of.the affairs of the -province would , contrast favorably With that of his predecessor. The members of> his. Executive are till warm supporters of the Public Works’ policy of the .Colonial Ministry, and. they, wil be naturally anxious to produce a miniature edition of the same policy for the benefit of the province. What,, on a large scale, would prove beneficial to the colony .as a whole, will prove, on a reduced scale, beneficial to this particular part of it. What is required is the adoption of such a fiscal policy as will restore the credit of the province, enable it to participate in the Public Works Loan of the General Government, and insure a local revenue sufficient to pay the interest and sinking fund of a provincial loan required for the prosecution' of reproductive undertakings. To enable the Government to raise such a revenue; it will require the hearty support of the Council and tho public. It is childish, if not-something worse, tocry out for railways, bridges, and immigration, -if we do not show a willingness to contribute anything towards'their cost. As we cannot obtain a -sufficient revenue from land sales, we-must raise a revenue from .the lands sold,-or by some other honest, process,if. we do not want the province any longer to stick iu. the mud, If the, revenue gis insufficient, the Provincial Qpunciff like any...other . Legislative. or municipal body,,, must adopt ways and means of fhe, deficiency. Why. : should a Provincial Council be relieved : of a duty which the Imperial Parliament'' and oii'r House of Representatives, equally' witli a City Council, or ; the smallest'Road Board,' have imposed upon them ? "" 7 ' '' ' ’ ” ' - Rates; tolls, and taxes' are considered at bst as' mecossary evils ; but- they J are not- always so ; for sometimes ■ they are re ally blessings in disguise. The principal reason why Uhey have been justly-reckoned so obnoxious has been ovyi n» -to .-- -the - mode--'- in '-which, and the purposes for which,-they have ; beendevied’. Itds^unfortunate for the Prov-inciab Government-that a new and unusual dax shoffid =b© generally felt? as. more -oppressive, than one .to -which the poople hav.e. been accustomed, ..though the. latter may be .less., necessary and equitable;- They, will pay 205.. in .the one case without grumbling,- while they will, think- much of- paying 20d in -the other-filiates; tolls, and taxes, levied to j support a bad government, a particular! creed,.or- a.swarm of. military,.civil, and clerical, locusts, are naturally held m. just-abhorrence by those who have.to pay them; and who do-net participate in the Spoils. " But ' even ' these imposts, for these 'objects, would prove in operation less; oppressive, were... it, not for the viciousy inequitable; inquisitorial, and arbitrary manner in which they are collected; It is necessary, however, to be borne in mind that; there are two kinds of imposts, which. ..have-, in operation precisely -opposite effects: ■ ■ ■The one hind depresses, arid the other promoles Industry, , by . facilities for, orstimulating., production. The- former, is too frequently of the nature ,| of those- imposts which despotic' States levy atytlfo point of the bayonet. Qf thb latter kind are those imposts which- a free andj en 1 ighteiied ’people - frequently dm pose upom th e mWitli ayvteW; to-their secitrity^dheir. ;tliejr.pTOspet?.t/, thvjr

'independence —H-eHce-dfim-explarnttiorr foffthe aribirvaly tliaF abvays--greater under free, tbati under arbitrary Governments? 0 ' Any jax ‘ will'promote ■industry.-. .when expended . in;affording facilities for production. In proportion to the : extent and activity of the industry .will be the produce. .In proportion to : the. amount of the- produce will be the - extent of the commerce-^—the exchange of commodities—and the consequent prosperity of .the' country. ' From wii ich it follows tiiat a tax paid for reproductive .undertakings, or to cover the rest on a loan expended on public works, will, by giving ‘facilities for production;" be more than returned to the tax-payer, either by. enhancing the value of his.pro-i perty, or by enabling him to -participate in that general prosperity which the tax had been the primary means of creating. ’No sensible tenant of a wretched. hovel would abject to. pay his landlord a trifle more rent, on tho understanding that the latter transformed it for him into a comfortable residenceso no sensible settler. would object to a , tax which would make the colony more prosperous, and a better place to live'in. Still less would he object if the tax was levied in such an equitable way as would render its. payment scarcely.felt as a burden; which it very well might be, save in a fewunavoidable and exceptional instances, in which the 'general benefit conferred would more than counterbalance the individual and necessary hardship suffered. In some instances the impost would actually prove an unmixed blessing, as in the case of a toll on bridges over dangerous fivers; and it would, even be looked upon as .such by. the toil-payer himself. In other ininstances its indirect, effects would prove highly advantageous to tlio public inte* j rest, as in the case of a tax on saddle | horses, billiard rooms, and bush grog- j shops; the good results of which would j soon make themselves apparent. A revenue sufficient to pay the interest and sinking fund of a hundred thousand pound loan, obtained'from or through the General Government, could be raised by a trifling land tax and moderate bridge tolls, the former of which need not exceed, on the average, Id per acre, or Id in the pound on the actual value of the land assessed. .Like the tax on saddle horses, it would be felt by individuals, as a burden, but. on that very account it might prove extremely beneficial to the province. • Nothwithstanding the numerous ad- ! vantages direct taxation, judiciously and equitably levied, and wisely and economically applied,would confer on the province; it is an ugly bull in the imaginations of many and a doubt sometimes.obtrudes itself on the mind whether the new Executive- will have the courage.to take it boldly by the horns. Unless it be done boldly, .it would be better that it were not done at all. If the....policy as above indicated, or any similar policy, be adopted . by the Government, and fails to receive the.sanction of the Council, let the former appeal to the people, by whom a general land tax, for the past twenty years, has*b%bn vainly- demanded-. 1 ' 1 - • - ' s