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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4412, 11 May 1875, Page 2

Sir George Grey has opened the Auckland Provincial Council in a speech which will command, as it deserves, the attention of the colony. It is unquestionably his strongest utterance on public questions since he entered upon the arena of colonial politics. We do not agree with Sir George on many points in his speech; but on several of his strongest we most cordially agree with - liim. Any one who is acquainted with the cause of the prostration of the Auckland settlements, must endorse what he says regarding it; but the remedy suggested is not likely to bo so generally approved. We agree, however, in saying that the the limit of indirect taxation has been reached; that to strain it further would be injurious to commerce and the industrial classes. We are likewise at one with Sir George in thinking that the taxation of the country is unequal; but we cannot go the length of saying that a property or an income tax is necessary. Certainly, the time has fully come for revising the Tariff, with a view to reduction of taxation in the direction indicated by Sir George Grey, and if he applies his whole energies to its accomplishment he will, deserve well of the country. There is, however, a fallacy underlying this portion of his speech which we feel bound to expose. He says, (wo quote from our own correspondent's telegram, which is fuller in this passage than the Press Agency telegram in another column) : The provincial revenue proper raised from the inhabitants of Auckland is as follows : Customs, £224 548 lis. 9d.: stamps, £13,002 15s. (Id.; postal, £11,890 48. Id.; fees and fines, £11,711 9s. Bd.| pro vincial revenue, £10,000; goldflelds, £10.500; education rate, £12,000. Total, £309,080 os. lid., making taxation of £4 12s. on every man, woman, and child' Each small farmer having a wife and four children contributes about £27 12s. A day laborer earned ss. per day, making £7O per annum. lie has Ills income reduced to £4B by taxation on necessaries and comforts. It pressed hardly on the poor, and left no chance of saving.

Now, it is quite clear that Sir Geokoe Grey and his Executive did not consider the effect of tho figuroa quoted, or these would not have been used to support euch

an absurd theory. Owing to the sparseness of inhabitants, and the natural wealth of the country, the Malthusian theory of population does not apply here, and Sir Geokge will find many small farmers and laborers in Auckland who count ten olive branches instead of four. If his argument be good for anything, it follows that. every family of twelve in Auckland province contributes £55 4s. yearly in taxes to the State, or in other words, that a man earning ss. a day, having such a family, has only £2O 16s. per annum left to support them, the Treasury absorbing £55 4s. of Tiis earnings. Surely the condition of the Dorsetshire hind is far preferable to this, and Mr. Holloway must have gone away from Auckland convinced that emigration to that province would not be a wise adventure. Yet in the face of this deplorable picture of destitution and ruin that he has drawn, he censures the General Government for not sending immigrants to Auckland in equal numbers as to Otago and Canterbury. It may, however, be said that this is an extreme view to take. Granted ; but of what value is an argument drawn from statistics if its utter absurdity becomes apparent by the lowest possible application of the multiplication table. Let us glance at the heads of revenue, however, and it will be apparent that the laborer earning five shillings a day, and the small farmer with four small children in his bush home, do not necessarily contribute much towards it. They are practically exempt from the operation of the Stamp Act ; it is entirely their own fault if they contribute towards the fines ; in the matter of fees, it must be to their profit or they would not incur them. Then, with regard to the goldfields revenue, this is partly a tax on income in the shape of gold duty, which Sir Geoege approves but which we condemn, and partly, in the form of miners' rights, to secure a monopoly of labor on the goldfields. But the great bulk of the population do not contribute any part of this amount. The provincial revenue proper is made up from publicans' and auctioneers' licenses, slaughter-house fees, tolls, &c. Here again it will be apparent that the day laborer and small farmer do not, except in a very restricted way, pay any part of this revenue. The Education rate is a tax levied equally on all, by which well-to-do people who send their children to private schools contribute to the education of the children of Sir Geoege's pet class. Those only who use the post-office pay postage, and it is a saving in every case to the individual ; so also of the telegraph. We come lastly to the Customs duties, and we shall give the principal heads of revenue for the last quarter in Auckland, as illustrating our general position. Thus :

MARCH QUARTER 1875. Spirits £14.785 Tobacco and cigars 0,398 Wine and ales 2,497 Tea and coffee 3,720 Sugar and molasses 7,181 Ad valorem 10 per cent .. .. 23,550 Goods by weight 4,082 Wherefore it follows, that if the laboring men and small farmers denied themselves of alcoholic drinks and tobacco, their gross contribution to the revenue through the Custom-house would be comparatively trifling. Indeed, were the ad valorem duties lowered, and were the working classes to '' deny themselves" the use of intoxicants and tobacco, their share of the public burdens would be light. Our space fails to deal with other parts of Sir George Grey's speech. He has, however, weakened a very strong case by the injudicious use of figures. His remarks in reference to the land,.purchase system, and the attitude which Auckland should assume towards the colony, are deserving of the most careful attention. In matters of detail, as between the Governments, he is in error ; but on the general question of administration it would be difficult to assail his position.