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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5147, 21 September 1877, Page 2

The debate which followed upon! Mr. 'Wool cock’s motion -willlserve to show how fe.w reasons there'are for altering the incidence of taxation in this colony. Many of the speakers simply assumed that the mode of raising the revenue Was ; unfair?! tp certain sectipus; of ..the community, and they argued from such assumption,, .apparently; never troubling themselves about the strength of their premises, which we are told by logi■cians shbuld ''bo' the' first 'elbnierit in all arguments;!',: It ,-would be tiresome to- recapitulate the facts and figures adduced during the debate, proving that no one class in the community had reason .to; complain; of the, taxation to which they were subjected. Particular references have been made to the small farmers and working men. It is a very important' dotisideratioh ,to know: what are their opinions on the question, for if they are content at present, there would be little wisdom in altering. the taxation for their 'presumed l benefit, -while by such a ( Course • discontent, , would ;, be •) created amongst other classes, of the community. We will 'give '4rt''illuatratioh which will tend to ’show'.that the' working men ate not aware ..tljuiit they suffer any .partjcular grievance/ ,and it must,be borne in mind 'that there are'many ambhgHlibm Who' are 'well’ acquainted 'withlonr governmental system, and, fully comprehend the various ways by which the'revenue of the country is raised. ’ During the late contest —about six months ago—in the city of Wellington for a seat in the House of Representatives, one of the candidates on the day of nomi- ' nation/' in ■ uhmistakeable v ' ; language, avowed himself opposed to a tax upon property. ' five hundred persons, were present, more than one-half of whom were', working men, and yet Mr. Travers’ expression of opinion did nbt raise the slightest murmur of dissent, nor is it believed that it lost him one vote on the polling day. ' The truth is,'that'the taxation; of this ; colony, notwithstanding! 'the' opinions of those who claim an intimate knowledge of the industrial 1 classes, is not appreciably felt by them ; arid'that which concerns, theni most is that they should be assured, work at a fair wage; for the amount of taxes,:exacted front a working man bear small proportion to his earnings; There is no doubt that'the : Customs duties , of this colony- were mainly fixed for revenue purpose's,/yet they have had 1 a' protective effect, and we have little hesitation iii stating that the advantages derived by the working classes’ from the protection jthus afforded, have, been tenfold any saving that could,be effected in the Customs' duties of say three farthings a-day. each; for the ingenuity of any Colonial Treasurer could not relieve them to a'meator extent. The most rabid mobocrat will ’admit that the working man should pay something to the State, 'for law and order are of as much importance : to him 1 as anybody else. There is one point which should not be forgotten. Though the .working man may hot contribute as much to the revenue as his richer fellow-colonist, he has,in a democratic community like this an equal voice in its distribution.-; It is his own fault if he does not exercise his right. If it possibly could be avoided, it would be an unwise ■ thing to introduce:class: legislation here, as those who were the most heavily taxed would complain, and reasonably too, that they had: not a fair proportion of the distributive power. It would be exceptional taxation without exceptional representation. It .has.been said that one of the chief reasons of the stability of the British Government ’ is that the aristocracy are- more Memocratic - than those of other European countries; and that the poorer.'classes-'are more aristocratic than those of -a-similar grade on the Continent. ' l The : various elements , of society in this colony merge ' as much fierhaps into each other as amongst any other people on the face'of the earth, and no one will deny that that merging is beneficial to all, and particularly to the weaker portion. ’..The.moral effeot of a property aiid income tax should , be considered. The tax has only doubtful revenue, reasons jto. recommend it, while there are many other > reasons against it; each'one of whiclYmay be equal to any thing that'can be urged in ith' .favor. 1 ■ ‘lt ris f not well that.any class distinctions should be made in a new countryJike this, where nearly all started in' 'tile'race' for; wealth on "ah equal foot- ’ ing. Property here has not been handed ( down, fro,ntigenejatjqnito'generation, but is thp crea.tipn pf aj,xhan’s o.wn toil or enterprise. Those-who have enriched themselves have; taken; MUught: from anybody simplyThdded to' 'the wealth of .'.'the country, and are still 'adding'; fori capital is no'tilooked up' here, in the Three~PeT"Cents,'b’r':irivested in foreign securities, to , enable nations to wage war against each, other. There; is room enough in this colony; for tenfold the present population, and resources for the acquisition of tenfold the present

weallh. One.member' during thejate debate said/that' the income tax could not [possibly ihave, ..the effect of preventing; pepploj _ sending capital to the colony ji'Vthat it .would,,in- fact rather act as 'ii* 'encoqragpment.v By ' what mental process he arrived at such a conclusion it is hard to say ; but he can be ' assured' thatthe English' capitalist would .prefer the securities of a State that- could ’ raise its revenues on: the luxuries, of life to one . which had to resort to direct taxation- The Custom ,HQUse.haa[ilwayff!beemllooked, upon; as the best guide of the tax-paying powers of a/peop’le ; for : the cohtributidns, except duties on the bare necessaries of life, are of a voluntary nature; while revenues raised by direct taxation are no proper criterion of the wealth of a country, for the uttermost farthing may be wrung from the people, as is the case in many countries. .Experience,,has proved .that highly civilised peoples will not resort largely to direct .taxes, and that it would be injurious'for their credit to do so. Those who will take the trouble to make themselves acquainted with the modes of raising the revenue of the various nations of the world, and their relative positions in the money market, will find good grounds for this conclusion.