The Oamaru Mail TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1295, 1 June 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 1880.

When Ministerial journals express doubts as to the safety of the Ministry upon any question, we may rest assured that there are grounds for believing that Ministers themselves feel the insecurity of their 1 positions. These expressions of doubt are generally put forth as warning notes to the followers of the Ministry to rally round 1 the flag, and we can therefore understand the remark made by several Ministerial ; journals that the Ministry is safe for the > session, unless it comes to grief over the property tax. The Ministry have learned that there is a growing feeling of indignation throughout the Colony with regard to the tax, and the note has been sounded by the Government trumpeters, warning their followers of the dangers to be encountered. Will the more independent members of the party heed that warning, or will they hearken to the cry of the people for the abolition of the tax ? If they are true to their constituents, they will vote for the removal of the most unjust impost ever devised by man, and let the Ministry go to the wall if it will not yield to the wish of the people. We have previously spoken very freely with reference to this property tax. Let us now show a few of the grounds upon which we and the public object to it, and let us, too, see what some of its effects will be. We object to the property tax because it is inquisitorial to the. very utmost degree; because it is unjust beyond measure ; because it is extensive and cumbrous ; because it places a tax upon energy, thrift, temperance, and domestic love ; because it does not deal fairly with all classes, and taxes the working power of the Colony. That it is inquisitorial not even the Premier can denv, for he was forced to admit it in his speech to his constituents the other evening; but it is even more inquisitorial than many people imagine. For proof of this let any sceptic upon the point glance at the forms that have to be filled up and the book of instructions issued by the commissioner. There they will find that j the minutest details of every mortgage over property, every little particular of man's affairs —secrets that most men do not care to have made known —have to be written upon the papers, which would be sent to the commissioner and then by him forwarded to the reviewers. Could anything be more obnoxious than this ?. Then, with regard to the injustice of the , tax, we hold that as additional taxation j has been rendered necessary through j large sums of money having been borrowed and expended upon the construction of railways, principally for the benefit of the few, it is unjust that those who have received no benefit from that expenditure should be called upon to- contri- j bute equally as much as those whose properties have been increased in value many fold. That it is cumbrous and expensive cannot be denied, for even those entrusted with its assessment and collec.tion are puzzled how to enter upon their duties. But not only is it expensive to ihe Slate. To the individual it must prove exceedingly so, Jjet doubters upon this point secure copies of the papers to be filled in, and if a perusal of them does | not puzzle them, then they are wiser men j than their fellows. We assert without fear of contradiction that not one man in every hundred will be able to fill up the forms correctly, but still they are compelled to do so under a penalty of LIOO. They must be prepared to value everything they possess, from their house and land down to the pots and pans in use in the kitchen and the smallest article of wearing apparel of their children. Down everything must go, with its value at auction, on the inventory demanded by the Government. Will any sane man tell us that one man out of a hundred will be able to do all this ? Could anything be more iniquitous or unjust? We trow not; and we are not, therefore, surprised that the public are bestirring themselves in opposition to the tax. But- let us now see what must be the result in regard to the business man. A rough estimate of the value of his stock is not sufficient for the purposes of assessment. No, there must be a complete inventory, to obtain which he must take stock, probably at an expense of from LlO to !L2o—a heavy tax in itself. Then down comes the Government with its tax upon every article on that inventory, no matter whether or not it has been previously subjected to a heavy customs duty. Thus articles of every-day necessity are to be subjected to a second tax, with the very natural result that the consumer will suffer, for the dealer will to a certainty increase the prices, of some articles, at anyrate, to make up for the cost of the preparation of the inventory and of the tax itself. But this is not all. The tax upon articles will take very much the form of a eompound tax. Just let us explain the position. For example a clothier has already paid a customs duty of 10 per cent, upon a suit of clothes. Well, when he comes to value the articles for the purposes of the tax, he must add the 10 per cent, he has already paid to their value, so that the second tax will be a tax upon the amount already paid to the Government as customs duty. Will the public submit quietly to such a state of things as this? Will they give their countenance and support to men who favor and uphold this unholy burthen ? But this is not all. We find that the tax is a decided handicap upon our local industries, for machinery used in manufactories is taxed. Thus the producing power of the Colony, instead of being fostered and encouraged, will be burthened with a tax such as the industries • of no other countries have to labor under, and the result cannot be otherwise than i unfavorable to the development of the ' colonial industries. With what good grace therefore came the remark in the Governor's speech at the opening of Parliament : "It is to industry and economy that the Colony has to look for a development of its resources and the maintenance of healthy progress." What bitter irony is containad in these words—words that were put into his Excellency's mouth by the men who devised and are insisting upon the maintenance of this tax. In every respect the tax is one upon energy i apd industry, bat in no case more so than i

in that of the individual. Take for example two working men drawing equal wages. One of these is a sober, homeloving man, whose wages, after payingfor necessaries, are devoted to making his home comfortable by gradually adding thereto articles of various kinds calculated to please the eye and give comfort to the body. The other man is a drunkard; his children are in rags and often dependent upon charity for a meal; his home is ill-furnished and miserable. Now, how does the Act deal with these men 1 The sober man is taxed upon every article of furniture, every little comfort with which, as the result of his sobriety, industry, and paternal care, he has surrounded his family "; while the drunkard, because he has spent his money in the public-house and neglected his home and family, is allowed to go scot free. Is a tax that perpetrates such an injustice as this fair? We might go on multiplying instances; indeed, to deal fully with the inquities of the property tax would occupy columns of our space. We have said sufficient to show how unjust and inquisitorial is this tax. Will the public calmly submit to it, or will they join with other communities in sending to the Parliament of the country men that will cause its immediate abolition and the substitution of some better—some more just^—means .of raising revenue, -