THE Pukekohe and Waiuku Times PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS. "We nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice." FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1916 TAXATION FOR WAR PURPOSES.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 179, 2 June 1916, Page 2

THE Pukekohe and Waiuku Times PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS. " We nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice." FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1916 TAXATION FOR WAR PURPOSES.

Apart from the Compulsory Service Bill, the passage of which has never been for a moment in doubt, the question as to the incidence of war taxation is the only matter of importance likely to come before Parliament in the present session. We have been assured by the Treasurer that his new Budget will be a " good" one, but whether that means good as a revenue-producing measure, or fair in the manner in which it presses equality of sacrifice upon all classes of the community, we have so far no means of guessing. The new taxes imposed last year were estimated to produce one million extra revenue in 1915-16 and two millious in 1916-17, but it is very evident that further fresh taxation will be necessary. Last year the extra taxation was aimed almost entirely at the farming community, as we did not fail to point out at the time. It was assumed, and daily pointed out by the city papers, that the farmer alone was prolitting by the war, and that on him the cost of paying for it should be put, and the spirit and loyalty of the mau on the laud was so great that he shouldered the load with scarcely a grumble. In fact, he was so frequently and so loudly assured of his prosperity that he began to believe it, and is (only now awakening to the fact that the largely increased cost of production Is completely nullifying the effect of the higher prices of his produce, so that he is in no better position to pay extra taxation than before the war.

If ever a war was a national war this is. The issue is as momentous to the humblest cottager as to the richest landholder. Upon the final decision -his all is staked, and the cost of forcing a favourable decision against a powerful and thoroughly prepared enemy should be laid upon every shoulder in exact proportion to its power to bear the load, flow completely this is realised by the only country in the world that has behind it centuries of political experience of taxation imposed upon the people by the people's representatives only, may be seen by the war taxation of the Btitish Isles, which we commend to Sir Joseph Ward's careful study. Wo fully realise that further taxation from farmers will be necessary, and we would like to poiut out that the fairest way of raising this would bo by a moderate export duty, imposed for war purposes only. Oue half per cent upon all produce sent out of the couutry would bring in about 1165,001) annually, and would ensure that the producer paid somewhat iu proportion to his receipts, The huge trading profits that have been made by some fortunate individuals owing to the war Bhould be legitimate objects for a Treasurer in search of revenue to turn to. In England these are mulcted to the extent of one-half of the excess over the average prolit for the two years preceding the war, and it appears probable that uvea an higher excess will be exacted. No one here can complain if the Uoverumeut takes a heavy toll from the commercial man who has been in a position to exploit the markots. Tlh> niowplv given In lu-ewors mid publicans is another source from which a considerable amount of i

revenue could be obtained. There can be no logical justification for the State giving certain privileged in- I dividuals the sole right to manutnanufacture and sell commodities for a fee which often does not represent two per cent of the amount the license would bring if sold in the open market. If ffes approaching the value of the privilege were imposed and divided equally between the State and the local bodies, both would largely benefit, and no injustice would be done. In England the income tax begins to operate at £l2O, and it is absurd to pretend that a man in this country with £ooo per annum cannot afford to pay a little directly to the cost of the war. The exemption might very fairly be reduced to £l5O, and a large sum would result and the individual share be so small that uo hardship would be involved. A sur-tax of, say, 00 per cent additional might also be fairly put upon unearned as against earned incomes. We now come to what may be called " voluntary " taxes, insomuch as no one can be called upon to pay them against his will. The enormous amounts that are paid annually for amusements are surely a source to which a hardly-pressed Treasurer can wfth justice turn. A penny upon every picture-show ticket, twopence on each theatre ticket and sixpence from every racegoer would produce an amount that we cannot pretend even to guess at, but one that, however great in the aggregate, would scarcely affect the payer. There is no doubt we get used to small items of indirect taxation with marvellous rapidity. The extra half-penny postage stamp, the twopenny cheque and the twopenny receipt stamp galled us for the moment perhaps, but for the moment only. While we firmly hold that every man in this country who has sufficient to live upon should pay something, however small, in the way of direct taxation until the war is paid for, we cannot but feel that an astute Treasurer would find numerous sources for small but useful contributions, especially among the luxuries of the well-to-do, without inflicting any very severe hardships.