South Canterbury Times. SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1880.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2264, 19 June 1880, Page 2

South Canterbury Times. SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1880.

The question of taxation is undoubtedly in Now Zealand, at this moment, the all important question of the da} 1 -. The last parliamentary session was devoted to electoral reform, and the Hall Ministry, however great their shortcomings may be in other respects, arc entitled to the highest credit for the manner in which this part of their work was performed. The task on which tl)e} r have since been engaged —that of endeavoring to repair the finances of the colony, is undoubtedly a most difficult one. This is acknowledged by their .most virulent political opponents, and. in view of. these difficulties, the Colonial Treasurer is entitled to the utmost forbearance. With some of his proposals wo have disagreed because we believe them to be impolitic and opposed to the best recognised maxims of political ccononi}’-. We admit that increased taxation is necessary, but we contend that any system of taxation which is calculated to operate prejudicially on the development of interna! wealth is extreme]}’

dangerous and impolitic. Of (he ■future that awaits New Zealand, there need not be the shrillest doubt. Her energies may be temporarily crippled by an undue burden of debt, an unequal distribution of taxation, and an inordinately expensive Civil Service, but the elasticity of her resources is such as to remove all apprehensions as to the future. The colony is, at this moment, in the condition of a largo manufactory, with its machinery out of gear. Around us, on every side, we sec mountains of raw materials only awaiting the exercise of capital and labour to be rendered productive. If the application of capita] in conjunction with labour is discouraged the machinery must naturally sillier. This machinery is almost at a standstill; taxation wrongly directed, has discouraged the investment of capital, and poverty, spreading like rust, is causing general discontentment.

Against the property tax wc emphatically protest, because it is vicious in principle. It is a tax on industry and enterprise. Tins is undeniable. Disguise it, modify it, twist it into any shape, a property tax is a tax on improvements, and opposed to the best-known maxims of political economists. Some years ago an attempt was made to introduce a property tax in Victoria, and the people as one man, declaredpigainst it. But in tiiat colony tiie innovation was referred to the decision of the people, and tested at the ballot-box, instead of being introduced in a surreptitious inannnor as it has been in New Zealand. V hat is the cause of the widely prevalent depression in a colony winch boasts such a fertile soil, such a genial climate, such immense resources as Now Zealand ? Why are soup kitchens needed? Why are hospitals and charitable institutions engaging so much attention? How is it tiiat working men arc crying aloud for employment ; tiiat relief works arc necessary; and that petitions, appealing for help to the American (lovcrnment, are being prepared ? What is the meaning of all this discontent and wretchedness in a colony full of natural wealth, and capable of producing grain and meat sufficient to meet the wants of fifty limes its present population? Is it not bccfiuse taxation is wrongly directed, because food and clothes—the necessaries of life —arc unduly taxed ? Is it not because improvements arc discouraged, and the application of capital in the employment of labor lias been temporarily obstructed ?

Wo trust the Government will reconsider tliis matter. Tlio property tax is admitted to be the weak spot in the Ministerial armour. Let that spot bo removed. There arc plenty of measures by which the gap may be tilled up; it is alleged that in merging the land tax in the property tax the Ministry have been studying the interests of capitalists and speculators. If so they have evidently blundered. With land a perfect drug in the market, can it be said that the have advanced these interests ? The property tax is an affliction to the industrial interest in the Jirst instance, but it will bring down other ijitercsls with it. It strikes at the Jly-wheel of our wealth-producing machinery. If it were only a tax upon labor, it would be less objectionable, but it is a tax on enterprise, it reduces the demand for labor, and the result ' is enforced idleness, poverty, and crime. By imposing a property tax, New Zealand makes a terrible jump backwards. Why should we drive labour and capital away from the country —the labor and capital which have been imjmrtcd here at the cost of a huge national debt ? Letter a thousand times a tax on un improved estates, a tax on Lank notes —the only kind of paper currency which in ■return for its great privileges contributes nothing to the revenue —or even an income tax, than the imposition of a tax against which the people have emphatically protested, and to which we believe tbc existing prostration of trade, commerce, and labor is largely due.