South Canterbury Times, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1881.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2498, 23 March 1881, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1881.

The students of political economy wil be entertained, if tbeii knowledge i not improved, by a perusal of the speech just delivered by Major Atkinson. It is altogether a characteristic address. There is nothing in it very elaborate or very striking. Coming from a reputedly gifted financier it is indeed somewhat disappointing. The Major is 'said to have a penchant for figures. Those who know him intimately describe him as much better at guessing and calculating than shooting at a target. After perusing his speech a good many will agree with us in thinking that this is a very doubtful compliment. In his address to the Pateans he has variod his customary arithmetical puzzles by the introduction of certain peculiar \ lews

that he entertains on the subject of political economy. To these we will briefly refer, not with the object of holding the Major up to ridicule, for that would be a hopeless task, but, for the purpose of showing that he is a very advanced, thinker, and that, as a minister of finance, his birth has been fatally premature. The Major’s speech may be briefly summarised as a denunciation of the carlessness and extravagance of his predecessors, a defence of his own financial policy—particularly the property tax, a passing reference to the native question, and an expression of unbounded faith in the future of the colony. The Alpha and Omega of the Major’s speech need occasion but little comment. It is the congenial grace before and after meals to which the electors are invariably treated when Ministers of the Crown appear before them. The sombre tints of the present can always be relieved if the background can only be skilfully painted with a good black malignant shade, while the future, being purely imaginative, can easily be rendered in brilliant colors. Certainly a change of preface and conclusion would vary the monotony of Ministerial speeches, but the gentlemen chiefly concerned cling tenaciously and fondly to the old threadbare moth-eaten padding. As it so very stale and has been so frequently served up we will dismiss the Major’s opening preface and his benediction with a caution, and proceed to the kernal of his speech, viz., Major Atkinson’s political economy. After explaining that the financial exigencies of the colony induced the Government —despite the Financial Arrangements Act—to take away the last little remnant of the land fund from local bodies ho proceeds : —■“ Still “ there was a large deficiency, and it “ was decided to impose fresh Customs duties, and a beer tax and “ property tax. In defence of these “ measures, he would call attention to “ the first principles of taxation, and “ it was more important he should do “ so, because this question of taxation “ must have great attention in the “ immediate future, as the taxation of “ of the country must be moderately “ heavy. The points to be considered “ in taxing were that every subject u should contribute towards the sup- “ port of the Government in propor- “ tion to his means ; secondly, that “ every taxpayer should pay his quota “ in the best way and at the most con- “ venient time to himself; thirdly, “ that the tax should know how mueh “ he had to pay ; and fourthly, that 11 taxation should take as little as “ possible out of the pockets of the “ people. The Major proceeds to say that “ taxes must be levied to catch “ different classes. He claimed that “ the property tax possessed the merit “ that it caught classes which could “ not be otherwise reached, while that “ class which received the benefit of “ exemption was amply taxed by the ‘ Customs.” He admits with regret that as the result of the increased Customs duties “ the total yield was “ no more now than it had been two “ and a-half years before.” This is a sorrowful outcome, considering the harassing strain that has been put upon improvements, the additional cost of such popular luxuries as perfumed spirits and nailroad tobacco, the new imposts on chaff, fruits, and pain killer, and the distressing duties on salt and iron. Just let us see what the Major has done. Up to November, 1879, such articles as chaff, corks, fresh fruits, grain, split peas, fencing iron, tanks, preserved milk, timber of every description, salt, stearine, &c., were admitted to the colony free of duty. In that memorable month the following duties were imposed on the articles enumerated :—Chaff, 10s per ton ; corks, fruits, and preserved milk, 15 per cent. ad /:alarum ; grain, 9d to Is per IOOIbs ; split peas Is per cwt; iron for fencing, &c., 20s per ton ; tanks, 5s each ; timber, 2s to 4s per 100 superficial feet, and 8s per 100 for posts ; salt, 20s per ton. The duty on wine—a special tax on the sick and infirm—was increased from 4s to 5s per gallon ; on spirits and cordials from 12s to 14s per gallon, on tobacco—the poor man’s luxury—from 2s Gd to 3s Gd per lb ; on proprietary, medicines, 10 to 25 per cent. ; and generally on all articles for which an ad valarum duty of ten per cent, was charged, the rate was increased to 15 per cent. In a word, every comfort of life imported into the colony—every indispensable between the cradle and the grave—from the infant’s feeding bottle to the exhausted valetudinarian’s last box of Holloway’s, was taxed to the point of absolute prohibition. What is the consequence ? The Major ruefully admits that the finances have not profited a penny. Had he been candid he would have acknowledged that they have suffered materially. The Customs revenue, instead of having been improved, has been diminished, and the financial predictions of the financial Major have turned out mere delusions. The laborer has had to forego his accustomed pipe, the farmer has had to leave his paddocks unfenced, or his fences unrepaired, the poor sick have been robbed of their cheap medicines and their accustomed wines, the infant has had to contribute to the State for its preserved milk, and as the result of all this suffering Major Atkinson sorrowfully admits that the revenue has gained not one penny !

Here is an illustration of the Major’s beautiful logic, an example of his sage deductions—his profound reasoning* The fact that the revenue has not been improved although the Customs duties have been greatly increased “ showed that “ much more economy was observed “ in the colony, and some might agree “ that it indicated decreased spending, “ but from examination of statistics “ he was convinced that the spending “ power of the people of New Zealand

“ was higher than that of the people “ of any any other part of the world.” We shonld like, to hear something about the statistics that the Major has been examining. Until they are exposed common sense will tell the people of the colony that increased duties without any increase of revenue is about as palpable and certain an evidence of diminished consumption and a decreased spending power as could possibly be furnished. The Major’s defence of the property tax is unique “ About the property “ tax he should have to speak at “ length, because of the possibilities “of the future in regard to it. The “ Government had to choose between “ an income tax and a property tax, “ and they rejected the former because “ they believed that already as large “ an income tax was practically being “ levied through the Customs in New “ Zealand as waa being levied in any “ other colony in the world. Political “ economy said you should tax income “ because you tax expenditure, and he “ held that as the Customs duties “ were already so heavy that condition “ was met. For that and other “ reasons it did not seem desirable “ to the Government to levy an income “ tax. The property tax seemed “ much the fairer; because it was right “ and just that property as property “ should contribute directly to the bur- “ dens of the State ; that if a man “ possessed property requiring protec- “ tion, he should—whether that pro- “ perty was productive or unprodac- “ tive, whether he used it well or ill “ —contribute to the cost of the “ Government in respect of the amount “of property he held.” A more extraordinary defence of an abortive scheme of taxation we have never heard. To deliberately confound Custom’s duties with an income tax—to say that the one represents the other—is not merely trifling with the first principles of political economy, but it is holding the intelligence of the electors in exceedingly light estimation. The fairness of the property tax is based on the argument that property, whether productive or unproductive, should contribute. This might apply very well to land which is frequently held for purely speculative purposes, but a more outrageous proposition as regards the colonial artisan or manufacturer we have never heard. Major Atkinson has virtually condemned his pet tax by bringing such an argument forward in its behalf. If intelligent colonists can be induced to believe for a moment that a system which taxes investors, not according to their income, but according to the amount of their investment, is a fair system of taxation, w r e shall be inclined to abandon all hope of future progress. It is difficult to assume how the Major can reconcile his contention that “ it is “ right and just that property should “ contribute directly to the burdens of “ the State, and : that if a man pos- “ sessed property requiring protection “ he should—whether that property “ was productive or unproductive, “ whether he used it well or ill—con- “ tribute to the cost of the Government “ in respect of the amount of property “ he held” with his economic rule that every subject should contribute “ towards the support of the Govern- “ ment in proportion to his means.” One thing the Major has carefully avoided. He has not alluded in any shape or form to the large estates locked up for purely speculative purposes against settlement, and contributing little or nothing to the revenue. He has carefully refrained also from approaching the proposition laid down by equally able authorities on political economy, that those whose properties have been increased in value by public works and immigration, should contribute fairly towards the amount of debt that has thus been incurred. In approaching the land question the Major has turned his blind eye to the telescope. The Major is many years in advance of his generation. Physiologists tell us that mankind is deteriorating and that imbecility is on the increase. Fortunately all men are not yet fools, particularly the electors of New Zealand. Major Atkinson’s address may excite astonishment and derision, though it is barren of wit; but is unsuitable food for sober thought, and it is an insult to the intelligence of the people.