The Sun 42 Wyndham Street, Auckland, N.Z. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1927 PETROL IN POLITICS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 191, 2 November 1927, Page 8

The Sun 42 Wyndham Street, Auckland, N.Z. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1927 PETROL IN POLITICS

ALERTNESS in politics is not to be expected at two o’clock iu the morning. Therefore, it was not surprising that the House of Representatives, without notable comment or vigorous opposition a little after that hour yesterday, passed the Government's formal resolution giving effect to the immediate imposition of a special tax of fourpence a gallon on petrol for the purpose of improving rural roads at the expense of motorists. Perhaps when the Bill incorporating the alteration to the Customs tariff and the necessary provision for exemptions by rebates, so that farmers will again appreciate the kindness of the Government, comes before the House, its somnolent members will become open-eyed with wonder and voluble in protest. But the Minister of Public Works had his wits about him and, in pressing the resolution, made good use of the opportunity to attempt a plausible explanation of the Government’s reasons for extorting an additional £-720,000 a year from the owners of motor vehicles. It cannot be said, however, that the Hon. K. is. Williams was convincing. His arguments were naive and interesting, but only sufficiently logical to convince road boards and county ratepayers. On the popular view of the new tax the Minister’s naivete was delightful. It took the form of a simple belief that taxation oil anything which the people neither eat nor drink will be accepted with perfect indifference. “I am quite sure,” said Mr. Williams, “that if the people woke up in the morning to find that dealers had increased the price of petrol by fourpence, the people, after the first shock, would take no notice of it.” ’that may he true of those pedestrian people who have to sprint with the speed of Mercury out of the way of a motor-hog on a country highway, and who would like to see motorists taxed off the roads, but what of the people who depend on motor-buses for transport to and from their daily tasks* Does the Minister or any other loose-thinking politician really believe that the people, after the first shock, will take no notice of a tax which, as in Auckland, is going to add about £6,000 a year to the running costs of a municipal bus service that already has lost £30,000 of public money and cannot hope to pay its way now without a further increase in fares? And so with taxis and service cars. This aspect of the petrol tax may not appeal to administrators whose daily transport is provided by the State on a generous scale, but it is a serious thing for the people who have been compelled by the Reform Government to meet increased taxation in many different ways... As for the Ministerial argument that motorists did not protest when petrol was fourpence a gallon dearer some eighteen months ago, that is merely silly. Motorists have protested all the time about the price of petrol just the same as everybody else has complained about the preposterous cost of living in this country, but their protests had no effect on the Pharaohs in trade and politics. In the full chorus of protest against the petrol tax there has not been a discordant note of complaint about the principle of the Government’s policy and purpose. Dissatisfaction is confined to the weight of the exorbitant levy. Even the docile motorists of Dunedin, who applaud the Government’s policy as a satisfactory effort, apologetically confess that the is rather more than was anticipated. It is a great deal more, and far too much to be tolerated.