THE HOMELESS MAN AND THE MAN ON THE LAND.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 11 July 1917, Page 6

THE HOMELESS MAN AND THE MAN ON THE LAND.

(To the Editor.) Sir,—l will ask you once again to follow- me the space in your valuable paper to publish the almost unbelievable evidence that is placed before you in this letter. Sir Joseph .Ward -Stated a few years ago that he'Tvould place a heavy tax upon the large landowner, because h'e was better able to "bear it. Figures herein will prove to you that the tax fell upon the consumer, and struck the homeless man with terrific force. lam placing before you the price of four different necessaries of life and firewood at the prices we bought the articles for under the old Tory Government, and the Tory price is what I will quote that is to say, is the price that the landowner can grow the above four ar- - tides for hT? own table. Re 5s per sack for his potatoes, this would be £3 per ton, meat 3d per-Tb, milk 2d per quart, butter 6d per lb; these are the prices that I paid for these four articles in Woodville over 30 years ago—not from the grower, but from an ordinary grocer’s store. The following are the differences: —

Homeless man —One sack potatoes, at present £1 per sack —Farmer, 5s per sack; difference, 15s .on a 5s article. Homeless man —meat, present price lOd lb —Farmer, 3d lb; difference, 7d on a 3d article. ' Homeless man. —Milk 5d per quart —Farmer, 2d; difference, 3d on a 2d article. Homeless man —Butter, 1/8 lb. — Farmer, 6d; difference, 1/2 on a 6d article. Homeless man.—Firewood, 26s per cord —Farmer, 6s; difference, £1 on t>s article. Supposing the homeless man was having enough of the above, say 41bs of meat per day for his household of seven, he would require 1460 lbs per year, at lOd per lb, £SB; the farmer, the same amount at 3d would pay £l7 —difference £4l. This means that the homeless man is paying a yearly tax of £4l on a £l7 article. The

•nomeless man vail require 260 lbs or batter per year, £2O 10s; the farmer at bd per lb, £6 10; —difference, £l4 10s. The homeless man will use 365 quarts of milk per year, £7 8s 9d; the farmer at 2d, £3 10s—difference, £4 7s lOd. The homeless man will require 10 sacks of potatoes at £1 per sack, £lO per year; farmer, ss. per sack, £2 10s —difference £7 10s. The homeless man will require nine cords of firewood per year at 265, £ll 14s—the farmer at 6s, £2 14s —difference £9. Total yearly cost to farmer, £32 4s; total yearly cost to homeless man, £lO7 12s 9d—total difference, £75 Bs. You will see that the homeless man has to pay to-day £lO7 12s 9d for what the farmer is placing on his table fdr £32 4s. So who is paying the tax? Why the poor Anzac mothers and fathers, the poor man who has done more than" the wealthy man and woman has done in the way of rearing sons and daughters to help build cities on the plains. They have reared sons and “daughters to help guard the commerce on the main; and what has been“done for him? Where is he to get the £6 to pay the nurse in time of confinements? Where is he going to get the 2s to buy sugar of milk to put in the humanised milk, to feed the last born child upon? Where is he going to get the money to buy the two pints of milk per day that is to be set to make the humanised milk from? These men and women are living on 3d per meal, and at the end of the year will be in debt over £B. Sir Joseph W"ard is such a great financier, perhaps he could enlighten me. I think it is hiVduty to So so. I will conclude by stating that the milk supply in Taihape is almost nil, and the Plunket babies are almost without milk. Surely the Borough Council can do something in "knls matter. —I am, etc., J. T. DAVEY.