THK PROPERTY TAX

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 262, 9 May 1888, Page 3

THK PROPERTY TAX

PARLIAMENT TO BE PETITIONED FOR JTS ABOLITION. SPEECH BY SIR (!i:OK(JE (SREY. Auckland, May 4 i A fi i.Mi meeting ot ta^payeis was held i n (ho Lo! tic street. U-ill last evening, m com" phaiuc with .1 lequusition nutm iousls, -i.;ned. foi t lie purpose ot eon'-idei iii'i th< .ul\ -ability ot petit iomng Pailt.muut 10 aboh.-h the piopcitx (ji\. Then weie about 400 pei-ons pie-ent, and IKs Woi.slup (lie Mayor (Mi A I",. Do\oio) os eupied (he ehan. Theie weie al-o on tin platioim -Sn (.'eoige <Ju\\ (X.C li ) A. Ji >, ith.m (Chaiiman ot (he i hambei ot Conuueiec). 1". (!. Ewington, 11 W Huimn, .Ino. Bu c'nanan, X .1. Duiu.in, ('. V' km, ami otheiMessi.- d'oldie, Mo->>, Thomp-on, Lawis and Monk (M H K-.)weie .d-o pie-ient m I hi; bod\ ol die hall. The I hanmun explained the object ot I he mu'lini; In\ nation-, ueie -ent, lo all the, nitiubei- oi the Hou^e ot Kepiest utatne-leqiie-tinu i hem to be ptt'-em, and hir dtoige t'ie^ u.e-with them. (Pioionged .ippl.uae.) Mi D bv.Hhe, MIII! , had wntten thai he was* pie\ented iioin being pie-enl b\ <i nii\ate engagement. Ik wis opposed lo lliis b \. having \ottd auain-t it beloie, and hew a- piep.ued to do-o.t^ain ) Mi A 11. N u han -aid that a- u pitM ntinu Jie ( oinnii i» i.il niteic-N ot the eil\, he had bton a-k u to jim\t die lir&t lesolutibU. The ob|eet oi (ho ineelinn wa- not to make „. demon-tiuuou again 1 -! taxation, but lo e\pi e'o- i h«_n uiNi]i|ii')\,il oi ttit method in u hicn the taxation wa- mpo-ul. ilw.He.onio u,u> -iih c tin pio[ni'\ ta\ wa- liuiodi.n^d i' Sn H.ni\ .^iKin^on and ai L lioiiLh { in- wa^ the tn -t (iii.ill niiLtmy i ailed tor t..i. pin po-o ot i>i>)t i tiii^ u» H, ihtiL hail ne\ei tlicle-- been iniu h di>-atistaetion icspeetiiiii a A lan U\ wa- one til it wa-lii-uibuUu -o that t lie nth .unl pool had to -haiealik md the niopu t\ ta\ did not tv! til thai loviuaeniLiil, ioi ceilain ( las-ses, al ilunmh eiiiosinu .ill die pu\ lle^t^ ot eiti/en -hip. weie t\eui[)L tiom |ki\ ui<i the tax al tunethei Tlas kntw diat a eeitaiu amount v! le^iiui. mu^i bi laired b\ tht (io\ eminent m New Ztalaml, and it. wasde--nable that it -hould bi i.u-ed in tlte ka-l e\i>enbi\emannei Thep)optit\ tax wa-, not ♦ a\nuiable in thai ie-j)ei l. The piopeitx la\ also -li ion- \ .tiki ltd the eoinmeicial pinkie— ol ihe enuntiN a- ltwa-. a tax on linpun i meni - and tln itt Thei c w at- no doubt that if the piopcuj tax \\a.-> icpealed we would have -onu ot'.t.i t.ix m ltphue, but tluic >uii-iii.tin oihei tiling be--iiic=. pi i pelts that eoitld be taxul. He piopo-eu the ni-t ic-o'ution a- tollowj? • "That in t,he opinion of tin- meeting the piopeit> ta\, mi he pie^uit -ta(e ot Ihe < olon\ . I-, ineiiuiiabU and o}ipie^si\ c, and it is.ad\ lsdbk that it should be sibolislud. ' (Applause.) .Mi E\\int:ton -econdfd rlic motion. lie thought that P.r h.iment would be piepaied to ie cen-idei tin. (^uebtion >n hen die> -aw the feeling of -o man\ < iti/en- in lespeet to the pi<ipeit\ tax, ami that they wiiLild be piepaied tv abolish that tay when thi> ;-tep wati fhow nto be nect>-aiy. He < lunncd that the piopeity tax wa- unequal, and that ltwa- exec— l\ t, beeau-e it was lixed un ex(.e?-nc a .due-, because hundieiU oi ptopit dirl not taie to ;^o befoie the ( tui it oi Appeal and public!} -late the n.oi t-<rauir-on i lvii [D opt i lie-. It "-oine ot our membei- would a-k toi i.nuih showing the exemption- made undei the ptoperty ta\, he Ik licked .-unit' di-elo-uii -> would be made a-, to how much die neh man was evem]iteil, and hnv lntk the i-<.oi man was t\<-mpl»ii L'liitlui, I>o UivUhtatncd that t he tax wa- nexp dienl, find ill -uited to thi- tuunti\. (Applau-it ) It. not only dio\e moil} out ot the count! \, but it pie\entfd moiu ) tiom C iiiiims,' lieic He (Mi E\vm;4ton) had 'j,onc to t 1m- '" Huia'd ' and had told hem thi-, and lie was told that it wouUl be unwise to dama^t the count i\ by {mbli-hin^ it We had, he thought, come to a \ei^ bad pa>s when \>e weie atiaid to speak the tiuth. (Applau-e. ) Mi Ewinnton 01-o contended that the natne land-, -hmdil be taxed, arid .-,pdke at -nine length in tavour of tin- contention. Sn (•eoi^e diev lo^u to ,-utppoifc the motion, and \vae> gieeted with piolonfjed applause. He -aid that he would boyin b,v .-a\inj» this, that the piopeity tax wa; intioductd into Padnuneiit w about any fair warning having been tothecountiy. (Heai, heai.) It wa- suddenly biou^ht foiwaut and took e\c-i>body by burpii&e, and by a majoui.y, a-> Pailiamentary majoiitieb went, it was iotced upon the eounti\. That rnajoiit.) UDcloi^tood little or nothing what the t \ w r eie doin^. (Applause) The 1 1\ Wd^ an unknown t.ix, and those who \, tit, oppoied to it at the time iiad piophesied truly what it- edects would be. They warned the (^eminent of what would necessarily take place, that captital would be diiven from the country, that the (ax was uufaii, unequal, and inexpedient, and that tiisa^ter must tollow m its Hack. To these repoits the Covemmcnt would not listen, and after a few yen 1 - it became known to the fJovern ment that the tax was an opple'-si^e one. (Jeneially he (SirOeoi^eCie)) haddifleied from Sir Julius Vogel, but he was delighted when he heaid Mr .hiliusi state, in the [no\ince of Canteibuiy, that he was peifectly & ati-t:ed that the depieanion of New Zealand was mainly to bcattubuted to the piopeity tax (Applause.) Hi.s C>o\emment came into power pledged, it was belie\ed, to <lo away with I hi, tax, and to the -uipii-e ot all, they lefuhtd to meddle ! with it. The excuse madt , as well as he could i eeollect, amounted to this, that the people of New Zealand had become .so accustomed to paying thit. tax that it was undesirable to meddle with it. (Laughter.) People did not cjet accustomed to a tax ol this kind in tiuth, bub they acted a,s if they weie ; but they weie only broken-hearted. (Hear, hear.) Why weie they all to ouller by a | noxious edict of this kind -an edict of one man, the Piemiei of the day, who ioreed it Ihiough the House without attention being paid to the lemonstiance raised against it? (Applause.) Mi E win^ton had made an admirable speech (applau.se), and nothing could ha\e been clearer or more conclusive than his arguments, especially with respect to the taxation of native lands. We had allowed the natives to dispose of their lands and had increased the value of their lands, and buiely they should pay the same taxes as weie paid by the Europeans. (Applause.) The din efc efloct oi the pi operty tax was to drne capital from the country ; in tact, our taxation genemlly had this effect. He must touch upon another point to illustrate this fully. We owed a gieat debt, gi eater, he believed, than any other counti y in proportion to its population. Would it not have been our greatest interest jto owe that debt to ourselves ? that ' the interest paid upon it should be spent in New Zealand? (Applau.se.) To attain that should be our great object. What did the property tax do? Lb says New Zealand bonds are subject to that tax, and, opinions to the contrary notwithstanding, he contended that the plain meaning was rJiat the holders of New Zealand bonda should pay property tax upon them wherever they resided. The moment ' we paid our interest upon these bonds:

into the Treasury we bocamo liable to flio properly tax, ami only the balance was remitted to the bondholders. N r ow what- did tho (!o\oinment do? Of their own will they said, " Tints may di--eourago the English bondholder.^ if wo make them pay pvopei t.y lax out ot their interest,' and % > ot. they make iJic holuers ot bonds Kept ii Neu Zealand pay Iho pioperty tax. This might appear incredible, but if any of tho audience had (.'3,000 in bonds they w oultl li.iao to pay (ho lax, vihile the holdeisot bonds who kept out of the country would pay nothing at all Was that just '> (" No, no.*') It was Known (hat great insurance and banking companies sont their bonds out oi New Zealand, to New South Wales lor instance, and left them thoie to diaw the inteiest. Our clients should be 10 keep tlej bonds hue in (lie market day by da> toi .-.ale, and (hat we should ha\ea right to invest money in our o\\ n -eeui ihe-. (Applau-e.) I'eoplo -aid th.it (he pooi escaped fi oiu this tax, but he a«-suied (hem thai the poor did not (Applause.) They weie told that thi-< was the piopei kind of t,i\. and that they •>hould not ha\e a tax upon lea or sugat, or m,\lhing of th.it kind. Hut this was ata upon tea and -11:4 a! The mci chant had to pay the piopeity ta\ on dead stock, lyiny in In-- -tote-, and it had paid (.'iKstom-. duties pie\iou-l\ ; the -torekoepei s al-o paid pi o ptit\ t i\ on the-i noods, and was it like)\ that tlu\ would make a piesont of it to then < u-toineis Not a bit : the poor jiaul the taxe- and al-o high inteiest on the taxi 1 - ( \pplau-e ) And \et people w«. 1 1 tj ahciit tin i nun! i \ oiviiisi that times weie I tad and iln > did not know why we sitileied, and they were leaving the colony m lame ininilfi'i 1 -. Wa.s a tax which in diuitl\ 1-ani-lud people tiom the eounti\ ,i _mhhl oi tan tax '' It was one that th«'\ omjljt to get iid ot without the le.i-( po— ii>le dela\. (Loud applause.) Take In- own ea^e. He was canning on imp o\ nunt-hom which lie c* pected no iet inn toi 12 oi 15 yeai -, but he lound lh.it e\en one ot these mipunements was \a!ued, and he was obliged Lo stop woik and di^-eha'^e hi- lahouieis, because he could not help himselt He knew of no other counti\ in which people had to pay taxes upon that which \ielded them nothing. In man\ olhei wa_\ -t he piopei t v tax would act to then di-ad\antage It was a gicat mi" take lo ilunk that l\ puttmu hi.a\\ taxes upon piopeiU and letting the poor ap pn i mthi get tiee, they *>a\ed the poor tioni all taxation (Applause) Whatever moni y had been tiansnutted fiom this eounliv to England to pa\ lnieic-t on our debt wa- extracted hoin the and liom tlu labour of human beings (Ap p'au-e) Any tax that tell hea\ ily upon the -oil oi upon the labouiei must im pmen-h I he pool and dine them out oi the colon > The othei d<.i\ a Mnu-tei, when upl\mg to a deputation and when ut tin 1 numbei- of people tint weie leawng the colom , -aid " Let them v,<> . we aie will quit vi them. Tlie\ will .-oon be triad to come b.u k attain, and they w ill hi mg otheitwith them. He (Sii ( .eorgc) could not help ilnnkmgihatw a-iiiot tnespeechofa wise man oi a \m -eeingstate-nmu. (Applau-e ) Our colon) was capable oi being and ought to be the lefuge ot all who de-it ed to enter it as Ltbourus horn the mother country, and they should not be made desirous of flying fiom it. Fie was grieved when lie heaid that a speech of that kind was made. (\|pkuise.) Did they think it pos-ib!e that a m in should go away from the colony to obtain woik, leawng his wife and eliikhen behind without a pang, or th.it he should lease no pang- behind him? (Applause ) Were people insensible because they wcil poor? On the contiary, he belieml that po\eit\ knitted the family togethei, begot aflcction of greater -tienuili than did any wealth in the community; and itan\bod> a'-ked him to fiio\c tin-, he would -a> lit thtm go into the ( ah>n-> ot the -tat \ ing pooi in liela id, wlieie they would see line, fondne.s-, and ] .'iff* etion among-t families sunk in famine j and sonow, woe nnd miseiy (Tiolonocd appiau-e.) TliLiefoie tiii-t ctlecb of driving labouiei s and the best of out mechanics tiom the eountij, tho-e who ha\e .shown then tlniftmess by the saving oF a lew pound-, was the elieet of a bad law. (Ifear, heat ) It was a bad law in anothet way ; we had aliens bi ought in to lepl.iee the labour that was dii\en out. (Applause) The pro.-pei ltv of N'e.v Zealand could not be as-vied w ithout the abolition of the piopei ty tax, which tax he thought should ne\er have been made. The holdeis of gieat landed estates, lying unculti\attd and held for futuie sale, would not agree with him. They would sa> . " If you have a land tax, the tesult w ill be that if the people hnd mci eased levenue is necessity, they will say, inciea^e the land tax, and we, the gieat landow ner.-, will have no one to stand by us. The great companies in London would be left, comparatively -peaking, defence'ess. You -ay that hind and all othei thinusaiepiope> ty ot the same kind which have a very strong back to suppoi l u.- whenever you talk ot inciea-ing the taxe-, therefoic the piopeity tax is the best foi us ; above all, it if best for us if it does not touch the money we do not keep in New Zealand." The population of the colony, as a whole, ought to positively insist on the iepeal of ibis tax. He bad no doubt that something would be done dining the net .session of Pailiament, and that it would not terminate until theie had been passed upon this subject such just laws that, instead of an exodus of people from New Zealand going on, it would introduce an increased amount of small capitalists iiom almost every part of the civili-ed world. (Applause.) IFe heaitily •supported the lesolution, and would do his utmost to give it ctiect in the coming session of I'.uliament. (Prolonged applause. ) Mr Fai nail said he thought it was unwinc to icquest the (io\crnment to iepeal the ptopeity tax without suggesting pomething to take its place. He moved that the lesolution should be added to as follows :—: — " And that a tax on land values, exclusivo of impnnementH, be at once imposed." ' Mr Otto seconded the amendment. Mr Ewington said it would be a pity to imperil the lesolubion by the vsuggestcd addition, and suggested that the motions , should be put sopaiately. Mr Nathan's motion was then put and carried unanimously. : Mr FarnallV jesobition was next submitted, and carried unanimously. Mr Chas. Aokin moved, "That the following petition to the Iloune of Representatives be adopted and signed by the Mayor on behalf of tho meeting :— ' That it is tho opinion of your petitioners the propcty tax in the present financial state of the colony is unsuitable and oppressive, and that its abolition is desirable. That your petitioners humbly desire that your Honourable House will take intoyourearnest consideration tho desirability of repealing the said tax. ' '' This did not meet his mind exactly, but he had much pleasure in proposing it. He thought " the financial position of the colony " would better have been left out, but it had been carried He knew that the pioperty tax was driving people out of the colony, because it was bringing the wealth of the colony to ti state of baukiuptcy. Some cases pie-ented to the Charitable Aid Boaid were ically painful, and if this wa? not .stopped there would surely be, a most disastrous iosult. (Applause.) Mr C. G. Hill seconded the motion.

Mr S. Osborne supper tod the motion. ][o objected to the jnoperLv tax on several grounds, nncl inoiccoppcially on account of ita inquisitorial character, lie thought ib a mi'-Ltke to raise- the question of what should take tin* place of the property tax, and that this -should be luff- to the Legislature. ("Question.") Mr. l. B. Graham did not agree with the resolution. He thought the Auckland members' weic the pioper persons to give ett'oet to their wishes. Tho losolution was then put and carried. Mi Duncan, senior, moved, and Mr Warbml.iin seconded, and il was ic-olved, '" That the tollowmu uentleiueii l)e appointed a committee to adopt the nceessary nioasui es tor ensuring that (.lie petition is extensively signed and forwarded to Wellington for piesentaf inn to the llou^o of Repiesentativob on the day on which Parliament is opened, vi/. . -Mesbij- A. 11. Nathan, A. lleathei, 10. \V. Burton, John JJuchanaii, A. Boardman, and the mover." A vote ot thanks to the Chairman brought the meeting to a close.