ANTI-POVERTY SOCIETY.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 440, 25 January 1890, Page 5

ANTI-POVERTY SOCIETY.

THE ANNUAL MEETING. Auckland, Jan. 22. There was a good attendance at the annual meeting of the Anti-Poverty Society at the We.-dey Hall last night. Mr Adam Kelly wa- Chairman, and the proceedings comtnenceil with the reading of ttie second annual report, which ran as follows :—Ln presenting the second until al report, the Committee are glad to be able to record that the work of the Society has prospered fairly wi ll during he past year. Monthly public meetings have been held in the Wes'ey Hall, at which the ideas inculcated by the Society have been freely discussed, and addresses have been delivered by well-known citizens, notably by the Rev. Dr. Hooper, Rev. J. Bat s, Pev. J. S. Hill, and Dr. Bakevved. The Committee desire specially to record with great satisfaction the more liberal tone of the press towa ds the aims of this Society. The Star has published numerous able articles, showing up in the clearest manner the utter injustice and fatal effects of the unconditional ownership of land. The “ Herald ’ and the “ Observer ” have also been very fair towards us. In the “Leader” a special page devoted to our propaganda has been ably 6'tiled throughout, the year by Mr Atthur Withy. In New South Wales more titan fifty newspapers are now advocating the views of Henty George. During the year correspondence has been opened up with Wellington, resulting in the formation of a strong kindred Society in that city. The es ablNhment in Auckland of a branch of the organisation of the Knights of Labour is a most hopeful sgn of Lite times, and the thrill of sympathy evoked by the now famous “ Dock Strikes ” lias done much to intensify the growing conviction that, with a maximum of strife and effort our present social arrangements result in a minimum of true welfare of all concerned, and that the only n ally vital question is the “social” question. The lime seems rapidly approaching when a practical attempt at a solution must be made, and there appear but two altern tives, viz., a frank acceptance and an plication of the teachings of Henry George, or some form of Socialism. Surely, then, with such a momentous issue facing us in the near future, it is the duty of all to give the subject t heir deepest and most earnest attention. Y\ e maintain that the single tax on land values only, as propounded by Henry Geor-_ <?, is the only practical reform that may re isonably be expected to cure the spreading cancer of poverty, and thus preserve society on its present basis. We are glad to rep >rt that the number of our members has nearly doubled during the year, and no doubt the approaching visit of Henry George wilt result in a large accession to our ranks. The en'ranee fee to our Society is fixed at half-a-crown, and al. further contributions are entirely volun'ary ; we therefore appeal to all who sympathise with the misery anil poverty so rife amongst us, and which u>>d r our system .of land monopoly must remain a standing menace to us and to our children, to aid us with voice and purse and pen to bring the question fairly before the people. We would urge those who disagree wic>> us to study this question of land monopoly from a wider standpoint titan that of private int.ere-t, and if after careful study tit y still think us «'tong, then let them (without taking refuge in unmeaning platitudes) propose some practical alternative which shall secure to labour its natural scop and just rewa.d, and thus do away with the ominous fact that in this man’s latest age—excelling as ibd es all preceding ages in material power and skill —the condition o the hulk of the people is such that the lile of so-called savage- is in many ways preferable. - E. H Gui.liver, M.A., President ; R. H. Hooper, Secretary

The report met the unanimous approval of the a dience, and t he Chairman then called upon the Rev. E. H. Gulliver to tieliver hi* promised address on “Taxation— Direct or Indirect ?” Mi Gulliver said that certain sayings of Thomas Carlyle seemed to stick to us like burrs, and none more so than his retnaik to a friend who was about to visit him, that he would find in London some three millions of people “ aiostly fools.” He thought that it anyone wished to be convinced of the truth of that remark, and that it had a world wide application, 'hey could not do beiterihan study the present modes of taxation. They should remember that the Go vernment is simply the executive of tho people in this matter; that their true interests were not hostde, but and that the maxims laid down by Adam Smith on the subject of taxation represented the true and reasonable piinciptes by which it should be regulated. Those maxims were : —(lst) The subjects of a State should contribute to the support of the Government as neatly as possible in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy; (2nd) The tax siion'd be certain, and not arbitrary ; (3rd) Every tax ought to be levied at the tune < r in the manner tno-t convenient to those who pay it ; 4th) Every tax should take and keep out of the pockets of the people as little as possible over and above what it brings into the public t easury, By direct tax -tion we meant that the individual was called upon to pay a definite amount, to make a direct sacrifice for which he could not recoup himself by tran-femng the burden in any way to other- ; whereas by indirect taxation, 'lie individual who paid the tax was understood to recoup himself in various ways, usually by adding it, with interest, to the price of the article in respect of «hich he had paid it. Now, direct taxa t on brought us face to face witn the taxgatherer, and the interview was never a pleasant one; but in truth the un pleasantness of the tax • was one of its most valuable features, because it compelled economy and prudence. When men ielt the direct pinch they \v> re careful to see that they were flinched no harder than was necessary, and that the money raised was laid out to the best advantage. They knew that what they borlowed would have to be repaid. Under a system of direct taxation, no Sir Julius Vogel, were lie of £0 horse power, would ha\e been able to induce us to follow him to the verge of ruin, N° vv » to take the action of indirect taxation. Ip India there were thjevps whp had a most ingenious .way of robbing people who slept out of doors in the hot wtaiher, wrapped only in a sheet. They would approach the sleeper cautiously and with a feather or a blade of gras* tickle him g* ntly first in one place and then in another, dexterously withdrawing the sheet by degre sas the sleeper moved unconsciously under the continued ttckl ng. Thus our indirect, taxation tjckles us so gently that we are unconscious of our loss, and never realise that every pound we earn i* quartered by the Government. If our Customs duties were levied in a direct form so that when we had bought say £2 worth of goods in a shop the bill had to be pas-ed by a Government official, whose place it was to add twentyfive per cent to it, and call op us i n pa\ £2 10s for our £2 wofth of goods, we should see the (natter" in a different light; and an edifying row woul i be the speedy result. Mr Gulliver then showed how every

one of the maxims of just and wise taxation was violated by our present system. He said it wis unnecessary for him to enlarge on the icLal of the most perfect tax— they had all made up their minds on that subject ; he had simply placed side hy side the two systems of taxation, direct and indirect, and he felt sure they would all agree that direct taxation was very decidedly preferable on the grounds of fairness, economy, and morality. Mr Gulliver resumed his seat ami t great app'ause. The Chaiimati then called on Mr Houl I to move a resolution of which he had given notice. Mr Hould said he was sure that all present were looking forward with the greatest int3rest to the approaching visit of Henry George, and were determined to accord him a hearty welcome. Their Society devoted itself to the propagation of those ideas of land reform which were now and for ever a*s >■ ciated with his name. They would therefore acquit him of any thought ot disparag- j ing Henry George if he reminded them that I before “ P ogress and Poverty ” was pub- J fished a great man nearer home had grasped Hie vital idea of that famous book, and had framed an Act embodying the very principle for which they were contending—the principle of the separate valuation of the land, and of the improvements on the land, by which alone they could distinguish between the wealth create i t>y the individual, and which is sacred as private pioperiy, and the wealtn created by the people collectively, and equally sacred as public property. Their own Sir George Grey had recognised that fact before “ Progress and Poverty ” was printed. The Public Library contained the. volumes of the Statute-* of New Zealand, and there they could r ad what Sir George Grey and his Government had done for them in the way of land reform, by means of the “ Land Tax Act, 1878,” which became the law of this colony on Ist January, 1879. and provided for levying a tax on ground values only—excluding all improvements, and for the revaluation of-the ground every year by sworn valuators, thus securing tor the State that natural revenue which no in dividual does or can create and which no individual can justly claim. Should we not all blu»h for shame to think that our ignorance and apathy were such that we actually allowed Sir George’s Act to be b'otted out of the Statute Book by the scheming of self seeking politici n- ?

ln the interests of truth and justice, the story of the repeal of b'.ab Act must be told, and thereiore he moved, “That whereas tt.e Land Tax Act, 1878, which was framed a"d introduced by Sir George Greys Min s ry, and became law in this colony on Ist January, 1879 —but was subsequently repealed did embody the principled taxation of ‘ground values,’ exclusive of improvements, advocated hy this Socie'y; and whereas the arguments and influences which caused the repeal of that Act may be expected to be used to frustrate the efforts now being made to establish a similar tax ; and whereas great ignorance and misapprehension prevail on the su ject generally—this meeting mo-t respect ul y requests Sir George Grey to speak to the people on this subject at an early date, and hopes that he will consent to use the platform of this Society for that purpose.” This resolution was seconded by Mr Gulliver, and carried unanimously amidst applause. An interesting discussion followed, in which M ssrs Gerald Peacocke, H. W. Farnall, A. Uowley, Otto, and others took part, and a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Gulliver and the Chairman closed the proceedings.