The Daily News. FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 1901. FEDERATION FINANCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXIII, Issue 50, 15 March 1901, Page 2

The Daily News. FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 1901. FEDERATION FINANCE.

In connection with the important ques~ tion of Federation, very little attention seems to hare been paid to the i financial aspeot of the queeticn. The Commission, which has been sitting in i various centres throughout the colony, ' appears to have been taking evidence ! upon every aspect ef the question, but I this, and this, to eur miad is the mr,« l important of all. The tenor of the evidence or tho majority of the manufacturers who have given evidenc*, appears to he that Federation will injure the particular industry in which they ' are engaged, while a number of pro ducers, who have given «vid*nce, claim ' that Federation will seeure a bett»r market for many of the colony's products. Taking the one against the othir. it is probable that Federation will have very little effect on either the stability of our manufacturers or on the price or demand for our marktts, or whether I any gam from that standpoint! will compensate for the lois of a good deal of legislative independence. The effect on the finances ef the Colony is a matter however, of vital importance and should be most carefully considered. In Australia where Federation has beta carried the people are now waking up and wondering how tke necessary funds to carry on the Coßsmeuwealth and State Government! arete be raistd. The big daily papers of Sydney and Melbourne are discussing tke matter and somo extremely difficult and eomplsx questions are presenting themselves for solution. It will bo well for New Z»a land to pause and carefully consider where she will be and what will be the cost and gain financially in the eront of her joining the Federation. After the union is effected it will be too late, as, though in joining each colony is n free once in there is no withdrawal. On» of the mfst important items of colonial fiDanee is of courst customs revenue, a»d dealing with this the Sydney Daily Telegraph, in a recent article points out th*t the statistical position is a difficulty. " In 1899 ' lie six colonies which will form the Commonwealth imported .£63,570,000. Of that value, no less than £29,240,000 came fiom the Australian colonies themselves, and will be internal tade und«r the Commonwealth, leaving £34,330,000 derived from outside sources. If from this £34,330,000 we deduct Government imports, goods for re-export, gold and silver, and goods which would pass us by if we attempted to put duties upon them—such as ores from New Caledonia, copra, pearl-shell, and so on—we And that there enly remains about £20,000,000 whicb can be subject to import duties; and some of them will disappear under Federation becnuse we shall ceaso to imp9rt sugar from Mauritius or Java or Fiji ,aad out produce imports from N&w Zealand are safe to be restricted. On the one hand, we have to raisa £8,800,000 to £9,000,000 from taxation, of which at present about £900,000 is derived from excise, leaving £8,000,000 to be drawr from less that £25,000,000 of imports. That is equal to abjut S2 per eent on the entire taxable amount of those imports. But allowing that £3,250,000 revenue may be drawn from the imports of stimulants and narcotics, which is more thaa they now yield, and that an •ill round duty of 4d per lb. impose., on tea, coffee, and cocoa would yield £300,000, or nearly £200,000 more than at present, there still would remain £4,250,000 of revenue to be drawn from the remaining £22,000,000' of imports, and that would meandHtiesj averaging 19-3 per coat, all round, without any free list oa g«eda for,?9M-

sumption whatever, even upon books and peiiodisa's, raw materials, or personal effects. This is the trouble before the Commonwealth, and the n.H#63ity of raising the taxation under the Act from its present .£7,400,000 up to £8,800,000 or £9,000,000 is what the Commonwealth Treasurer cannot escape from." A somewhat curious pendant to this is to be foiind, say a another contemporary, in a pamphlet issued ftem Tasmania, reingthe report of a discnacion there as to tbe manner in which tbe ishnd colony's finance would be effected. We in New Zealand complain of want ef definite information, but put it down to lack of the necessary enquiry. In Tasmania thoy seem ta be no better oft, though j their repnseatativos have taken an active part in the conferences and conventions. The pamphlet referred t», we gather from our contemporary's summary, is the report of a discussion before the Royal Society, Hobart, in which Mr. Stafford Bird, the Taamanian Treasurer, Mr. R. M. Johnson. Mr. Dobion, Mr. Adye Douglas, Mr. Justice Clark, and others took pact. Mr. Stafford saw a serious loss of reVenue awaiting Tasmania, but failed to see a remedy. Mr. Johnston went into the figures, but also failed to find a patisfactory solution. Mr. Dobson thought the Federal Government mght let Tasmania impose local duties on specifies] articles to make up her shortage, though the Commonwealth Act says the Customs shall be equal. Mr, C, H. Grant explained that tbe Finance Committee of the Federal Convention sat for some weeks, and discussed with the statisticians as to tbe cenfcributions of the various States to Federal requirements, and eventually gave it up*, and left it to the Premiers to make a proposal and a financial statement in Melbourne. The admission that the Finance Committee "gave up" the problem and. lift it to the Premiers, who also gave it up, and left it to the Federal Parliament to solve what Mr Johnston showed was insoluble on present limes, was hardly much in the nature ef a consolation. Mr Clark, however, had a gelation. The Federal Parliament must take over the Tasnaanian finance. But Tusnunia will not s'.aad al*ne in that respict." What applies to Tasmania applies very largaly to New Zealand. There is same satisfactioa in paying taxes levied by our own Parliament but whan it comes to paying taxes to keep up a cestly Government in Australia, in which New Zealand's sbare of representation will be very small, we would like somo further information before taking the irrevocable step.