The Daily News. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16. 1909. NEW TAXATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 240, 16 November 1909, Page 2

The Daily News. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16. 1909. NEW TAXATION.

Apart from the important legislation outlined in the Budget, it will be remembered as the tirst fur very many .u-ars wherein are proposals lor increased taxation. That the day was lapidly approaching when the Minister of Finance would be tl'accd with the necessity of linding additional revenue '». c have cm several occasions pointed out, and Hie reason, to our mind, was pci'ledh' obvious. The enormous concessions that have during the past lew \ ears been made in the public service— Hallways, Post and Telegraph, and in tnc Customs—we have always held, were

iuo swelling, and wo are nol Jii me kust surprised that it bus 'been found necessary to icimposfc a portion of tlie charges .that have been remitted. We are perfectly certain that the general consumer 'lias received but a very small proportion oif Die .QOO.OOU sterling of revenue wiiiich the Stale remitted twu years ago, when sugar was placed on the free list. Tilie sugar industry in -\ew /.i.i.nnd is practically a monopoly, and iiuo lis rapacious uia.iv has gone the greatest -proportion of the remitted amies. Litrge makers of jams, preserves, and confectionery have also benefited, but it is a moral certainty there lias not been a corresponding reduction in Uie cost of their manufacture to the consumer. As this position now stands, it is clear that had the Government allowed the duty on sugar ! 10 remain. I'here would have been no iiewwsily to liml additional revenue. Similarly u-ibh regard to 'the railway rates, Hie Government has been too liberal in tlie matter of concessions. Our argument is Unit all the public utility svnw-es Is'hoiiiM l,c la-en ted as purely .'oiiiniciviiil ciilerpri-i:-,, and coiiilnclod 10 earn .|irulil.s. While Uie Government policy has undoubtedly demonst rated that the granting of substantial concessions lnw ted to a corresponding in<lease in business, we believe there is mo much of a tendency towards cheapening. Such a concession undoubtedly was I lie extremely low rate fixed oil the railways fur long-distance travelling, which cmuparcd more than fnvorauiy with any railway system in the world. i\'e very much doubt, however, whether ;his comcssiou led to a commensurate .u.Tcasc in longdistance passengers at ordinary times. In the lirst place, the general public do not voluntarily .-m----oark on long journeys, and the c'onccs--lon has mainly been lo Hie advantage of commercial people and those to whom two previous late was no deterrent. At holiday seasons the New Zen.and public certainly travel considerably, ■mi it must be remembered that the iong-distance concession does not apply i» cheap lares, for which a universal i.ue is lixcil. • I In- return to the old uiiiveisii! rate will, therefore, afl'ccl the general public to but a small extent, -but none the iess is the Government's decisu.ii likely to be more -palatable on ihal acciiunl uis always eisier lo reluce prices t-.inn lo raise them—even .i l',ic inviease is but bringing a rate nack lo normal. In a young country like .New Zealand we would much prefer Unit the prolil-earuiug capacity of Government cnterpri-cs be maiuUmou, and the substantial surpluses such us were made under the .Scddon regime utilised for pttWic works or other" demands on the Consolidated Fund. Were the country in a dill'erent .position, the policy Sir Joseph Ward has pursued of practically returning the .surplus to the people by remitting taxation might be all right. At any rate, whether tlie policy were the eerreet one or not we are cominccd it l, lls not been appreciated. Jlowever, the necessity for rawing additional revenue is not the result ol any instability of the ordinary linanee. As we have pointed out throughout, it was apparent (hat if the Dominion did lis duty to itself and the Empire in the matter of defence, it couJd only be done at a price. .No one we suppose, w is foolish enough to imagine that the defence of t-he country could lie brought up to date and rendered elleetive without additional tost. And so if is. Of the (ot.nl extraordinary' expeii.liliiri: of t':«(l.(JIKI per annum, which necessitates the limliug 0 [ m . w sou roes' of revenue to inieet it, no less than .MlllUlM) a year is to meet the charts "I defences. It should be poi'l'cclly clear, therefore, that nu increase of taxation .fur the ordinary purposes of cr nv . eminent ilum been suggested, and we"are certain, t'lmt the great majority of the people is behind the Government in its defence policy. The. items of oxlranrdniiiry expenditure for which money has to he leuiid are:

1 s "l>'''- "atinti - C'niiti'ilititioii to 1 1»! Railway Superannuation |.„,i,1. «.>,IHII>: contribution to the Public s '' m "' s "|'i-raiiiiiiali,„i und ,„, „. l-OIIIIt ol lllcrgiag the |' o |i„. |.- u „.| WIIWl; total. l',-)0,0ll0. JJefeiicc-lntcre.i upon the ~„.( „, Dreadnought. LTo.OOO; I per cenl. per annum sinking fund, .l'Sii.iiiiii- |,,i.,| Claimiio. Additional cost, of internal <!..[',.,,,.,. CIiKMHHi: additional armament and' equipment. .C 100.000, extended ovo.' lihrce years. C.->(t.ilill): |„ U |, u|:i:i.(Kl(l. Total defence. CilOil.ooil: ..ranil lolal (including superannuation! ~L:j3o..l)iH). To meet these charges u,,. Mi„i_t«-i- of finance proposes extraordinary expenditure as follows: ' Cradudcd Tncome Tax .. csonno Death duties ' .. .. m ] m Long-distance passenger rates 1(10.(10(1 1 pi'r cent temporary iucrease upon Customs .. .50,0(1(1 Sanks, additional taxation.. 30,000 Racing clubs, 2 1 /, per cent. "ii total receipts , K 38,000

I TnfilJ .^448,000 I, This shows a balance of £IIB,OOO to ; meet uii.tiirnst.i'll contingencies. The in- , creased levies on nil the above items, ox- • oophng imlv |) lc temporary Customs I primage, inc. in our opinion, perl'ocllv Justiliod, whither extraordinary revenue ; who required 01 . llot . Witll the C!us . I "ins increase U,p position is somewhat d.llorcnl, althoujrh it. is lint, a temporary one, imposed on account of the large is'liraikngc i n imports and consequent fall in Customs receipts. Tlie period of extra-cautious importing is. however, almost at. an end. and the onsuiug season should witness the gradual ■return of business to its levei prior In II"' late -period n f depression. The

C.-.0,(ll)ll re,|,iir,.,| from Customs under I he Rudget propn-'al of one per pent, primage should, therefore, verv soon bo mailable under the ordinarv t'arilf. \l'o eoiitend, lioivcvor, Hint it' would .have lieen simpler and more satisfactory to , have imposed a specific, tax, for prefer '■nee through the Customs, for defence, he re-impnsit.ion of a porlion of (lie 'l"ly on lei or sugar would have provided (he wherewithal, stnrl. we believe, would hare bee,, generally acceptable niiiler the circumstances. As it is, the piddie wiH l, aV( , |„ |j ll( | pnnshlerablv more I ban the 00.000 revenue from fas loins, for the amount per article is so small Hurt in but few Pl ,ses can one per '■"'l l - '"' iwsied on by (ho merchant to Mie consumer. It niav be taken fni Jirn.nl.oil Unit merehaiifs will not bo the losers to the extent of 1011.000. Trices will pinlmlily «.„ ~p. (o an almost inappreciable exlenl per ariiele, it is true, : but in tlie iiKjirpsjaie amounting to a sum (hut will yield the merchants n handsome profit over the £50,000. Til tUo iuteresta erf tlio general consumer '

wo contend that it would have been far better for him were a very small duty reimposcd on one or ol'hrr of the principal commodities now on (die live list. Had such been doll", he ■.■■< uld have been in no danger of ln'ii": exploited, for i-'iich, we believe, w'li lie Ihe result of t lit- primage charge.