The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 2. PASSING OF THE BUDGET.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 378, 2 May 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 2. PASSING OF THE BUDGET.

The fact that the British Budget has ■passed the House of Lords (composed of a class of men who are the sworn, enemies of .benevolent social revolution) is one of the most important events that has happened in a century. The Budget aims a deadly blow at monopoly,' and its provisions are by way of bene-: fiting the masses at the expense of the classes. When the Budget operates, it will mean that the State is working for the people as distinct from Hie persons.! In its relation to land the Budget is revolutionary and democratic, and in relation to other vested interests it strikes a blow against the oppression of wealth. The Budget levies increased taxes on land values, liquor licenses, death duties, income tax, stamp duties and Customs and excise duties. Of extraordinary im-j portanee are the provisions that will make the landlords pay a larger propor-j tion of their income, gained (in the majority of cases) by the fighting, the purchase, or the roguery of their fore-1 fathers. The increment tax may mean that landlords will get tired of being heavily taxed for holding unused lands, the value of which grows without their efforts, and so will either disgorge for the public good or make some use 01 u. The increment tax is to be £1 in every £5 of increment value. That is to say, that if the commissioners find that the value of Lord Harry's land had increased by £lO an acre in a year, Lord Harry would have to pay £2 per acre, as well as the i/ a d in the £1 for undeveloped land. It is unnecessary to gO ( into the pros and cons 01 the other, land taxes provided for in the Budget,' but it will be seen that the increment duty is essentially just in that it makes a small levy on money not earned and •which has aggregated to such an enormous extent in England that there is a larger proportion of gilded idlers there than in any country in the world. The intended result is that great owners should .become lesser owners in order that the small fry who own nothing may ihave a chance to possess a little. There is no class of small freehold agriculturists at Home. Nearly all farmers are the worshipping tenantry of the

"landed gentry." It seems inconceivable to the landed gentry that anyone but themselves should really "own" anything, and this has so grown into their bone and sinew that the wrench of giving anybody a chance will be severe. Agricultural land will not be subject to increment tax. The agricultural land of Britain is a mere fraction of the whole. The hereditary landlord's notion has always been that it is more lordly to breed grouse than men or to feed rabbit? than children. He fought very hard to retain his right to transport persons who shot a rabbit, the. most curious point of such an atrocious system being that the subdued serf (for he was a serf a hundred years ago) meekly went to. Botany Bay, and his relatives did not rise in their might to physically protest. It is remotely possible that under the increment tax law, the grouse and partridges will have less room, and that the territorial lords will, find it necessary to use the land for agriculture. By bringing into intense cultivation the areas now used for game in Britain, millions of people could be fed on British grown food who are now absolutely dependent on the crops of the United States, Russia, India and other countries. The man who owns a small house will not he subject to the increment tax. One point in regard to the British land-owner is worth mentioning here. He generally disdains speculation. He holds his land because it was his father's land, and increments are not as rapid under the false system common throughout Australasia. Britain expects to reap £325,000 a year from the undeveloped land tax, and as the tax is only %d in the £, the schoolboy will be able to understand that the forty millions of people in England might have more room if the land was developed and used for some other purpose than shooting. Jt is almost unconceivable that in so small a country and with millions of y.t'ople, sown thick in festering slums, that the people have for hundreds of

years permitted this evil. The reversion duty is good, too. for the owner or lessor of land that has increased in value between the granting of a lease and its determination must pay our, at the rate of £1 for every £lO increase. As lie has not himself earned the increase the State taxes his profits. This tax will send to the State coffers £IOO,000 a year. Then, again, the liquor licenses will cheer up a number of people who are not licensees. Under the new law the average tax paid will be £49 per annum. Formerly it was only £2l'. It is still likely that the brewery business will supply millionaire peers, however, for brewing is one of the very few businesses the aristocracy think is really respectable and consistent with their dignity and standing. The Treasury will benefit to the extent of over £2,000,000 by the increase. The death duties are not heavy, for the estate of a person who dies leaving a million pounds only pays 15 per cent. Formerly the percentage was 10. For smaller estates the assessment is proportionately larger than formerly. Sufficient has been said to show that, although the way of the wealthy lias Tiot been made hard, a pep or two has been put in his boots, and that necessarily the poor man will benefit. The Customs and Excise duties increases are by way of assisting the British artisan to more work, and to make imports more costlv. Altogether, the prospect is distinctly encouraging, and British people who formerly dared not breathe for awe of a lord are be sinning to realise that, they themselves are flesh, and blood too.

CURRENT TOPICS

THE PEOPLE'S FOOD,

In theory, the domestic laws of New Zealand are the finest in the world, for the State, recognising that nobody is honest, watches the citizen from the cradle to the grave. Some linns with ail excellent reputation in Wellington have lately been fined small amounts for selling starch in pepper and sulphates in baking-powder. When Dr. Mason first sounded the wild alarm about the people's food and told us that we stood a very good chance of being poisoned every day, there was exceeding activity in the matter, and adulterators who made large profits bv calling things by their wrong names were a trille frightened. Thc'law said that they would be dealt 'with. But since the passing of that law the people's food has been still adulterated, and certainly the fining Of a great firm in five or six years is a •20s license for it to go 011 selling adulterated food. The facts are tlnvt there is 110 real attempt made to make mer- I chants and retailers give the people what they pay for. and the law is morelj honored in the breach than in the observance. The large probability is that jil couple of cases in each of the large centres will lie the extent of the State's endeavor to enforce its laws. The Pure Food law is a. good law, and under it thousands of New Zealand traders might be fined to-dav. The people themselves generally accept what is given them without question, and not only know nothing about its constituents, but are usually kept in ignorance of its weight. The feeble method of haling two people before the Courts for the law-breaking of thousands is encouraging law-breaking. If a couple of hundred retailers were summoned for selling . adulterated provisions, they would 'perhaps cease to deal 'with merchants who obtained money under false pretences. OUR BLACK BROTHER. Dinizulu's uncle has been seized and taken to Natal. He will have to stay there, for he is a black patriot. Most black patriots are shot on sight, but Dinizulu's uncle lias probably promised to behave himself. Dinizulu was a paramount chief, and he was given £OOO a year and a fine house to keep quiet in his mansion not far from Cetewayo's grave. When Dinizulu thought of Cetewayo he couldn't keep quiet, and he caused dreadful trouble a few years ago. The British people "dealt with" the fat young man who hated to see his people pay lrat : tax for living 011 their own land. If you remember, several white people were slain because of the disaffection of the Zulus, and several thousands of Zulus were shot with split-nose bullets at Mome Gorge. The young chief was, of course, an educated "nigger," and he listened to the voice of the ''Ethiopian" missioners from America. In the Mome Gorge fight Dinizulu's uncle, who is a much more important person than the ex-' : civil servant," his nephew, escaped, although he was wounded in several places. With his nephew out of the way, the old gentleman was at liberty to stray back to the grave of his deceased relative Cetewayo, and to there harangue the Zulus. The reason why it is necessary to send armed parties to collect hut tax in Zululand is that Zulus hate paying ■what they don't owe for land that belongs to them. The old black gentleman ■who has just been arrested told them not to pay before he left. If tliev don't pay, the Natal force of police has plenty more split-nose ammunition in Durban and East London—and, of course, Dinizulu's people must be civilised. The Zulus' difficulty, however, is to find the money for his liut tax, for, curiously enough, there are no branches of the Bank of Africa in his kraals. N

A WORD ABOUT CIGARETTES. The cablegram remarking that the men of the Aldershot command have Dee a forbidden to smoke cigarettes while under arms or on fatigue duty reminds one that New Zealand has a law prohibiting boys from smoking. If we remember aright, Mr. Field, M.P., introduced the measure which became law. We believe we are correct in stating that but one or two cases under this Act have been heard. The difficulty of enforcing such an Act is obvious, and it is also obvious that an Act that is not enforced is useless except as an advertisement for a politician. But New Zealand now has an Act by which it can force boys to bear arms, and there are extended powers for dealing with men under the new defence regulations. It is possible, therefore, that what the "Suppression of Smoking Act" has been unable to do, officers commanding training sections and Territorials may be able to uo. Cigarette-smoking in the British Army is a comparatively recent form of sin, and it has grown with such amazing rapidity that commanding officers have become Alarmed. The warning came from the medical officers of the Army, who found a much too large proportion of faulty hearts, the result of cigarettesmoking. Army officers have an advantage over civil officers—their men are always under their immediate command, and may be "ordered" to desist from committing cigarette suicide. Parents in New Zealand do not always exercise complete control over their children, and hence the cigarette habit is unchecked. Tf the New Zealand conscript and his elder brother the Territorial is "ordered" to desist from cigarette-smoking, and to smoke the cube of sawdust is a military crime, perhaps an evil the suupvession law did not suppress may be minimised somewhat.