THE TAX ON BENZINE.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 August 1915, Page 4

THE TAX ON BENZINE.

In Ills anxiety to moke motor car owners bear their full share of the proposed war taxation, Sir Joseph Ward has evidently not fully considered the effect tho proposed impost on benzine will have upon producers in country districts like Taranaki. During the paßt two or three years the horse teams in this province have been almost entirely superseded by motor freighters, which are necessarily heavy consumers of benzine. If the price is put up by sixteen per cent.—tho proposed tax—it means that the extra charge will be passed on to the producers, who are already heavily enough handicapped by being away from a railway and having to bear the heavy upkeep of roads. The Taranaki farmers are themselves heavy consumers of benzine or kerosene, using it for the running of milking machines—in these days of labor shortage almost a necessity. If ho wishes to hit,the owner of the pleasure motor car, the Treasurer could do so effectively by imposing a tax on tyres or increasing the duty on ears still further. To t>; benzine specially by ICJ per cent, is to put a brake on enterprise and industry and inflict hardship on a class that already is heavily burdened. The producers are doing well, and will cheerfully do their duty by the State at this crisis, but care must bo taken that no inequitable lax is placed,upon them. No exception could be taken to the imposition of, say, twopence a gallon on benzine, which certainly ought to contribute something towards the war taxation, but a fourpenee impost cannot be justified, especially when luxuries like bocr are allowed to escape so very lightly. We hope the country members will raise their voices in protest against the proposed unreasonably heavy benzine tax when the Budget proposals come up for discussion.