INEQUITABLE MEASURES.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 September 1917, Page 7

INEQUITABLE MEASURES.

To the Editor. Bh\—-We hear a lot of noise made about the patriotism of New Zenlaiidorp, luit taking Sir J. ft. Ward's explanation 1 of Lis Budget and taxation proposals one would naturally j conn; to the conclusion that it i 3 only the poor and struggling workers of New Zealand that aro expected to he patriotic, when he says in order to induce rich men to invest their money in the war loan we mußt give thorn a high rate of interest and exempt them from income tax, not, mind you, for a vear or two, hut for 25 or 30 years. This money could be got not on State security but on ordinary security at h much loss interest rate before the war. not for 2f> or 30 years, but for four or five years, subject to income tax. 'Now, Sir, it appears to me that this state of affairs is entirely wrong. They aro exempting all those millions for war purposes from taxation, and at the same time giving them a higher rate of interest than they oven asked for in pre-war times. Would it not be reasonable to think that those rich individuals would ho require>! to make some sacrifice like their less fortunate neighbors'; Instead of that, the Government is assisting them in every w»\- to get richer still, while, on the other hand, thero ia every indication that they mean to starve the poor. They abolished the mortgage tax. Now they propose levying tax on the unimproved value of the land find won't even exempt mortgages, which means that the poor man, who is paying a high rate of interest to a mone\ lender, will he compelled tj pay his n,conic tax also on the mortgaged land, which means double interest. If this is not confiscation I don't know what it is. This proves that the rich man is the first to be considered by the National Government, the Ministers and Itlcs running a close second, and the King and Country a poor third, and the rank and file of the people nowhere at all, only to bo used for the convenience of the' gold bags of New Zealand. This is exactly the law that existed in Russia under the Government of the late Czar. Evidently Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward have studied Russian method while they were away on their pleasure tour. They haM also abolished the Excess Profits Tax, which was the most fair and equitable tax that was ever imposed, for the very simple reason that it only affected those that made huge profits through increased prices caused by tho war, 'but to say this was not dono until they had collected all that was to be got out of the struggle- and out of some people that were not legally liable, whereas some who made thousands did not send in any returns at all, and therefore escaped the tax. Thi3 proposal to borrow so huge a sum as £24,000,000 in New Zealand will have the effect ot scraping New Zealand as clean of money as the bones of a Chinaman is of flesh wlien intended for export, with the result that it will put the people of New Zealand under the heel of the rich man for all time. The rich man will get his wife, sons and daughters to invest whatever money he intends investing in war bonds in sums of £SOO each, with the result that he will get five per cent, for all his money clear of income tax. New Zealand will be so denuded of money that tho moneylender will be able to charge any rate of interest lie likes for private investment, and you can depend on it that he will like it considerably higher. It is all very well to borrow a certain amount in New Zealand from those that have a lot of money for investment, but ' o try to squeeze tho last pound out of the country is sheer madness, considering that there is a lot of money required for necessary work even at the present time, if only tho labor waa available to do the vork. Britain can get all that New Zealand requires from America, and when New Zealand is prepared to pay interest and sinking fund on their loans, surely there will be no obligation either to America or Britain when idle pays tho price for what she gets. On the other hand, New Zealand is laying by a huge fund in England out of money raised by excessive taxation in Mew Zealand, instead of expending the money toward the cost of the war and borrowing less. Those millions invested in England arc intended ta create a reservoir of gold in London for Ministers ,to drawn ou at will to hulel out to friends as bonuses for imaginary services. The people of New Zealand paid £5 per head in taxation last year more than was required for the ordinary working of the country. All this money was invested in Loni'in instead of being used, as it ought to be, for war expenses, together .with the £1.1,000,000 loan rais- ' ed. This year they intend to raise £7,000,000 by taxation for investment in London, together with a .C' 25,000,000 loan all this money free of income tax. Dear me, what a splendid country New Zealand is going to be for Jews and sharks! To pay interest on this huge loan, what n burden tho struggling worker must carry in the future! All for the sake of winning titles and adding a string of letters to names of our vain Ministers. The poor have to suffer and bear all the brunt for the reason that they are not organised as a body to fight for their rights, as our Government lias copied one German method at all events, that is, to attack the lines where there is the least resistance. Therefore tliey we attacking the poor man and tettinjj

the rich off free, with the result that the (K>or man will have to fight to project the rich man's treasure, and will also have, to provide the com, of carrying the fight on, so therefore my aclivice to the worker is to organise like ■■all other classes U, he able to light for ■their rights as all other classes havu done and send a strong deputation to ■Wellington to wait on the Minister of •Defence to protest against this imjiist .method of taxation. When I say worker •I mean the small farmer, the small busi.ness man, as well as the ordinary worker, because wo are equally 'workers.—l am, etc., JOHN BIGGINS. Lepperton, 'September 3, 1917.