TAXATION AND WAR LOANS.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 May 1919, Page 4

TAXATION AND WAR LOANS.

VIEWS OF MR. HAKKNESS. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, May 29. An exhaustive reference to taxation and war loans was made to-day by Mr. J. 0. Harkness in his presidential address to the Chamber of Commerce. He said that advice and criticism in regard to raising from 40 to 50 millions locally was unwarranted, and, whatever opinion might be held on the subject, it was a matter of sincere congratulation that the Dominion was in a position to help itself, and that when the Imperial Government was burdened with the responsibility of raising enormous sums for war purposes, it was. he considered, unreasonable for their Dominion to expect assistance from Britain in such a time of financial, storm. The policy adopted in England of repaying portions of loans out of revenue was practically impossible here. To place a heavy burden on the shoulders of the taxpayer by immediate repayment would mean the depletion of the capital required for development of the resources and expansion of the present industries,, and to hold that interest payable on war loan investments should be subject to incometax was to overlook the fact that without. some inducement the money would not have been obtained, and to obviate that difficulty the rate of interest would have been increased, which would be no good to the Dominion financially. No orie objects to the extra revenue raised by the Government durinrr the past five vears. but exception might reasonably be taken to the incidence that, taxation and land tax had been left severely alone, the contention being that it was a matter for the country settlers to arrange- This, he maintained, was not a policy which was conducive to the best interests of the community.