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The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1879.

When remarking upon the unreasonableness of those liable for the Land Tax in making complaints against it ( we took occasion to state that heavier and more oppressive taxation would soon be resrrted to. We stated that a tax in some form would soon be levied upon education, as one source to supply an empty exchequer. Little did we think, however, that this subject would' so soon be discussed, or that our educational system should so soon be considered beyond our means. It was quite plain to us the country could not go on spending a LIOOO here, and LISOO or L2OOO there, wherever a dozen or a score of urchins could be gathered together. We stated it as our conviction that State aid would not ami should not much longer be granted to schools, but where there was an absolute access it}' for it, and that large centres of population should be made to provide the means for their children’s education. This, it is very possible, may soon come to pass The large suras expended, in a good many cases squandered, must have added considers bly to the unnecessary expenditure that has been going on throughout the country. Only when enormous taxation is being proposed do men turn their attention to this subject. The best way to cause a man to take an interest in public things is to touch his pocket. The grasping, Inquisitorial, trade-destroying proposed Property Tax in its present forth has a'read ■ aroused the country from one end lo the other. This will

go 'on until n shifty Government, by throwing out one bag of ballast after another, is either able to fairly float the State balloon, or the whole fabric will fall to the ground with a crash. Some or the bitbr • t • pj onenls of Sir George Grey and the Land 'Fax—the member for Geraldine in particular —stated -over and over again that it was driving capital from the country. Was flu’s a delusion on their part, or was it a blind to help them to upset the most Liberal Government New Zealand ever possessed ? Yv' hat will the member for Geraldine, or the member for the Avon — who was another bitter opponent who held the same views—say fur themselves now ? When they are aiding and abetting a system of taxation which will not only drive capital from the country, but that will go far to crush out the few embers of enterprise that may still remain after a crushing season of unparalleled depression, will an}' of the supporters of the proposed Property Tax be bold enough to say it will not have this effect ? Much was said against the Land Tax on account of the heavy expenses of collection, but any one who reads the Property Tax Rill must see that the machinery to he put in motion for that- tax will bo a hundred and fifty p- r cent, more in proportion to the sum collected, besides the irritation.waste of time, and destruction to commercial morality which will be attendant, or will follow as a natural result. In onr remarks upon the Financial Statement we said it w.-.s an attempt at class legislation, as it was a easing of the large landowners at the expense of the more industrious classes. Few, at that time, seemed to join with us in this view of the case. Now, however, that they have fairly got their eyes opened they seem inclined to row with us in the same boat. In that atticlo we stated that if Sir G. Grey had been in office he would have advised several other ways the of making up deficit than the Protective Customs Tariff, which a Conservative Government has devised to curtail the comforts of a class of men who ;i re truly the working bees in the hive. One of the ways is to reduce the expenditure ; reducing the salaries of the higher paid Government offices ; dismissing a lot of needless officers, who only encumber like too many servants in a household. It is a notorious!} -known fact all over the colony that Wellington swarms with hangers-on, who live on the slate ship. Out off the £2OO each from our Legislative Councillors ;to pay men of wealth, rolling in riches ; to make laws for their own benefit is a perfect absurdity. Next in order is the ridiculous expenditure of an enormous sum for Hansard to report members’ speeches ; we my ridiculous liecause these reporters who are professedly ■paid-for,correctly reporting such speeches are under the humiliating obligation or having to acknowledge their want of accuracy by presenting every members’ speech in the morning for correction. This farce should be put a stop to. Why should members have"paid teachers to teach them grammar,dictation,or composition? Above ail, why should the country pay for their education ? Hundreds of similar extravagancies present themselves in every department, swallowing up larger or smaller sums, that, if properly husbanded, would make a considerable gap in the deficit ; but Major Atkinson cannot move out of the beaten track, and the Hon. Mr Hall does not wish to disturb the calm surface of the Upper House, by suggesting that hon. members should cease to draw salaries for managing their own business. Then again, there is; Government architects, a sorry lot. The everlasting geological vote, which, if we recollect right, still goes on and as fruitless as ever. The came rule, if applied to governing the country, as is applied to every good business man, to guide him in his business, by shaping his outlay to balance his income, would not fail to keep the colony from falling behind. Any such rule for guidance the Government by such principles it has no idea of. It is an unhappy feature in the Minister for Land’s public career, that he has always been in power in bad times. This feature is fatal to his success in any Ministry. Miserable gloomy forbodings cramp the energies of the most iuterprising.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TEML18791127.2.7

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Temuka Leader, Issue 204, 27 November 1879, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,003

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1879. Temuka Leader, Issue 204, 27 November 1879, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1879. Temuka Leader, Issue 204, 27 November 1879, Page 2

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