The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 1887. PAYMENT OF TAXES.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1563, 10 March 1887, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 1887. PAYMENT OF TAXES.

Akohbishop Crokb, of Cashel, appears to have created a spnsation in England, by publishing a letter to the effYct that Irishmen should cease to pay taxes to England. The taxes, he says, are used in feeing lawyers to prosecute Irishmen, and in paying policemen to bludgeon Irish heads. At this distance away from tbe scene the language of the Archbishop appears to us injudicious. There must be a Government of some kind, and to keep it up taxation is necessary. We do not at alt admit that Ireland is properly governed. On the contrary, we are of opinion that she is not, and that there will not be peace until she gets tbe management of her own affairs. She is to all appearances steadily nearing the moment ol her deliverance now, and great caution should be exercised by her leadeis as regards the steps they take to expedite so desirable an end and the language they, use in adv eating her cause. If Archbishop Croke used the language attributed to himit appears to have been illtimed and injuJicious, but it appears to us probable that what he said has been greatly exaggerated. It will be rpraerrbered that some t:m'' ngf> w« punished in this paper a note showing th*t larg" numbers of tenants who bad been evicted by their landlords inarched in a body with their families into the District workhouse. It is necessary now to explain why they did so. It can readily be understood that with a fall of 50 per

cent, in the prices of the produce of the land it became impossible for the tenants to pay their way. It was impossible for tfapm to make the rent out of the land, and consequently they cou'd not pay it to the landlords when called upon to do so. The landlords did not take this into consideration. They wanted their pound of flesh, and they insisted on having it, and every one who could not give it to them was evicted. They seized on anything the tenants had for the unpaid rent, and then threw them penniless out • n .in roadside to do as best they could. In such cosps the Ladies' Land League used to provide shelter for the people, but the League was suppressed by the Government, and now there was no one to look after the poor homeless tenants thrown on the world in the middle of winter. The National League advised tbem to go into the District workhouse, as there they would make the landlords who evicted them pay for keeping them, as they were thb principal ratepayers in the place. The idea appeared to the tenants capital, and they at once marched stright into the workhouse. Here the Board of Guardians made some distinction between themselves and other paupers. They reserved e part of the workhouse for the evicted tenants, and treated them better as re gards diet. The landlords of conref saw that if these tactics were generally adopted they would be " hoist witr. their own petards," and so they made representations to the Government or the subject. Tbe great fault the Irisl: people find with the English Govern' ment is that it always sides with th( landlords, and of course it did so in tbii instance. Tbe British Government pro claimed that the action of the Board o Guardians in making a dietinctior between the evicted tenants and the regular paupers was illegal, and on tha ground the elected Board of Guardiani

was abolished, and Commissioners were appointed by the. Government to rule orer the workhouse in their stead, Now let if be remembered that the work- i house was supported by taxes raised from the people in the district just as we in this colony raise taxes for Road Board purposes. Supposing, for instance that our Road Board, Town Board, and County Council did something that appeared to Government to be wrong, would we not think it an arbitnry thing that on the representotiou of a few individuals the Government should step in and torn the members of the Boards out of office, and send down from Wellington a couple of Commismissioners to transact the business ? We should not like it, and yet this is exactly what has been done in the very Archdiocese over which Archbishop Croke rules. Now it appears to us probable that it was to this institution the Archbishop referred when ho advised non-payment of taxes, and if so we must say we cannot blame him. It was a very arbitrary thing for the Government to aboliah the Board of Guardians because they refused to place on an equality the evicted tenants and the social scum that had previous possession of the workhouse, aod the only way in which they could be met was by not finding the wherewithal to carry on the Institution. Of course this is only a surmise, but i' appears more likely than that Archbishop Croke should advise that no taxes should be paid for any purpose.