THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 1893. A FOOLISH POLICY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2521, 27 June 1893, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 1893. A FOOLISH POLICY.

We are not altogether satisfied with the policy enunciated in the Governor'a speech, because we regard the proposal to rtduce tho tax on the improvements of large estates as a fatuous surrender to the clamour of the Opposition. At present improvements to the value of £3OOO are exempt from taxation, and that is a very liberal amount. Those who have improvements valued at more that sum can very well afford to pay the tax. But the Government have declared their determination to 1 relieve these people of taxation, while allowing the tax on the necessaries of life to remain unaltered. This is Liberal indeed. Mr John Giigg and his equals will be relieved of taxation ,but the poor, who have Jarge families and are frequently out of employment, must still continue to p:i.y tax oa tea, cotton goods, and other necessaries of life. This simply shows that with all the noise they make and all their professions of Liberoliam, the present Government are not yet emancipated from the old superstitions concerning taxation, and it behoves all true Liberalrt to give an emphatic expression to their dissent from a heartleess policy that relieves the rich of taxes and still allows the poor to bear their burdens But in our opinioa the proposal to reduce taxation now has a wider significance than that which is inferrable from the above remarks. It is, we think, a great blundt r to reduce taxation now. We want money to open up thecountry,extendsefctlementand develope our resources, and we have only two ways of getting it : viz. (1), by taxation ; (2), by borrowing. Now to borrow means to add to the amount of interest payable annually, and that must come out of the pockets of the tax payers. If we borrow £1,000,000 it means £50,000 additional taxation, There can be no doubt adout that. Some people assert that it means £40,000, but to this must be added the cost of raising the loan; commissions, exchange, and so on, all of which will bring it up to £50,000 a year. No w it is clear that we cannot stand still; we must continue to extend settlement, and that we cannot do without money. The surplus of half million which we have at present would enable us to do that without borrowing comfortably, and we could develope our resources without necessitating any increase in our permanent burdens ; but if this is to be whittled away to please the natural enemies of Liberalism mi progress, the for

auother loan will become absolute There can be no doubt about that, and then what will be the result 'I It must be that more taxation must be put. Sir Julius Vogel made the same stupid mistake. He reduced taxation in 1884, and regretted it afterwards, and the people whom he relieved have .been cursing his name ever since. The result of Sir Julius Vogel's action was that in a few years taxation had to increased enormously, and the same thing will hippen if the whittling suggestod now is persisted in. To let the taxation continue as at present for a few years would mean industrial developement without further borrowing ; to whittle it down now must mean further borrowiug, log-rolling, and their concomittant evils. We trust there are sufficient Liberals in parliament to enforce a continuance of the self-reliant policy inaugurated by the late John Hallance, and that they will keep a sharp eye on the actions of the Government in future. This is the first time we have found it necessary to differ from the Goveernment, and consequently we have been ranked amongst their servile followers. We have supported them because we Approved of their actions, but wo are in no way bound to them; we owe them nothing, and if they depart from what we believe to be right we are quite ready to assist in replacing them by more sterling men who will realise that Liberalism does not consist in relieving wealth of taxation, and allowing the poor to continue to groan,under their burdens.