A SCANDAL AND A DISGRACE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10014, 9 April 1910, Page 7

A SCANDAL AND A DISGRACE.

Sir,—l want to tell you of certain facts that may interest you, and will probably cause considerable com • ment. Last year the Government passed what was callad the Death Duties Act. It was an Act which was | supposed to make it lighter on the estates of small people, and to enable heavier duties to be collected on death from the estates of wealthv. What I want to tell you about is what has actually occurred in the first case in Dunedin under the new Act in which duty has been j paid. A poor man, who lived in Kos- | I lyn, died last month. All he had in j the world an.ounted, when rtalUed, t to £92. The expenses of his funeral, doctor, and so on amounted to £l3 5s j 6d, leaving £7B 14s 6d. The old man j by his will directed that his grave was to be enclosed and a stone put up. This was done, the cost being £lO, leaving £6B 14s 6d. He left by his will three small amouuts of £lO j each to some friends who had been kind to him when alive, and who had helped him tu live—had nursed hiffi continually, and supplied his little wants. He also left a sum of £25 to a fourth, who had done so much for him. Previous to the Death Duties _ Act of last year no duty whatever would nave been payable on such a pitiful little estate Now, howevtr, a,marvellous charge has come over the scene. A sum of £7 17s 5d was demanded by the Government as Death duty; that is 10 per cent, on £7B 148 6d. This is supposed to be duty payable by the persons who receive the little legacies already mentioned, and is supposed to begcalculated on the amount which these people receive. But it is perfectly evident that these legatees cannot possibly receive the amount of the legacies given to them by the will, for there has to be deducted he amount of this duty (£7 17s sd), £lO for the stone, and about £ll for costs and expenses of administration, leaving less than £SO to be distrii buted. Even supposing that duty was charged on the amount available to distribute to the legatees—that is to say, on the £so—the proper sum to , charge would be £5. Nevertheless, the department, after an appeal to Wellington, insisted on the sum of £7 17s 5d being paid as duty. Now, it seems to me simply a scandal and a disgrace that so poor and little an estate should be absolutely plundered in this way. It is : little less than daylight robbery. I . cannot conceive that members of Parliament were aware of or understood what the effect of the Act would be. If they were, I cannot conceive how they could possibly have passed it in its present iorm. Probably the majority of them knew very little about the matter, but the framers and authors of the measure had the knowledge, and must be h= Id responsible for its contents. They cannot plead the excuse of ignorance Of of overlooking the matter through pressure of business. The Hon. Dr Findlay and the Stamp Commissioner should have known well the effect of the | Bill, which was the ir offspring. It I is indeed grim irony that the Ward I Government, who loudly professed, I when introducing the Act, that they § were going to make it easier for the small men and harder for tae s big ones, should, as a first result of their measure in Dunedin have collected from a paltry estate of £92 a sum of £7 17s sd, not one ! penny of which would have been payable undei the old Act, besides which duty, £1 10s, and numerous others charges. Just as a matter of curiosity, I furnish you with the list here of the amount paid to various Government departments in connection with this poor old man's few belongings:—

Dr Johnston wrote in the epitaph of Oliver Goldsmith: "Nihil tetif>it quod non ornavit." In the epitaph of the Ward Government —now in course of preparation, 1 understand — it may well be said: "They touched nothing that they did not bungle." —I am, etc., A. R. BARCLAY. April Ist. P.S.—I am taking step 3to bring this matter under the notice of the Press generally in New Zealand.

Supreme Court. Filing affidavita, etc. £0 11 0 Probate duty 1 10 0 Stamp Office. Estate duty £1 17 5 Stamp on declaration 0 5 0 Deeds Registration. Registering declaration £0 18 0 Depositing conveyance 0 10 0 Search fee 0 Z 0 Total £11 13 5