The Wairarapa Daily MONDAY, JULY 13, 1891.
Mbßallance having represented that his presentproposals for the incidence of taxation were only tentative and a sort of stepping stone to an undiluted land tax, the Eveniwj r ont in die fol; lowing terms advises him to travel the whole distance at once:
The bold course is the best. If, without inflicting an intolerable burden upon the land, the land tax can be depended on to yield sufficient revenue, then certainly it ought to be imposed without delay. There is nothing so injurious to the public credit as uncertainty in the adjustment and inci* dence of taxation. The uncertainty which now exists is most detrimental to the country. It is fatal to all enterprise, is killing trade, and totally stopping all specu» lation. Finality is the goal which should be aimed at, and all classes which are to be taxed should know the worst at once. Probably, in the present case, the worst, when known, will prove by no means so bad in reality as in anticipation. If Ministers can adjust the incidence of taxation at once, so as to afford a reasonable assurance of permanency for some years, then trifling crudities of inconsistencies in their scheme may be overlooked and forgiven. Once people understand exactly what their position is, and what taxation they will be subject to, capital and enterprise will begin to flow in their old channels, or will carve out new outlets for themselves. Finality is essential to restore prosperity, and lead to a revival of trade in all its branches.
It is significant that so trustworthy an authority, on a matter of fact, as our Wellington contemporary, should point out that capital and enterprise are not flowing in their old channels. This is just the complaint from which the country is suffering, and the cause of there being so many unemployed in the colony. Who is to blame for this? First, the Unions, which, by means of strikes, paralysed trade, and secondly, the Ministry, which is now engaged in giving effect to the wishes of the late strikers* There beed be no disguise, it is the Ministry and the proposals made by it which are arresting prosperity and perpetuating poverty. We are, however, somewhat surprised that the Evening Postshouli talk about finality. There is no finality with the men at the back of Mr Ballance, or if there exists any finality, it is a sort of yawning socialistic gulf such as Sir George Grey sketches, in which every settler wi'h a shilling will hava to share with the man who has not a penny.
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Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3856, 13 July 1891, Page 2
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435The Wairarapa Daily MONDAY, JULY 13, 1891. Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3856, 13 July 1891, Page 2
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