THE NEW EVANGEL.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2662, 3 August 1889, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE NEW EVANGEL.

VII.-Taxation (Part II.) "Do right—it rccomponseth! do one wrong— 'Hie equal retribution must be niiidc, Though Dharme tarry long." " It knows not wrntli or pardon , utter true Its incisures mete, its faultless balance Times arc as nought, to-morrow it will judge, Or after many days." " The Light nf Asia," Sir IC AriioU, 44th Udition, ir.igcM2. [Continuation ol Artie!.' Part 1., of 19th June, ISSiI.J

It is difficult to designate a Treasurer who is both incompetent and inconsiderate. It inu>t be left to time to teach him that, so long as public opinion and the will of the people are the foundations of government, no statesman can afford to disregard the deep-seated and well grounded discontents af a great section of electors—and that "no man can any longer expect to have the ear of tho House to any purpose unless lie can also command the oar of the country ;" and time, be assured, will teach him bitterly. Hut, meantime, as I have before stated— we only suffer what we deserve—and if we were not ignorant and contemptible, it would—according to natural sequence —be marvellous that such unwisdom should be so long tolerated—wonderful that such political incapacity should not long since have been mercilessly exposed—and ridiculous that we should be gammoned to send down year after year representatives at an enormous cost, who either have not the knowledge, or the will, to summarily end such disastrous conduct. What hope can there be for the colony under such circumstances? But when tosiich circumstances be added a Premier who deliberately and repeatedly insists that further retrenchment is impossible and that the property tax is necessary, —" the least disagreeable method in levying taxation " and the acme of fiscal perfection—and backs up

his subordinates in their peculiarly inconsiderate mode of levying it, and when also we have representatives who accept such nonsense as truth, and, moreover, gravely assure ua that the present Premier is tho only man in the House whom they can follow as leader—reason revolts, and one is literally forced to the conviction that only radical constitutional reforms can in end the situation. And that foremost amongst such reforms must be the adoption of somo such system as Hare's, a reduction of the members to fifty, and of Ministers to three, a Lower House term of five yeare, and vacancies in the Upper House (when the numbers be reduced to twenty-five) filled for say, a term of six or seven years by election and without payment of its members, abolition of government by pnrty. aiid appointment of Executive by the Governor (as in the States), radcal reform of parliamentary procedure, systeniatisation of local government, impeachment of Ministers on a vote of, say, a clear majority of the whole House, by criminal process made practicable and certain when done wrong, discontinuance of Hansard, the rendering illegal raising money by means of Treasury or Deficiency Bills, and, although last by no me.iiia least, a in irked improvemnnt in the calibre of members. There should also be a rigid rule that no member shall be elected who has sat in tho present demoralised House, unless he have very special expert qualifications ; and by " very special expert qualification" I do not mean what we have always considered here as financial genius. But I do mean such men —if they exist hero.— as may prevent the ludicrous spectacle, of, say, a Minister for Defence, without any army training or experience, travelHug tlirough the (Jo!ouy, afc the taxpayers' expense to inspect fortifications, or review troops. Such an absurdity is scarcely equalle I by having, at the cast of over £1000 a year, an Attorney General in addition to a Minister of Justice, Solicitor-General (£1000), Assistant Law officer (£s">o), &c. &c., to say nothing of tho AttorneyGeneral residing a day and a half's journey from the seat of Government, and the impropriety of his being a member of the Cabinet.

Apart from all this, it is worth noting that Russell Lowell, in an address last year on " The Independent in Politics," said— '' It has been proved that old parties are not to be reformed from within. It is from without the attempt must bo made, and it is the Independents who must make it. If the attempt should fall the failure of the experiment of democracy would inevitably follow ; but Ido uot believe it will fail. The signs are all favourable," etc. 0:i all grounds, until a general election takes place, whether by dissolution or ellluxion our condition is hopeless. Bat at such election let electors strain every nerve—for without sacrifice lliere is no success—and—as they love their homes and indeed their lives (for it is worry that kills)—insist upon such a platform as will preclude the deferring of substantial reform ; and elect only such men as they are convinced have not only adequate knowledge and will, but whom they are satisfied arc prepared to follow the principles of Maccaulay's election addresses. Thus—"lt is uot necessary to my happiness that I should sit in Parliament ; but it is necessary that I should possess in Parliament, or out of Parliament, tho consciousness of having , done what is rip;ht" Again—" whether in or out of Parliament—-whether speaking , with that authority which must always belong to tho representative of a grout and enlightened community, or expressing tho humble sentiments of a private citizen I will to the last maintain inviolrtte my fidelity to principles which, though thny may be borne down for a time by sensoloss clamour, are yet strong with the strength and immortal wif.h tho immortality of truth :and which, however, they may be misunderstood or misrepresented by contemporaries, will assuredly fiud justice from a better age " Hitherto we could not hope for such a high standard of tone, and would, indeed have been contented if our representative had only acted up to the words of the Great Duke—

" I IIaVE NOT TIME TO WHAT IS NOT HIGHT." Tlie jargon talked that the Government must have revenue, it to an enormous extent not only muddy nonsense, but tracassarie —mere dust thrown in the eyes of the poor sheep who have so long submitted patiently to be shorn. For there is no doubt, as I have already shown in detail, that at least £1,500,000 —a very large proportion of the present enormous current expenditure of the colony—can, with no impairment of administration be annually saved ; which reduction, as I mentioned in the first part of this article, woulfi not only render unnecessary the property tax (£376.576 12s 103) and the tariff innovations (£193,000) but, of course, immensely (at least £930, 423 7s 2<l) relieve other fiscal burdens most obstructive to the progress of the Colony—such as excessive stamp fees and unreasonable Custom duties. I need scarcely add, however, that such saving is impossible for any Premier who has audacity without adequate knowledge, or who bullies or bounces, or whose main aim is apparently to retain office, or who is so enamoured of, and consequently hampered by, such a Civil Service entourage a? now rules. A peraiial of those parts of the recent Financial Statement headed '' Estimated Results of the Year ISSO-90," " The Property Tax," and "The Otago Central Railway," couWncu* how worse than hopeless it is to expect from the present Government, and therefore from the present Hous?, any further material reduction in expenditure, and therefore any substantial amelioration of taxation ; or, indeed, any cessation of immense district sops, and therefore of huge, unjustifiable outlays, and therefore any prevention of a nsiv loan and freuli tixea.

Now, I do not propose to set iorth here in detail the pros and cons of a property tax. No doubt much may be said of how each a tax has given satisfaction ae a

fiscal measure, even so far back asamongs the Greeks and Romans ; and of how under certain conditions, it has proved to be a most advisable money-raising expedient. And doubtless, innumerable instances can be cited in of such propositions. But sncli circumstances afford no conclusive why auch n tax, even if necessary, justly framed, and considerately carried out, would be advantageous liere. The fact is its advocates in this colony havo entirely misunderstood the situation. For lirst the £V--£'? ! n lc ' w - Bnt « even were'.he irf/b,O/U I2i lOd required, no tax should be permitted which has the effect of trignteniijL' capital, and therefore, not only discourages the importation of population ami money, b ut drives both away. And, even if such a tax were needful (winch it is not), and politic (which it is not), it is inherently unjust to enact such un exemption clause as now exists), or to tax lmpivovements ; and ridiculous to administer it in such an arbitrary and iuconsiderate manner as alone would raise opposition to a tax which might be necea. sary, just, and politic. It is forgotten t.iat natural consequence of impolicy is disaster-that justice is the essence of government—aurt that without justice all forms cleinocratical and monarchical are tyranny alike. Thus, apart from its needlessness, unci however defensible such a tax be elsewhere, it, for New Zealand, could never have been proposed by a competent Treasurer, or imposed by a capable House. For no thinking man can be aware of the first conditions indispensable to the life and progress of a new colony—the encouragement of immigration and capital, and of the retention of men and money—nor un. aware of the sensitive influences which control their flux and reflux, nor ignore the necessity of doing nothing which could have the pffuct of deterring inflow, or inducing outflow. . Indeed, the grave principle underlying the imposition here of such a measure as the property tax does not lie primarily in its imposition as in the fact, shown daily, that our statesmen either do not realise the needs of the Colony, or realising, do not know how to grapple with themT This is indeed the most serious feature of the situation. For it cannot be forgotten that at the very time when, by reason of other depressing causes, the interests of both capital and labour shonld have been most carefully guarded that was the very ti.-ne chosen by onr blundering public men to strike a death-blow at capital, and therefore at labour, by the imposition of the property tax.

Latterly, the northern Press, at lea3t, has awoke to the gravity of such blundering. But it is the Premier's boast that he cares nothing for the Press, and will not he influenced by it, and accordingly flouts it He forgets, however, that experience teaches that the Press will be even with linn, as in the long run it always is with its enemies &. Laisiiley, LL.U., Ph.D., M.A., &c.