The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. FRIDAY, JULY 14, 1916. THE FINANCE BILL.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 167, 14 July 1916, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

FRIDAY, JULY 14, 1916. THE FINANCE BILL.

For this cause that lacks »*"T**net. For the wrong that needs rrmttami, For the future in the distance, And the good that toe eon do.

The vahie of criticism is shown in Sir Joseph WaTcTs important amendments totWe Finance T3UI. The two moet im : - portant alterations, not to mention . others, have been suggested by several newspapers and members of Parliament. . The moet iar-reacbing of the changes is ' the amendment of the proposal to levy an additional 5 per cent flat income tax, a proposal which had not a friend in the TPress or in Parliament. The 1 principle of increased income tax was, of course,' approved; it was the unfair.incidence of the tax to which strong objection was taken. As the "Lytielton Times" eaye: "An increase of 150 per ■ cent on ttovj taxation of smaller incomes, and of only 371 per cent on large in- , comes, is einrply .capable of no defence." The new proposal is to reduce the special tax - from one shilling to sixpence I on T taxable incomes up to £900, and to . leave it at a.shilling on incomes above ' 1 that t figuTe.' The graduation is crude, ' but it is a great improvement on the original proposal.* Nest year a better system of graduation ebonld be demanded. Apparently the limit in the schedule of taxable incomes is still : £5,600, whieji we think is too low. The Englieh limit is £100,000. ; Of conrgc ' the number of people with incomes over ' £5,600 ie the merest fraction of the number iri'Britain, but even if there were be taxed proportionately, ■ The' absence .'of -provision for appeal , from "the in<iiogß_of the Commissioner' of Taxes was a jraie fault in the eriginal Bill, and. we are glad to see that Sir Joseph; Ward on thie point also has recogniaed'.'the^-value of criticism. With- " out such , a check the Commissioner . would ha"ye' wielded extensive and dan- ■ gcroUs ■'■powers... One of the new clause*, for instance, gives the Conirajasioner the following; latitude: "In any edse where the Commia6ioncr is eatiafied that the i computation: of 'stantfard'iricome in the ' manner prescribed by Section 10 would entail ecxioue hardship on any taxpayer by reason of the commencement of t business of euch taxpayer, or by reason • oi the fact that the amount of capital t actually employed by a taxpayer in his I fcusiriess is, owing to the nature of that ; business, emaH~cdmpared with the capital rieecßeariTy at stake for that business, Ih'e Commissioner may .compute "stand.ard,' income in euch manner as. having regard .to all the circumstances of the j case, he adeems just and reasonable." ' 1W .'know that the Commissioner will 8 do his work most conscientiously, but ; it is hie duty to do the beet he can for the Slate, and he will be inclined to decide against the taxpayer rather than against th.c State... -The -Board of Appeal to.be eet up will consist of at least 3 three- members, of whom one shall be a Supreme Court judge. Ite decision shall be final, except on points of law. which may be taken to the Appeal Court. We shall be surprised if the Board has not a good deal to do. ■ . ■ ' ■ matter in which criticism ha. effective is the taxation of .pro- ; fessional.men. It lias been contended jliat a-young professional man who ■ "turned-"the: corner" towards success •during the war might, be unfairly treated by the : war profite tax.' The . GKrietchupch "Press" take 3 the rather extreme case of a man whose income jumped from £200 to £1000 in the past year, and estimates that according to the original bill he. would Jbave to pay , ' £255 in taxation, whereas an older man who' had been making £1000 for yeans . , wouldupay-only £67. - For euch cases ' some relief has been provided under a , mew clause. There has to be considered, i however; the case of young eligible men , whj> ought, to be.at the Jrout, but who . have stayed at -home and acquired come o* the business of their patriotic competitors.'■■ It is common-knowledge that there are euch cases, and it will be grossly unfair if they are liberally , , treated.by .the.Commisßioner .or the Ap- \ peal Board. We hope that Sir Joseph , Ward's etatement that such men will i not come under the relief clause win ' prove, correct. The above are only a few ' of the changes made in the Bill, which t we think will fafo into law a much im- i . proved, measure. inequalities will ' I remain, for "it is" quite . impossible to ' , make the incidence of taxation entirely J i fair, '• But en ..the wiiole ifc ie an honest ■< } and fairly "bold attempt to grapple' with 1 ; I %si^*- : P r 'Si^.;O^yaT..Ja«fcß^T ;; j |,

GERMAN WAR "COUNCILS.'" Nothing shows better the uneasiness of the Central Powers at the present position than the number of Councils' of War they are reported to have held of late. The latest discussion at Sofia ought to be particularly interesting, as the situation to be considered bristles with vllfikniltiee, both military' and diplomatic The Austro-German delegation, co the story goes, wanfc Bulgaria to -send troops to help the Austrians in the Trentino and in Galicia, while the Bulgarians not unnaturally -want to keep their troops to watch the Allies at Salonika lest their own territory be invaded. But if the Austrians are badly defeated in Galicia Rumania may attack Bulgaria on ■lier own, and the may induce Ferdinand to lend some assistance in this quarter. and may also galvanise the Turk into. more vigorous action, as Constantinople would be threatened from the north. If we can trust the Turkish communiques, the Turks are already beginning to realise the danger, and are striking hard against the Russian forces in the Caucasus and in Persia, with some small measure of success, though anything short of a decisive action in this sphere cannot -materially affect the main situation. Councils of War are contrary to all German traditions of warfare, and no great commander ever seems to have favoured them. Frederick the Great, during the Seven Years' War, is said never to have consulted any of his subordinates, while one of the main reasons of the Austrian defeat was the chattering, divided Aulic Council sitting at Vienna. The great yon Moltke never Buffered even the King to dictate, to him. In a private memorandum on the battle of Koniggratz, written for the guidance of the historian Treitschke, Moltke declared that no regular council of war WBB held cither during this or the following campaign, and that he alone was responsible for the initiative in all matters of supreme moment. When •Professor Wilkinson was -writing his " Brain of an Army," a popular account of the German General Staff, he submitted th* proofs of his little treatise to Moltke, with a request to know whether it was true, as asserted by his older biographers, that he had held a council of war on the evn of Koniggrate. "I am glad," replied Moltke, " that you correct the ever-renewed legen-d. according to which a council of war is assembled before every important decision. I can assure you that in 186$, as in 1870-71, a council of war was never called. If thic commander, after speaking with his chosen adviser, feels it necessary to consult others as to what he should do, the arrangements for command are in a sorry plight." Much of the present sorry plight is due to the lack of a supreme controlling brain like that of the elder Moltke, the "great battle-thinker," as he was often called- The Kaiser has wavered between different generals, at one time Hindenburg,- at another Falkenhayn, and at another Mackensen. There is a saying in Germany that the courtyards of-,the royal, castle at Berlin are knee-deep with the lemons which the Kaieer lias squeezed and thrown away, and some of 'them have been thrown away to shield more exalted personages. This,was the case -with Marshal Count Hacseler, one of the best soldiers Germany possesses. .He was appointed military adviser to "the CrOwn Prince, and ho "was unceremoniously dismissed and sent back to Berlin —not because he gave his princely protege- wrong advice, but because the latter was too wrong-headed to act on the excellent advice given by his military mentor. Ho was eaddled with the mistakes of Verdun, which were in reality due to the intractability and incompetence of his royal pupil. "After the Franco-Prußsian war Moltke wrote that it was a pious and patriotic duty never to disturb the prestige which connected the glory of the army with certain high personages. But the high personages of his day wen content to take the glory without interfering themselves in military matters. Had the Kaiser and the Crown Prince shown similar discretion matters might have been very different from what they are to-day, with the Germans still hammering at Verdun, while the Allies are pushing back their depleted armies on the Somme and the Stochod and menacing the Balkan's from Salonika. I =====