The Bruce Herald. "Nemo me impune lacesset." TOKOMAIRIRO, MAY 28, 1880.

Bruce Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 1207, 28 May 1880, Page 3

The Bruce Herald. " Nemo me impune lacesset." TOKOMAIRIRO, MAY 28, 1880.

After Sir George Grey's address in Dunedin, on Tuesday evening, Mr Stout moved—" That this meeting is of opinion that the « Property Tax' is impolitic, inquisitorial, and unnecessary." Mr Brown seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. We consider this a step in the right direction, and one which we hope will be followed by many other com nrunities throughout the colony ;in fact the whole of the population of New Zealand should unite in firmly opposing, by all legal means, the imposition of this obnoxious tax. The Land Tax was objected to by many, and for various reasons, but it dwindles into insignificance when compared with the monstrous iniquity of the Property Tax. To think that an assessor may enter upon one's premises at any " reasonable " time, and ask such questions as he deems fit, is simply ridiculous, and we do not think that he will get very correct answers, in spite of threatened proceedings. We also submit that, the oath of secrecy to be taken by these officials notwithstanding, there will be plenty of them who are not to be trusted on that point, and who would give information to a friend on receiving his assurance of secrecy in return. Man was rot made immaculate; the number of those who really can keep a secret is small indeed, and would be represented by a very low percentage, if it could be ascertained. The Act is not only dicta tori"! to the highest degree, but it literally interferes with the liberty of the subject, compelling him to make known his private affairs to the world at large. We have already alluded to its iniquity, and we shall have no difficulty in sustaining our argument by citing one or two clauses of the Act. Clause 16 taxes the premiums received by Insurance Companies. As a matter of course it must follow that the premiums of these institutions will be raised in proportion, and will eventually come out of the pockets of the insured. The 21st clause taxes partners in a firm, mercantile or otherwise, in two ways ; they first have to pay for their conjoint property, and afterwards for their own individual possessions. JSW, there are many cases where by far the larger portion of the goods belonging to a firm are in reality owned by their creditors ,till paid for ; consequently, the two or more partners must either pay up in full, or they must supply the ci-devant assessor ■with a complete statement of their assets and liabilities, if the Act can be so construed. We shall next quote the noble savage, who, as usual, comes off best. Under clause 7 all property of Maories is to be exempt from any taxation whatsoever. But, in order to add insult to

injury, the same page of the Act, under paragraph 28, enacts as follows : — " The interest of every person, other than a Maori, as tenant or occupier of any real property belonging to Maories, shall be assessed at its (full) value, and every such person shall be liable to taxation in respect of the value of such interest." Happy country ! Would it be possible to carry the principle of the grossest and most glaring injustice to a greater length ? We think not. Out of our last loan of five millions the native owners of the soil will receive nearly one quarter of the whole amount, but they are to be exempt from the Property Tax ! But, in addition to this, the European is to be compelled to pay the tax upon such Maori property as he happens to hold or lease, or as occupier. This clause is sufficient to cause an insurrection in any other colony than patient and long<suffering New Zealand, and would infallibly lead to deads of violence in manypartsof America. These quotations will be sufficient to show the utter iniquity which characterises this abortion of an Act as produced by our 1 egislature. Without wishing to go into too many details, we will briefly allude to clause 77, which stipulates that, "If the person liable to pay the tax fails to pay the amount thereof for tbe space of 14 "days after demand, by a notice in writing by the DeputyCommissioner, 10 per cent, on the amount unpaid shall be added thereto." Here we have a paternal Government in the double capacity of tax gatherer aDd Eesident Magistrate, and we doubt not that they will also take over all bailiff business for an additional 10 per cent., so as to find employment for a few hangers-on and loafers. So much for the evil of the Property Tax, and now for the remedy, though of course it is rather late in the day to protest against an Act after it has become law. However, there is nothing to prevent any constituencies, who may feel so inclined, from holding public meetings, pass resolutions requesting their member to support a suspension of the Act for one or two years, and bring it to the test whether the deficiency in the revenue can be made up without having recourse to the Property Tax or not. There are many other ways yet of making up the revenue, and they only need to be found out and duly considered, so as to treat all classes fairly and according to their means. Com* paratively few will object to paying for the education of their children ; no one can reasonably oppose on any pretence the re-imposition of the former duties on tea and sugar, and a further increase in tbe customs could be made by a judicious revision of the tariff. We have, on a former occasion, advocated an export duty on wool, and we do so again now, but need not repeat our arguments in its favor beyond stating, as before, that its collection would not involve one penny of extra costs. No small army of depuiy-com-missioners and assessors would be required; there would be no prying into people's private affairs; no tax gatherers would invade our premises to ask impertinent questions, but the duty on wool would be paid at the Custom House, by the shippers, who would, in their turn, charge their clients in the usual way of business. Neither would the flockowners among the Maoris escape, and the small farmer, with only a few score of sheep, could as well afford to pay a half-penny a pound on bis wool, as the rich squatter who owns many thousands. We trust that the protest against the Property Tax will not be lost sight of in the County of Bruce, and that a public meeting will be organised at an early date.