CORRESPONDENCE.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9300, 30 December 1895, Page 6

CORRESPONDENCE.

» THE SI'AMPS COMMISSIONER AND THE PUBLIC. TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS. Sm, —Your leader of to-day is satisfactory as it shows a desire to climb down somewhat. You apparently give up the contention that il is lor the Government to say in what sense revenue Acts are to be interpreted. You admit that the proper construction of a revenue Act is a pure matter of law. But you now take up the position that it is for the Government to give gratuitous advice to all applicants, including the inquisitive editors of Opposition newspapers, as to how the reveuue Acts can be evaded. You are becoming a bit of a socialist. You regard lawyers' bills as evils which are to be avoided by making the State act as a lawyer and give gratuitous advice. I am not at all sure that I can agree with you here. But I daresay there are many readers of the Lyttelton Times who would. It does not need argument to show that the only people who would apply tor such advice would be people who feared that if they took a certain course they would bs liable to a heavy duty, and who therefore wished to avoid it. There is no analogy at all between the information which the Lind Tax Department gives to taxpayers as to the filling up of their returns and so forth, aud the conundrums about imaginary deeds which you wish the Stamp Department to be, compelled to answer. However, I am glad I have been able to a large extent to make you acknowledge your error.—Yours, &c, L. December 28th, 1895. [We need hardly say that our correspondent has again misrepresented our arguments instead of answering them. However, if this sort of thing pleases him it does not hurt us. We can now safely leave the matter to the iutelligence of our readers. —Ed. Pkess ]