THE FINANCIAL DEBATE.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20316, 15 August 1931, Page 15

THE FINANCIAL DEBATE.

; ♦ i | BASIS OF TAXATION. j I UNFAIRNESS ALLEGED. !"' - ' I j BANKING AND TRANSPORT. ' I • 1 | c I 1 s I (rP.i'.S3 A.SSOCUTIOX " TELESSAM.! t WELLINGTON, August 14. j The House of Eepresentativcs met at 10,00.. i .Mr A. E> Jnll (U., Waipawa), re- ■< ' suming tlie Budget debate, replied to j the suggestion from a Labour member ( that an additional £2,000,000 could be ■ obtained from death duties. He char- i aetcrised such a lino of action as an unsound policy, because the country would actually be -using up its capital to carry on yearly allocations. Everyone who had been connected with business concerns would know what difficult situations arose when it became necessary to provide huge sums for death duties. New Zealand did not posses such a reservoir of accumulated j wealth as there was in Great Britain, j and it therefore was not possible to j dip into it with the same apparent lack j of difficulty. He . added that even in j Britain the lack of difficulty was only apparent. ' Mr Jull defended the actions of the Government in regard to highways finance and said that, in spite of tho allegations by Reform members that the reevenue of the Highways Board ha.d been reduced as a result, of contraventions. of the Act, the actual revenue of the Board had increased bv £200,000 in one year. Advice Disregarded. Air W. P. Endean (R., Parnellj said tie Eeform Party had guided the ship ;of State through glorious seas up to the year 1928, but in that year there ;liacl been a change "to a Government which had allied itself witli the Labour Party. Tho Eeform Party had warned the Government of the depression, but the warning had not been heeded in time. The payment of standard wages on relief works and other extravagances had heaped up taxation until the country was bled white. Had the Eeform Party continued in office the Budget would have been different from the one the Prime Minister hai intro- | duecd. Mr Endean complained' that j New Zealand's financial advisers had i not taken sufficient notice of Australia, j and ho quoted warnings made to the Government by, members of the Beform Party.. The Leader of the Opposition had suggested a short session ■ of Parliament, but the Government of the day had been so lacking in vision 1 that it had not taken timely action. • Had the Government of the day heeded " that advice there would liave been a L saving to the country of £1,250,000 in economies. Tho Government had not • grappled seriously: with the cost of 1 , lifting. If the prices of the Dominion's • I products did not recover, costs would. ¥ i h.*u*e to come down in conformity. >' ! I'lfr Endean said a start would have > .'to'be made on farms not only m re--1 i to the wages of shearers and shep- ' herds, but also in farming operations ■ generally. Transport, charges,. would ' r hare to be . reduced, and there was a necessity for rationalising the industry. Shipping Menace. 1 Mr Endean advocated taking some ' action in connexion with the operations ■ of the Matson shipping line' in trading 1 with New Zealand. He referred to the 1 I Jones-White Act Tinder which this ' ' United States line was subsidised, and ' said that in the very preamble of the " Act itself it was stated that this as- • si stance was being given to enable the ' commerce of the United States to be 1 extended and to provide auxiliary ' shipping services in tirno of war. It > must be realised that Britain had been ' reduced to parity with the United 1 States in respect of naval armaments, ® and her personnel was actually less. ' , Would the publie of New -• Zealand acquiesce in . sweeping our. own, .ship? " ,ping off the Pacific! British vessels r were not allowed to trade between Honolulu and United States ports. He | drew attention to the already unfavourable trade balance with America, and ' submitted that the public should assert • themselves and insist on American vesseis trading on an equal footing with British-owned vessels. 1 The Hon. J. B.' Donald: How could J yyii do that? , Mr .Endean: Don't let American ves--1 sels trade between New Zealand ports,. Mr Donald: ' How could you stop J them? ' - Mr Endean: This House would pass the necessary legislation. i .Mr Donald: The international shipr ping laws would not allow it. Mr Endean: "We wbuld soon see 5 about that. e ; . ... . • . . Banking.. System. ' Mr W. .E. Barnard (Lab., Napier), discussing Sir Otto Niemeyer's report, agreed that the gold standard, was-not essential to the internal working of a a country. The establishment of a f reserve bank to be a proposal s iii the right direction. Parliament, however, would render itself impotent s if it sanctioned such, a change; in the j banking system as would place the t finances of New Zealand in the hands a , of private persons, even with the mild restrictions suggested by Sir Otto JNie- " meyer. 8 The Hon. W. Downie Stewart (R., 1 Dunedin West): Don't the pi-ofits go to the public in his scheme? .... Mr Barnard: Not necessarily. P Mr Barnard said what was required ■i was a managed currency in the in- • - terests of the people with the national il welfare as the dojpitianfc consideration, b Referring to the extra twenty per e cent, surtax on incomes, Mr Barnard urged that it should be imposed on, insurance companies on the basis oi - clear profits, and not merely on nom--1 inal profits. Under the posals the tax that would be paid by r the A.M.P. Society would in two years e jump from over £17,000 to over 9 £65,000. The basis of taxation was' e unfair to those with policies in lite s insurance companies, and struck at the verv foundation. of life insurance, g He considered that the new; tobacco c duties would be unfair to New Zeae land manufacturers and growers. Cigar- rettes had been , left practically as ben. fore, also manufactured pipe tobacco e from abroad. h Taxation Necessary. 2 n T w. D. Lysnar (Ind.. Gisborne) said the difficulties which the Govern- ® ment were facing were very largely l ' due to the extravagances of. the Tomer >- Administration. Th a present Gorernment could not "aocused of estrara-

ganccs; its history l»ad been one of economies. - ,„ Mr Eiidean: ."Do you differencial between this Government and the Ward Government? . .'. , Mr Lysnar: Yes. I would not ha,v« supported the NV ard Government. Mr Lysnar went 011 to say that tn® Government had done its very best to meet the situation, and was entitled t» a fair trial. Nobody liked the taxation proposals, but they were absolutely necessary. In his opinion,. it would be a calamity to the Dominion if Reform Party came back mto He alleged that it .stood commercial interests, ana if the peoWJ of the Dominion were wise they wowa put the Reform candidates at the bottom of the poll. '"I hope, the Eeforflt Party will not be able to rear up head after the next election," he saidReferring to Mr Endean's statement that Reform had warned , the Government of coming depression, Mr Iwsnw said: "It was no credit to the Reform Party lo predict a storm when they had worked it up themselves. Advances to Workers. Mr G. C. Munns (U-, Koskiii) criti* eised the time-payment system. said people were paying in this way *Ol everything, and m the event^ofther commitments becoming too heavy tne goods often had to be taken back a loss, with a result that the remainder of the consumers had to pay it* : the defaulter.'. • . . . . Continuing, Mr Munns suggested that in cases where those advances to workers were finding it a»ficult to meet the-* obligations th« Department might consider an ertension of mortgages from 36} to 4o year®. If this suggestion were adopted, tno Government would save its security and save the worker's home. Road Transport. Mr W. W. Massey (R., Hauraki), making his maiden speech, intimated that he did not intend to speak _as anv length. His impression during the debate had been that speeches could,, have been curtailed with decided advantage to the country. This was particularly so during tne present depression, when short userui speeches would do more good than Ion" ones containing much repetition. \ir Massey criticised the proposed new" transport regulations, and said the Minister seemed to be taking ■ powers which should belong to the counties and boroughs which had to look after the roads He considered it would be a mistake to permit the heaviest types of passenger and goods vehicles to travel at faster speeds,^ ■ it would also be a mistaketo mere;as© the maximum weight that might be carried. The ultimate resuit would g more damage to the roads, more acci dents, and possibly more loss, of Me. The Government should, during th present depression, endeavour to keep down the demands on country r&tepayers. For that reason he urged the Government to review the regulation which embodied a tendency to rail on local bodies to render roadr fit for new loads and speeds rather than continuing the previous policy or suiting loads and speeds to the roads. The debate was interrupted by the rising of thb Hoiine at 5.30 p.m. tra 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday.