INCREASED TAXATION CONDEMNED

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21858, 11 August 1936, Page 17

INCREASED TAXATION CONDEMNED

SOCIAL CREDIT METHODS SUGGESTED Keen disappointment in the methods of the Labour Government in raising revenue has been expressed by Mr D. M. Sherwood, a London accountant, who is touring New Zealand in the interests of the Douglas Social Credit Movement; “From the social credit standpoint the recent budget is very, unsatisfactory,’* he said. “It seems that the Labour Government has failed in the spirit, if not in the letter, to keep its pre-election promises. The social credit movement here confidently hoped that the additional benefits promised by the Labour party would be obtained without increased taxation or without' taking from another section of the community. “It appears that they are following the line of orthodox finance, and have made no monetary experiment in this country. At the moment I do not know what course the Douglas Social Credit Movement will adopt in its future policy. I expect that, where in the past it has supported the Labour Government, now, in view of the budget, it will no longer be able to support it. “I am sorry to see the land tax restored,’’ he said. “I do not consider it a fair thing, nor, judging by experiments in Britain, a satisfactory method of raising revenue. There it cost more to collect than was received in revenue in return, and it dropped out in a few years. I am ■ surprised, too, that there has been no reduction in unemployment taxation. * , “X ..suggest from the ac^faS'credit standpoint, that obtaining additional money by taxes new money should have been created hy the Reserve Bank Provided that the Government correctly ascertained the deficiency of national# income, new amounts could have been created by the Reserve Bank to provide the additional benefits without danger of inflation.”