The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA: FRIDAY, NOV. 26. THE INCREASED CUSTOMS TAX.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXVI, Issue 48, 26 November 1909, Page 4

The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA: FRIDAY, NOV. 26. THE INCREASED CUSTOMS TAX.

The Prime Minister announced on I uesday evening lliat lie liail decided to forcyo' tile proposed primage duty (,t ' I l»']' and substitute, therefor a surtax of -J.I per cont on all the ordinary customs revenue. The former, was strongly objected to by tho commercial houses as entaiJiny a vastj amount of work that should if possible be avoided, and we are disposed to think that the Prime Minister has acted wisely iii abandoning it i n f nv . our of the surtax. It was stated by Mr Massey that this will brinjr in an increase of C13(),0()0 instead of £!>(),- 000 under the primage duty*, but. even it* this is the ease the burden will b(j taken ofT necessaries and put upon what may be termed luxuries. Sir Joseph Ward stated, however, that ac-t cording to the estimate for tho yeaij it would amount to only £65,000. It is probabie that his estimate is a conservative one, and that Mr Massay's figures may prove to be fairly near what the actual results will bo. Ihe increase of - 1 per cent primage duty .proposed by the Prime Minister in the Ifcidget was £50,000, and it is reasonably eicar that whatever form! the extra tax takes it will exceed that, amount. Mr T. K. Taylor pointed out that, though ujider tho ■2 a per cent. surchurujo the duties on such articles as tobacco and spirits would be greater than on the 1 pep cent, primage basis, the duties on ordinary articles would be le>s. Ho quoted the following comparisons of increases and decreases

Primage. Surcharge. 1 per emit. 2} per cunt. papery £2,740 £1,3(50 Earthenware ... 670 325 Woollens 4,0G5 2 030 Spirits 2,311) 12^500 lobaeco 3,601 13,200 Thus the increases would fall most largely on spirits and tobacco, and ho was not sorry. Mr Taylor said hd would have liked to see the Minister raise the whole of the £50,000 from that sort of luxury. The brewers benefitted to a very considerable arnount by the remission of the sugar duty two or "three years ago, and this is a branch of enterprise that oan well afford to bear a reasonably large proportion' of the new impost, especially i a view el ih% wmsa e|

security of tenure- tho Trade will J joy under the proposed new tion. Mr Malcolm suggested tho Ja* visubility of trying to recover s <w! of the duty which was lost (hro U jJ allowing tlie brewers to take ndva i ■ age ot the remission of duty on s „ ', and Mr Taylor proposed' tlml (£' whole nmount required in addition | taxation be derived from an iiwrea in' the Customs and Excise duties * tobacco, wines, spirits, and hj,.,,,. j? 0 feated on this by -Hi votes to ]?,' £' Taylor went a step further, and i )t posed that the amount be raised \°' an increase of 25 per cent in the c eise levied upon beer, bat he Wus V'" feated in this also by II to 21, Jj the Premier's proposal was carrel The 2.J per cent, .surtax is ph'ii. ra |/ to the 1 per rent, primage duly J', generally the lax, which ap|)|,' U8 be necessary, falls on U,,. s!i, m |j ( ," of those most able lo bear it. "

Green peas and early potato already on the market in haw,,,' 1 gill.

Large numbers of Hatha folk visit, | the Ihmodin show this week, -n\ early morning train from ('ntl'ms V J tenliiy brought up about till to ; '•'' the express at Balclutha. JOn

Sir Thomas Lipton is still niter i), America Cup. He announces t|| U t l' will issue a challenge in I'm,' ( J build two yachts.

Aerial navigation ; a record h„j,,| u At Uialon's t'amp (.Paris), M_ han beat Mr Latham's record l, v ' a / taining a height of JD.jnft. j" about the height of the .Sutli C rl an J Falls.

Mr Hrugg has designed and is (Twt . ing n handsome front addition to Mr 11. lilaikie's house at Rosebank, wliicK he purchased from Mr Snudilands 'J his will make the residence one of tiie most uttruetivedooking < m t u terrace.

The chairman of the Clutha r, )UD Council, Mr -J as. Cummine-, w a > L Wednesday appointed to represent t W County and lialdutha IWoulli „„ t L Charitable Aid and lloKjatal |!,i ;m ] 5 and _ also delegate to c\.-m N . t |j! County Council's vote in the appoint! ment of trustees for the Rcnevolent J 5 . stitution and Dunedin Hospital.

The Clutha Rifles have had, .■„ f M a most successful camp. Tiie work {[ beino- carried out well, and the discir)line is good. Oil Wednesday evening tlie camp was "open" to visitors an! refreshments in bountiful supply were provided. A short sports prourimme was successfully carried out.

Special train arrangements uro being made by the Railway Department for the Clutha Show (l)oc. ;i). A train will leave Clinton for Balclutha at 8.50 a.m., Warena 9.30., arriving Balclutha at ]0 a.m. A train will leave for Catlins Hiver after the concert-" at JO. 15 p.m. A train will leave Balclutha for lJunedin at 0.55 p.m., and for Clinton at 0.15 p.m.

if one may judu'e from the paucity of lenders fur works at (lie mcetiiic of the Clutha County Council mi \\ednesday, there is no surplus labour in this county. For three of the live contracts nd\ertised there were no tenders. Two of these were for main, tenance metal in which teams were required, but one was for labour only, the quarrying ~f 100 yards oi metal at Wairumi. Even on one of the contracts that was let the pi ice was about 20 per cent over tie- estimate.

Complaints about cattle simying on tile roads crop up at nearly ciery meeting of the County Couneil". 'J'he Council has tried various means to put down the nuisance, nearly all ol which have been more ..r I ,'•■.> unsatisfactory. The present method .should work well if ui\cn a fair chance. The chairman is empowered to take action against owners of stray cattle. If persons MilTering from the nuisance will therefore inform the surfaceman, or the councillor for the riding, no doubt eiledivc measures will be taken.

There is a strike in the Slate coal mine on the West Coast. The Minister, lion. R. McKenzie, says the crucial point is in regard to miners trucking out from the face, the department to take charge of (he trucks afterwards. This would represent an increased charge of Id per (on, amounting- to about IM.O(K) on lust year's order. "Wc couldn'l stand it," he added, "and we proposed that the question should bo settled hy the Conciliation Commissioner or the Arbitration Court, but the im-ii reiused, and we cannot see our way to mate any furl her concession."

As tiie result of the inquiry into the Land and Income Tax Department, Mr V. lleyes, (he Commissioner, lias linen relieved of his duties for? three months from Monday next, and Mr Kicknlson, of the Government Insurance Department, will be placed in .linrjfe. The Premier said there was disclosed considerable friction between Mr lhves and some of the oflieers of the Department under him. There was also disclosed a considerable doubt as- to the exercise of his discretion in connection with the assessment ami collection of the taxes due by the 'liferent persons named in th,. evidence and in the report. We understand that Mr -Sherwood, at present Clerk of Court at Kninara. is under orders lo take up his tluti* as Clerk of Court at Ualelutha at once, and will probably arrive shortly. Mr Lopdell has, during his term of oflice here, been-in charge of the police station, has been Clerk el Court. Kegistrar of Old Age Pensions, ami had to attend to a hundred anil on« other duties, which he always carried out with courtesy and ability. The present appointee will now tahc over the bulk of these indoor dure--, and Mr Lopdell be left free to attend to the purely police work of his large district.

A sad boating accident own-red a' the month of the Rakaia river <> n Tuesday afternoon. Mrs K as ' ter, Miss liountree, and Messrs -I"™ 85 linxtcr, Thomas Hannah, and Harvey Hannah were rowing in. a punt. Presumably they got too near the mouth of the river, and were swept «>»t (0 sea bv the stream, and the b""t uC set. Only one of the party was saved,- Mr IJaMer, in a very * proi:ariou» state, and unconscious. Tlie °w witnesses of the accidmit were two brothers named Carnes. Four of tb« victims wore well-known residenis °j Southbridge, and Miss Hon n tree had gone there on Saturday to spoad » holiday.

W[ Yesterday was people's day at the Snow. Fine weather and a record crowd. " h New season's strawberries in Bal-< [' clutha this week. Beautifully ripe? ' nearly a mouth earlier than usual, Mr James Cumming was on Wednesday unanimously elected chairman of ', the Clutha County Council for the en- \ suing year. The Rev; S. W. Currie will give a special address to young men and women in the Balclutha Presbyterian! :. Church on Sunday evening. The Hon. J. It. Sinclair has been appointed a member of the Otago) University Council, h\ place of Mr Justice Williams, resigned. The Minister of Education proposes to make arrangements whereby teachers' free railway passes will be' used, but not abused. At the Dunedin Show, Mr John Tough did well in fat sheep, Mr Wm. Telford and Mr D. Murray in Romneys, the former getting the ticket for the champion ram. In Shorthorn cattle, Mr Murray got a second and a third. The Budget battle at Home continues. It is now in the House of Lords, and an appeal to the country appears inevitable. The battle then will be not the Budget but whether the Lords or the Commons are to rule. Let us hope the Commons will come out victorious.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the distinguished and picturesque Premier of Canada, celebrated his 68th birthday on Tuesday. King Edward telegraphed his congratulations, and. expressed hope that he would be spared fou many years to serve the Crown and Empire.

Mr Wanrpoa Fraser, 8.A., son of the Rev. P. B. Fraser, has been appointed third assistant master at the Talmerston North High School. Mr Fraser was trained at the Dunedin Training College, and was for some time relieving in the Balclutha D.H. School.

The judges in the Navy League Essay Competitions for schools in Otago? have now given their awards. Those receiving prizes in this district are Tahatika— John Hewson ; Milton—A. Eden Russell I, A. Alma Nisson 2 ; Kaitangata—Lilias Smaill 1, Rhoda Biackic 2 ; Balclutha—Mary Moir Willocks 1, Elizabeth Cornish 2 ; Waiwera South-Dorothy Appleby 1, Olive Appleby and Sophy 'Appleby "2. A No-license Convention at Wellington approved of the recent compromise with one exception. The convention required that the issues of local and Dominion option shall be presented, to the electors on two separate voting papers. A deputation afterwards laid the matter before Sir Joseph Ward and the Hon. Dr Findlay. The Prime Minister promised to reply later.

A meeting is called in the Harvey Ball for nexr Thursday evening for the purpose of forming a branch of the Boy Scouts in Balclutha. We hope to see a good attendance. A branch was recently formed in Milton, ami the movement has been" taken up with great enthusiasm in various parts of the Dominion. There are now no less than 3GOO Boy Scouts in the Dominion, and we hope Balclutha will rise to the occasion and have a strong brancii. Two organisers will be present from the headquarters staff at the meeting next Thursday 1 niulit. The Cherry mine horror in America is tragic. Two men, Waite and Cleland, proved heroes, and went down, and they and their immediate supporters had a furious hand-to-hand fight with the Lithunians, who argued that all the water should be given to the strong men, adding that "the sick will die anyway." Brandishing their knives, the Lithunians sought to steal the water that was stored in holes, bur Waite and Cleland struck them down, established guards, and insisted on a double supply tor thoir weaker and disabled comrades. The explorers reached the lowest level, where air was found, and also water. Ihey hope to reach more survivors. The County Council do not always get all the grants from the Government that they apply for, but sometimes they get grants they never apply for at all." One of * the latter came to light at Wednesday's meeting, when the clerk read an authority to expend £IOO on '"Back Creek" road. It >s surprising the number of "Back Creeks" there are in the county. Mr Mitchell had a back creek at Clydevale, and Mr Clarke spoke of a back creek near Clinton, while Mr Saunders averred there was- only one Back Creek in the County—viz., at Catlins -and there were three claimants for the £I.K) grant. Further reading of the authority settled the point easily in Mr Saunders' favour. This was the first the 'council had heard of this vote, which was made last year, and they agreed to accept the authority find expend the money. .Needless to say, it will be spent to better advantage by the council than by the Government.

Alfred Cooke, a wharf labourer, obtained £25 damages from the Lyttelton Times Co. for alleged libel published in the Star in the following words :—"At the Supreme Court in a case for damages last week plaintiff \\as asked by the defending lawyer ' flow high can you lift your right ann '!' Slowly, and with evident l»ain, the man lifted the injured member that was the cause of the action about half-way up to his shoulder. 'I see,' said counsel, 'and how high could you lift it. before the accident ?' And when the thoughtless beggar) raised it high above his head counsel closed his cross-examination." It* was contended that the paragraph implied that Cooko was a perjurer and one who sought to defraud. Tha defendant company had refused to apologise to plaintiff. The case for Cooke was that it was his uninjured arm he had raised the second ti»ie. His Honour pointed* out that there was no question of malice or aggravation of the l'bel. The only question for tho jury was to what extent plaintiff had suffered pecuniarily. It was not a ease for contemptuous damages; as tho man had in a sense been forced into Court by refusal of an expression! of regret. Plaintiff was at least entit j led to nominal damages. Stay of proceeding* till next sit L.it of th<j Court g( Appeal wo* gioatali

There ib no change in the New Sautik Wales coal strike, and the situation is a dead lock.

We would remind those interested that the entries for the Clutha and Matau Show close at 8 p.m. on Monday evening. Football as piavc.l in "The States." Twenty ix deaths resulted from the game in the colleges during the past scroti. Two hundred and nine others! .wen- .. oiv Or less injured.

Mr It. Irving's horse, Baron Clinton, took first place in the 3-ycnr-old draught entire class at Dunedin yesterday, and the same owner got lirst and second for 2-year-old fillies.