The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 1908. THE GROWTH OF TAXATION.
« During tlie Premier's- reccnt electioneering campaign' m the north,, lie surfeited. Ins. audiences with- figures selected to prove that the Dominion ■is in a most prosperous/condition, butt curiously- v enough he; avoided all refer-; ence to . one of the most . striking-fea-tures of the public finances.. 'We. do not refer to, thevamazmg: mcreaso in the public debt,-but to the -ncrease in the: taxation wrung:-from the people. ; Ail intelligent'' foreigner) .; ,were- he to. read a typical speech-of the Premier,' and were he also ignorant of every, fact about iNew Zealand save those given in the speech',. -break.'out into .rapturous praise'of a country sohappily . circumstanced. You have obviously," he iwould say,. " no public debt, and invtlus'you are.most fdrtu--mate. -It is plain; also, that your long:; period of prosperity; , and your good; •fortune "in; p'ossessing. such ''talented. administrators,' must have resulted in a graCteful relief from the : burden of taxation.: Tour taxes, I presume; have'*' been, lowered year - by. year with each recurring surplus.- 3 . Arid in so saying, lie. would be drawing the lpgical conicl,usion , f;froin ,'the,- -figure's .' which •, the Premier puts . forward '6ver ' and again as s the only data upon',the. subject,worth placing before, the public.As a matter of fact,; the- actual posi- ; tion ~u otherwise, : and'the figures relating to the taxation of recent years.' should be read in connection'with the Premier's glowing eulogies of his handiwork. • The following table; shows, the total amount raided by.-the general Government taxation during the-.past eight financial years, with the amount of taxation per head.of the population, the figures being takefo from the official Year Book:— . Year. Amount. -iPer Head.
If the Maoris', had been excluded from the -calculation, the amount ,of 'taxa-. tion per. head in 1907, would have been £4 14s. 7d. There'has, that'is to say, been a very : steady,increase per head in the ■toll collected from the taxpayer. The natural increase of population cannot keep pace with the requirements *of an extravagant Colonial Treasurer, and -the individual is more heavily taxed as times goes on, without any compensating, diminution either in the public debt or the Premier's desire to spend money. With the exception of Western Australia, no Australian State endures any thingalike so heavy a bur- ' den of taxation as presses upon New Zealand. A return issued the other day by the Federal Statistician shows that, in spite of an enormous increase of taxation under Federation, the figures per head are as follow:— ... '
■For tho : whole Commonwealth the taxation per head is £-3 6s. 2d. If the country is so prosperous as the Premier says—and we believe that it is—-andjif the Government's administration 'is so wise as the Premier wishes, the public to suppose, this ' steady increase o'f taxation should not t exist; . Taxation is an evil, but a ne- . ces!>ary evil, and it should not absorb more jnoney than is for the . needs of the great public services and institutions. The increase'in the taxation per head of New Zealand is a signof, wasteful administration, if, further ; signs were needed. When taxation is so higji ..in;' times "of the 'highest prosperity; what win it be when" adversity; dries -lip or lowers some of A the sources of revenue; available for the discharge of vthe-; country's heavy ■ -.obligations abroad? - next the Pren-er-goe3 into a numerical ecstasy, we hope that - some member of the audience.'will • seize the'opportunity to ask* Sir Joseph Ward -whether he; will not celebrate the joyful day fby. cutting', down the taxes. ■' t
-V £ £ 8. d. 1900 2,891,126 ■ 3 16 10' 1901 ■' 3,042,890 3 19 6 .. 1902 . 3,113,080 . 3 19 8 1903 3,277,964 4 18 ' 1904 3,649,601 4.8 4 1905 3,754,379 ' 4 3.11 , ' '1900. 3,841,596 4 3 5 ■> 1907 ; -4,264,555 4 .9 10
£ s. d. Now. South Wales 3 4 11 , Victoria ... > 3 2 2 Quoonsland 3 8 0 ■ South Australia ... ... . 3 2 2 , .!,Western Australia .... 4 13 2 t Tasmania' ... ... 3 8 10
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Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 143, 11 March 1908, Page 6
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653The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 1908. THE GROWTH OF TAXATION. Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 143, 11 March 1908, Page 6
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