STILL THE PRICES GO UP.

Evening Star, Issue 15600, 17 September 1914, Page 8

STILL THE PRICES GO UP.

It THE «MTOa. Sir,—Your correspondent G. F. Bewfey is to be commended upon his excellent letter in your issue of 15th inst. re the .above. The position is such as to cause frrave concern to many breadwinners at this juncture, but- is it a new thing this exploitation of the workers by the privileged few? Certainly not; it is merely an extra turn of the screw which is ewer tightening upon the toiling masse*. Mr Massey and his Government could and should have acted vigorously at the outset, but can we—the workers—expect any such action from one whose interests are diametrically opposed to ours? Many of his pclitital supporters are the exploiters. A cable in to-night's 'Star' shows how to do things. I Tefer to the fixing of prices in New South Wales by the Executive Council The working classes are (•unfortunately for them) being taught a salutatry lesson, and it is to be hoped that j th«y will bear it in mind when they go to the ballot box next election. _ There, at leasft, we are on an equality with the exploiters, and, seeing that from 60 per cent, to 70 per cent, of our voting populaI tion ;»re workers, let us reverse the present position and establish a democracy worthy of the. name, thus putting an end to this unsatisfactory state of things. The workers are already bearing far more than their share of taxation, owing to the oppressive and vicious system of Customs taxation ; and if the workers do not vigorously protest it will mean that tho 6hare of "this country in the expense of the war will assuredly be raised by increased Cnstoms tariffs, and thus tne worker will again have to shoulder the burden. Seeing that about £15,000,000 of unimproved value is added annually to the knd values of New that by the community collectively—it seems fair to assume that a portion of this amount should be taken to pay all expenses incurred bv tho people—i.e., the Government —through the war. If such a tax were imposed it would tend to assist the unemploved problem, which we will certainly have li> i ontend with until normal conditions obtain, by forcing mora land into the rcarket, and thus create, a demand for lator - . , . ■„. • * The Hon. Jas. Allen, m his Financial Statement, shewed that taxable land values ii New Zealand had increased since by over £54.000.000, and that in tho same period the amount assessed to Graduated Land Tax increased by £25,000,000. Thus during the past five years the people of New ' Zealand have presented the 40,000 Land Tax payers with*£34,ooo,ooo, and that out of this 34 millions no less than 25 millions has gone to the 6,000 persons paying tho Graduated Land Tax. Surely, therefore, if the Government require a greater re\t <;itf> for war or other purposes it should be Revived from this huge ''unearned Inert'meet," and not from the hard-earned r ~••,•$ of the workers. —I am, etc., E. G. Bell. S