NO TIME FOR CHANGE

Evening Star, Issue 21820, 8 September 1934, Page 12

NO TIME FOR CHANGE

THE BATING ISSUE STATEMENT BY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Tlie following official statement on tlie rating question lias been issued by the council of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce:— Tlie Chamber of Commerce is essentially a non-political and non-party organisation, and it is not, generally speaking, within its province to take up the cudgels for or against a proposal, tlie sole effect of which will be to readjust. the incidence of taxation amongst its members. At the same time it is impossible for tills body to refrain from comment on the proposal that the City of Dunedin should adopt the system of rating on the unimproved value. Tliis country lias passed through, a period of unprecedented stress and strain. Tlie economic horizon is still obscured, but there can be no doubt that there is a definite improvement in tlic outlook. Tlie present Budget shows some rays of hope; wage cuts are gradually being restored; confidence is surely but slowly returning, and tho business community is looking forward to the future with optimism lb is nothing short of a calamity that this moment should be chosen to launch proposals for a change in the rating system of this city. Whether the proposed change would shift the burden of taxation in tlie way its sponsors predict is open to the very gravest doubts. The one thing that is certain is that'the whole of the business community will bo completely disorganised if tlie proposals are carried. Some firms will certainly be forced out of business. Others which might have contemplated commencing business in tin’s city will be driven elsewhere. Confidence will be shaken, and -all business will be at a standstill until the full effects of the change are ascertained. Such a check to tlie business coriinumity must inevitably be reflected in reduced wages and increased unemployment. Tlie proposed change was recently put before the ratepayers and rejected, mid it is unfortunate that tlie city should in,such a short time be asked to pay the cost of a further ballot. Ft is to bo hoped that all ratepayers will appreciate the very serious effect of any change in our rating system at tin's juncture and ensure that no change is made.