The Grey River Argus TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1949. NATIONALIST LAMENT FOR THE POOR

Grey River Argus, 8 November 1949, Page 4

The Grey River Argus TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1949. NATIONALIST LAMENT FOR THE POOR

'WHILE flic leader of his Party • has a plan—the secret, so far, of the Party—to wipe out untold millions of the people’s money, the Nationalist candidate for Westland seems .to accuse the .Finance Minister of having largely forestalled the plan in Question. Mr O’Regan says the “small man’’ is caught in Mr Nash’s net, but Mr Holland says he has a plan to cure that —to cut down the money of the people on a scale so enornuAis that it surely would keep out of the net of a Tory Finance Minister a very great number indeed. Does it stand to reason, however, that the Nationalists thus woidd cut off from themselves a vast revenue whilst pledged—as they now arc—to continue social security, guaranteed prices, educational and health facilities, and public works, electrical development, and to sack no public servant unless he could be directed to work for some private employe]' or other! This very prospect of national impoverishment, is alone suffici'ent, in the estimation of many .’shrewd observers, to demonstrate that the National Party’s promise of deflation on a major scale is no more than a shabby specimen of the confidence trick. On the other hand, however, it must be taken for granted that definite deflation—no matter who may suffer—is the Opposition objective. Once this is recognised and • flic consequences are allowed for, it. is only a nation of “suckers’’ who would be credulous of the Opposition promises to maintain social security and all of the services. They lament already the £55 millions which constitutes the amount yearly returnc'l from taxes in a direct manner Io the community in benefits, pensions, subsidies, and services. As for a substitute, they declare they would have “rugged individual-ism”—-every man for himself and God help all who might lack the dinkum predatory instincts of the grasping capitalists. Social security, and public enterprise, and guaranteed prices, and the maintenance of the system whereby the primary producers arc certain of a good incline, all require that there shall be an adequate amount of money not i only circulating, but doing so among the masse-; of the people, rather than becoming once again I the monopoly largely of a comparative minority. For instance, if the social services and social security require, say, forty millions annually, and if the masses lack the incomes on which they are levied to finance these things, then pensions, benefits, medical aid, and all the rest of our welfare State .ire simply doomed!This is the real significance of the Nationalist cry for the- destruction of money, with its sequel of radical reduction of the taxable capacity of the whole people. Air O’Regan has quoted figures as to returns made to the Income Tax Department, but lie carefully excludes file companies, although he declares that the companies are able to beat Mr Nash hands down by making the people in effect | pay all of their taxation for them. This, of course, the companies deny, declaring that the State is getting about three-fifths of their profits, and that this is altogether too bad. Mr O’Regan does not deny that every taxpayer is left with at least £2OO, hut says 23,000 who earn less put in “returns”. He does not hint what they actually pay, but as against any who furnish returns in this category he might at least mention the number with £2OO a year or under who pay no income tax. The National Party shed no tears over the social security levy. The reason is that they arc quite pleased that the wage earners should shoulder the hulk of the burden of maintaining the poor, the aged and flic sick; but they close their eyes to the other side of the picture. In other words, if there is deflation —if a great chunk of the money of the community is spirited away—then the workers will have far less means 'to be levied for social security.

There are. more ways of killing the cat than choking it with butter! j\Lu O’Began may freely answer for the manner in which conqianies dodge taxation, but he cannot rub out the fad that while wage and salary earners pay in taxes less than 11 per cent, of income, and other individuals less than 20 per cent., companies pay 68 per cent, of their profit in taxation. ' The number of individuals with incomes of £2OOO a year may not be 5000, but it is more from their quarter than from that of wages and salary earners that the cry for deflation is coming; whilst those on these big incomes play only second fiddle to the big companies in complaining (if taxation. Mr O’Regan ought to be well aware that, the workers to-day paying income tax are rightly philosophical about it —their thesis is that you are better off when your income is big enough for taxing than when it isn’t! The business man doubtless remembers that whim the people had not enough income to be taxi’d they hadn’t enough to pay their way cither. A Nationalist’s tears over poor people’s taxation are nothing like so sincere or salty as their tears over the rich people’s taxation.