The Hastings Standard Published Daily. FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1896. THEATRE TICKETS.

Hastings Standard, Issue 76, 24 July 1896, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1896. THEATRE TICKETS.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

The proposal to tax theatre tickets, which forms part of the means for raising funds under the Old-Age Pensions Bill which is now before the House, has raised the ire of Mr George Darrell, the well-known impre/tsario, who writes from Sydney to the Evening Post condemning the proposal. His view of the case is put in the following terms : —" Let me state the case for the impn'sscirios. Take, for example, an average dramatic combin. ation—it cannot be toured throughout New Zealand under an expense of at least £350 per week. In two cases out of three, every shilling of this money is spent and left in the colony, with oft-times a considerable sum in addition from the speculation private funds. The steamship fares are paid to a New Zealand Company. The artists board in local hotels, and spend their salaries (every pound as a rule) in the country prior to departure. The theatre-owners receive rentals, the journals, advertisements ; printers, bill-posters, carters, local musicians, supers, and a host of working men are employed and paid. Gas is consumed, paints, canvas, timber, and other

materials purchased, and it is extremely problematical if, at the end of the tour, the managers' books show a credit balance. The tax is a manifestly unjust one, because it is an impost on the gross receipts, not on the net profits. The manager may be an absolute loser each week, and yet paying the tax on his losses. Last year in Dunedin, owing to exceptionally bad weather, I lost over £l5O. Had I been taxed on my admission tickets it would have been an outrageous injustice. Yet such is a possibility that will frequently eventuate if the Government tax be imposed. I repeat that it is an unfair tax that taxes a possible loss. Again the burden falls entirely on the manager. He cannot raise his price of admission —prices which, by the way, are lower now than in any metropolis in the world —and the tax, if levied, will further deplete the receijits. Why should theatrical managers be subject to an especial tax any more than the butcher or baker, or any other tradesman in the country '? The manager pays through the nose from the start to the finish of his tour. He gives no bills and asks no time ; it is prompt cash with him, and no default. The Government's proposal has created surprise and excitement amongst the managers, and two or three tours already booked ahead will in all probability be abandoned." Mr Darrell is crying out before he is hurt. No doubt the tax if carried out will affect the touring companies, and if we remember correctly similar statements were made when the proposal to tax passenger tickets was first made, but the dire effects predicted have not been realised ; neither will they be in the case of taxing theatrical tickets. The impressarios will not suffer, but the theatre-going public will really pay the tax. The ticket tax will bo no more outrageous in its effects than other taxes, all of which are apt to be more or less unjustly levied. The man that will invent a system of taxation that will give universal satisfaction has yet to be born. In the meantime we must tolerate the inventions of those whoso duty it is to impose the taxation necessary for carrying on the administration of public affairs.