EVENING SITTING.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5556, 6 December 1879, Page 2

EVENING SITTING.

The House resumed at 7.30. PKO^BRfT ASSESSMENT? BILt; The debate on the motion to go into committee on the Property Assessment ■Bill wad resumed. " . Mr Seddpn argued that despite the late , period of the session it was necessary that the bill should be taken back, and an Income Tax Bill substituted. Mr Moss said that with the machinery, in -the Treasurer's hands under the Land Tax Act, £400,000 could be raised, thus rendering the Property -Tax Bill unnecessary. : '■'"•'• Sir; George Grey said he felt so averse to the measure that he would offer it resistance at every stage. It was called a " machinery bill," but he would call, it a real measure, else it would not have been brought forward. Itemed at everything that produced- wealth. The man not doing wejl would be ground down still lower. In j New Zealand they had landholders whose land counted > for nothing at all to them, and yet their cattle and produce wobld be taxed.^ Industries that might after a time yield a profit might be crushed. In every way it appeared a most disastrous tax. Its effect would be to' catjse the property of the poorer classes to falj into the hands of others more forr tunate in Worldly circumstances. Machinery was to be taxed, and the effect would be to make men hesitate to invest in j machinery, and that would be inosjb - disastrous to the industrial classes. The lanxl tax yielded £100,000 pier annum, and . thit was to be thrown- away. An income tax would reach the persons to be taxed; It! would overtake the public creditor in Great Britain. He was taxed in England, and why should they allow him to escape when Great Britain and all foreign States : repognised the principle ! Then there were gentlemen who drew large pensions from the colony. They went to England and we're taxed. Why was it that they should not .contribute to the funds of the place from whence they derived their pensions ? The same with the persons who derived large incomes from the colony 'and resided at Home. Dealing with such, r gross in-, ju ttices as those, he felt as if he were in a nightmare. He was told that the measure wig not to be put in force. ., W;hyjthen> alarm the country ? There, was not a day hV did not get letters informing him that inhabitants of the colony were determined . . not to remain in it under such a Bystem of taxation. Let the Government bring down a real measure— ah income tnx, one which' would tax men according to their means, and not grind down the poorer f claskes'." _y "''' ' ' ! . ■ I>| ■ ■■•• '•- ■■ iDr Wallis said he had coriie to the.conclusion that the bill hefore the House was an unjust and one-sided measure. '•..- -, iMr M'Lean said he agreed with } the Opposition that the measure was a bitter pill to swallow. . It waa forced upon them by the maladministration of ■ the late. . Government. Mr M'Lean then entered into a comparison between the proposed tax and the land tax, and pronounced in faVor of the former. He thetywent on to say that the member for Hokitika had told the House that only, three . men on the West Coast of the Middle Island con- . tributed anything under .the land' tax. That of itself went to prove that it was mbst unfair in its operation. The present financial difficulties he attributed . to the lajfce Government, reminding the member f or Wanganui (Mr Ballance) that twelve months ago, when delivering his. statement as Colonial Treasurer, he painted the prosperous state of affairs in glowing' .language, and actually went the length of attempting to reduce taxation. i iMr Hall agreed that what could be done in' the way of retrenchment should be done. It waa out of the question, however, to think about striking out one sum after another, indiscriminately. Retrjenchmeht was a thing requiring to be handled very carefully, and by men who knew something about it. He could assure the House that what could be done irt that way the Government were anxioußto do, but they did not profesß to i«iay tfiat they oould do it in the, short tjme they had been in office. .. Still, o after all the deductions that .'could possibly be made in the^directiohpaffre-f' 'tfenchment, a large deficit would remain to be made good by taxation, The niea^

Bure they proposed was one which, would '■"- J ¥i fyear faitly on all classes of , the commuriityt i Jl 1 • The statements that, it would press : tin- C-S vfairly in this directi|Gn,and in that direc^l tion .were alt.true in themselves, Mm hu^hey^vete tioiWf which might fairly//? :\» Had the V Gpvern.jne%fe'f3tfght in a Beer Tax,BiUi 1 'the cry • would' have been raised «HB6ut "' "robbing the poor man of his beer." ■ .' Had they proposed an income tax, they would have been taunted with robbing the poor 'professional man^^atfd'thif'hiwd^b^K&d - ciyil servant. urln^cOitttfiittee tHe'Gd'v.emnienfc "would be quite pi^ared "to con* ' '■ sidef .anf feas^iraDie prOTirTffie^^ frieridly Bpirit* If th4yt?4tind that the -. proposed , ani cjurij) , cquldflbe wp.ul(f 'be' ye^ l Jbt MWM; y XM mV piililib Credit #6ttia TO Id" bFiS • s-xtxl inontgomeiy reviewed the measure, and pointed. 9ut its objectiotiable'featuTeß. r tr Colonel Trimble spoke" 4Sl favor of : the ;r } principle of the* bill, re'marktng^tllat, iv^fectii they had to do machinery iov enabling them \o |$<&t ; tHPIH public cfeditot 1 ; .■?-■ "'.'--^.t.',F : "" ;?: ffl Mr j. BJ Fiaher spoke in opposition -^ A'l the bill. ' - : . 5 m Major AttihsariireplfecTj/^He' 'cbutdiiat f conceive howit could'Be^ta'tM'' that the* ; '■ I did h8t r reqiiire'itfe^Htißnpropog^f''^ No pleridn witbi ati^ MM Muthori.ty' 'bW l^ l the subject of firiaiice. %sid i^criotisiylirf:''^ pugned , jthe- • correctness . ot^liia estimates; I'W ■- He still'6onfended'ittat:.a pto'pe'rtytax'Wai^' 1 !! preferr4olß to an;;meoHio-|af r The;bsl''r t; ;" before.' jthe Hou^wastfid Goyernmenf intended, tp^iijring'it^iotc; ;,',::. operation at once. No amendment ad- '''''l vanced by. the .QppogitjoniforirUie obyjou^^l purposes ... of: damaging I tl\e Gover»i]riM{t J^l Itbuld be auhmitted io.'i They iWodldVjtlav.i/i,^! cept reasonable proposal^, biit they would ,; ;i :| I not, as the" late ; Government" i'had > ddneV ''V'^'B submit to unreasonable and mere* factious -> vil amendments. The ! pr6pb>itibn' inade^by^,^/M the member for the Thames (Sir^Getffge H^l Grey) about levying an 1 .tt f com-tax J> u'p^)ii I f i ' (^| the; New Zealand bbndhlsrders at Home '■'&>) was a most 'absurd' 1 one, 'and one w'lucji' r > ' >J! would effectually defeat'the'^colonial 5 io'arii' 'f :; ' ;} in the Home . country. , .He. ; couid!b'areiy;]?;-V^ 'believe that the prppositiqn..;was. made. jfeif earnest. tax on &a» equally; ,By applying: thdmsdvea-Berioqsly^tptfi^Mr/^ bill' he believed that they %y.ould= Bucc^e4 ' Ci% in producing a by no means unpopularftj,;;^ measure.'' • - - •.:'"} .- •( ■•■■),-\>:iv.w-uh'tk. '-h . Onthequestionforgoingiritecdihmiite'eirj!^ ;• the House divided— Ayes', J}s "'; •N0e8,'25v >?ffioY The Hdiise' then wertt into' : c r 6mfciftee,wft!Q and were left sitting at .12;3SQ%,Hii ! -- ~"' 1 'Wdoiitfß