PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 3 September 1915, Page 4

PARLIAMENTARY NOTES.

TOWN VERSUS COUNTRY TAXES.

ARE FARMERS PENALISED?

[By Tblbgraph— Special to Stab) WELLINGTON, SeD 2 fplli this afternoon with a, good deal ofawJ mony. It foreshadowing Buo S s?dt tT memb6rs distinct*y w£« siaes. Ihey were warned by the Pin ! pre^STl wh * c J et ur' a Ud been : E i. as e*PlwA«d by Sir Josepb Ward, who sard some members wisSS taJ hid* nnf teas!-*S the grad«a?ed PS rSi,™ • 7 **$"* to «>«» lands. Tfc* sum peJJleF""* (derisiveM: Poor town*- ■. Sir Joseph Ward: I am not exprew. continued, Mas introduced to burst SS large estates and the reason it did no? apply in the Budget was that they coull not burst up town lands. If the latte* we.taxed.in thj, way it Wuld me£ heavier rents, and the community would have to pay^more for its necessaries, . The income tax Was very light unoa ! country people as the riunfshow^ The House would probably be surnrwe* to know that on]/two of ito.XBCj would come under the country land and .income^ taxes a,, proposed in the J Budget and he could give hundred, of cases of well-to-do farmers who would not contribute. Mr Fletcher: They won't make returns. The Minister; Office*, will be sent out at the proper time to get information, which will obviate calling upon many farmers to make returns. The country required considerable sum* of money, and it was perfectly futile for sections of the community to take exception to the necessities of the situation, when the country required and demanded that something be done. (Hear hear). "There is no use paltering and fooling with the thing/ continued Sir Joseph Ward, "it has to be done by every section of the community, and the sooner We understand that the better." It might be that at the end of this year even more would bo asked and the Government had to hold in re^ serve ihe possibility of spreading the system of obtaining money in larger sums for war purposes. ■ The clash of opinion in the ensuing discussion reached its climax when, Mr Buick protested against what he termed offensive references by a Laborite toward country members. A claim by Mr Pearce that the farmers had sacrificed a good deaj. over the sale of their meat to the Imperial Government drew an important statement from* the Prime Minister, who said the prices of beef ranged from 4|d to 4d per pound,but these were fixed with due regard* to the fact that the seller was entitled to the hide, skin, and offal. What were hides worth to-day? He thought about £2 10s, while sheepskins brought 7s6d to 10s. The meat price was hxed on the basis that the owner would get about 42s per 1001b out ef the hide, and offal. The farmer never got such a good price as he had enjoyed since last March; he had a regular steady market at a reasonable profit, and Had been entirely relieved of the trouble over freight scarcity. This had been overcome by the Imperial Transport Board, otherwise there would have been such an extreme scarcity of insulated tonnage that it would have been almost impossible to get NeW Zealand produce to London. Mr Hindmarsh: The farmer would not have got 2d per pound. The Prime Minister went on to say that the Imperial authorities commandeered insulated tonnage and paid lid per pound freight, whereas the or?L g 7 Po? r *° MarcJi last was id to x.~ IT Since the taxation proposals had been announced he had seen many city and country people, and he was not only gratified but surprised and astonished at the patriotic way in which those who would pay heavily had received the proposals. In concluding the long discussion Sir Joseph Ward declared, in reply to'suggested alterations in the new taxes that necessity compelled the Government to say no. THE MAORI FORCES. A well-known East Coast sheep farmer, Mr R. S. Williams, who has an intimate knowledge of the Maori people, has been appointed to a position in the Maori forces at the front. He will leave New Zealand in the course of a few days. Mr Williams will not take any military rank, and the posiition he holds was explained to your correspondent by the Minister of Defence, who said General Godley asked that someone be sent to assist the officer commanding the Maori Contingent at the front—someone who knew about Maori customs and so on. "After consulting Maori members," added the Minister,* "it was decided to send Mr Williams. The Maoris are providing him with a sum of money which is to be used, if needed, for the benefit of their kinsmen at the front. Mr Williams /will not take military rank; he is going at the special request of General Godley to act as an intermediary between the Maoris and their commanding officer."

UNSTAMPED KEROSENE

The member for Egmont asked the Minister of Finance this afternoon if something could be done in the case1 ot those firms who had to compete against kerosene duty paid prior to the new tariff, which was being sent forward without any brand. He declared that complaints were coming in from all over the country. Sir Joseph Ward replied that there was always a certain amount of trade disturbance when Customs alterations were made. Before the stamps for branding were authorised a portion of a cargo from one vessel was'landed in Wellington. Stamps were now being distributed throughout the country and the regulations would apply as from August 26. L"ter on, when the Taxation Bill came before the House, he proposed to discuss the whole position The fact that certain merchants had no oil when the change was made, and were now importing it, was very unfortunate for the merchants, fetich cases would be very deserving ones for consideration, but there could •be no differentiation. There were bound to h» vast* of hardship that could not bo nvoi.M. and there were bound to bo dinicultie? impossible to ovei-coir.fi wh™ * cnring© of the kind ♦pok place. There wore also difficulties in connocrion with the retailers, out he had v.o tlmjljt that before the matter was finished they would be able to arrive at a basis which, on the whole, would be satisfactory to most or tlio ppfj-VIo conchy we',!.