PRIME MINISTER REPLIES

Hokitika Guardian, 24 August 1929, Page 6

PRIME MINISTER REPLIES

■PRIMAGE DUTY

ONLY A TEMPORARY measure;

(Times Special.)

WELLINGTON, August 22,

“I cannot congratulate the framer Of- the amendiiieiit,” said the Prime Minister this afternoon' in concluding hia speech- of 130 minutes. “For one thing it' runs to twenty-five printed lines, and it would seem that the right honourable gentleman who' moved' it thought ‘he was commissioned to prepare a financial Budget.’’ (Laughter.)’ Sir Joseph went on to -marshal his arguments against the amendment, dealing with the various sub-clauses seriatim. He said die increase of one per' cent in primage duty in so far as it affected-food supplies; and delicacies of the table would be in operation only twelve months, during : which it would probably yield £33,000. It would, however, cost the average family only fivepence per head. Members Could work it out for themselves. “This primage tax is i only temporary. It-was forced On mp.d 'said Sir : Joseph.: ' “Circumstfinces being what they are, some-, till rig'Mi ad' to : be • don e: '.Those ' circumstancesl Wove created by'the situationcreated -by the: estimates, of niy predecessor, and the deficit We- are faced with to-day. I didn’t want to increase taxation if it could be avoided, but I .looked at -it Qvery way, and one per cent primage appeared to me to be the most economical way tomeet the position. In conjunction with the land taxation it should meet our requirements for this year. The suggestions 'made by the member for Lyttelton regarding super-tax would mean bringing the Customs tariff on the floor of the House and ■opening Hie whole question' of the tariff. The whole country would then be making representations, and we should find ourselves here for many more weeks,’’ Mr M’Combs': Super-tax could have been imposed just as simply as-prim-age. Sir Joseph Ward: No; you. would have to bring the whole ' Customs tariff' on to the floor of the House. The Prime Minister added. that he was prepared to'put a-clause in the Bill to ensure that the Governor-, General-in-Cmnicil should be authorised to repeal the operation of the tax at the erid of March. That would be fair. •

/ill- Kyle: More Orc’.ers-in-Council. Sir Josfrih Ward: No. Governor-General-in-Couhcil.

‘ He said that' he lmd been charged' wi'th having- imposed one per cent primage, in .war years-when Finance Minister in the National Cabinet, and he bad been reminded that, though it was then only a temporary measure it had remained •in force ever since. It certainly was :put on- by! himself, but he-did 1 not-stay in -the-Govern-ment long after !the war;- otherwise lie would-have repealed it. He said he would repeal ..the whole of ; the primage duty now if he had an op-, port-unity and, the finances of the country could -stand . it. , Primage was the most'. , convenient means of raising revenue. , .

Mr Semple (Wellington East): Did. you first examine all other means? The Prime Minister; Yes; all other means.

Mr Samuel (Thames): .What about American motor-cars ? ' ■

Sir Joseph Ward; If you raised the duty on American motor-cars, it might stop them coming in, and some people, might think that, was desirable. However, the point .was that it 'cotild not give t-lie country, revenue if Americans, were stopped from com-ing-in, and a great deal of business in the country would be upset as a

consequence. Turning-to the'.second item in the amendment, which . states, that the proposed increase in land tax amounts to a confiscatory -single tax, Sir Joseph Ward said he did not believe the present'position could have, been -met with income taxation-. People now exempted from income tax and who were paying land -. tax only were., in many instances not contributing their share. 'Regarding item three of the amendment, that if any change was to be made in taxation, it should be based on the principle of capacity to pay, Sir Joseph Ward said that argument sounded all right in theory. Tn practice it was all wrong. How was one going to prevent land agr gregation on that basis? It was absurd, to say that this could be prevented without land tax. The interests of the country had to be safeguarded. He a<iso objected to subclause four of the amendment, which suggested that a penal tax was being imposed. .Sir- Joseph Ward said no penal taxation was proposed. Up to £12.5110, the land-owner would be exempted. To talk of penal tax was incorrect.' Speaking of the sub-clause dealing with the highway revenue proposals, Sir Joseph said it was, proposed to take .a very , small .amount from an organisation that had the sympathy and goodwill of the Gox-J ernment. The sum of £200,000 was a very small sum to ask motorists to forgo. Mr Lysnar: Helping the town at the expense of the country. Sir Joseph Ward: I think that is quite wrong. The Government stands or falls hy its Budget, which contains tho proposals on which we went to the country. and for which people ' voted*