THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “ Public Service.” WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 1942. SHOULD BE A TAX

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 51, Issue 3132, 17 June 1942, Page 4

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “ Public Service.” WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 1942. SHOULD BE A TAX

It must be admitted that the latest public appeal for the Patriotic Fund,- the 1942 All-Pur-poses Appeal, which is meeting a lagging response, was launched under unfavourable auspices, clashing as it did with the Bomber Bonds and the Victory Loan campaigns, one following very soon after the other. At the same time the appeal is one that should strike home to every household throughout the country, for it concerns the welfare and comfort of. our fighting men in training here and on active service overseas, and especially the interests of the many New Zealanders who are prisoners: of war. One of the anomalies of these appeals to the public for voluntary giving is that the circle of solicitation tends to become increasingly restricted to the willing giver. The fact too often overlooked is that these frequent calls upon private generosity in time reaches the limit of resources, when other obligations and increasing taxation are taken into account. The point has been made, and merits consideration, that since the. Government exercisles full control over the Patriotic Fund, it might well go a step further and spread the burden of contributions equitably over all by a form of levy on earnings. On a rough estimate a very small weekly levy would meet all requirements. It is a mite to give, but there would be the satisfaction of knowing that everyone would be doing his or her part, and that the income for the provision of comforts and amenities for our sailors, soldiers, and airmen would be assured. LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS It is claimed in justification for the new regulations providing during the war for appointments to vacancies on local bodies which normally would be filled through by-elections, that considerable expense would be saved and communities would be spared undesirable distractions. The saving in expense is certainly a consideration, but it can hardly be said that local body by-elections create as a rule any distraction worth mentioning. There is, however, a principle at stake that should not be overlooked. A by-election provides the voters an opportunity of expressing their opinion of local body policies and administration and upon issues which may be of considerable importance to their communities. Furthermore, as the right of appointment is vested in the local bodies themselves—or in their default, in the, Governor-General by Order-in-Council—the electors would have no opportunity of marking their disapproval of a particular- line of policy by the time-honoured device of strengthening the ranks of the opposition, and the appointment, moreover, as likely as not would be made on party lines. With these considerations in mind, it would have been better had the Government given some previous notice of its • intention to bring down this regulation and thus provided opportunity for public opinion to be ventilated.