A STUPID GIBE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 16959, 11 September 1915, Page 10

A STUPID GIBE.

Possibly tlio Wellington Trades and Labour Council felt i&elf called upon to pass tlio resolution appearing in another column, but wo feel euro the gei oral feeling of the workers' whom tlio council is supposed to represent will bo one of displeasure. The resolution “congratulates tho wealthy landowners, merchants and manufacturers of this country on having a Government which, when formulating taxation proposals, so carefully considers their interests and desires.” The authors of this gibe must bo extraordinarily obtuse if' they are serious. Perhaps tho importance of the incident is small, but we fear that if such expressions are permitted to go unchallenged, if they are allowed to stand as representative of any appreciable section of organised labour, tlio effect is likely to be mischievous. Tho absurdity of the resolution may bo attested by a brief reference to the main facts of the case. It might bo argued that Labour has to a great extent morally- surrendered its right to criticise tho National Government by refusing direct representation in the Cabinet, but we shall not emphasise thiatr ’ point. The outstanding consideration that must have struck any critic possessing -normal vision is that in framing, liis Budget proposals the Minister of Finance was governed by a determination to protect the workers from additional burdens. That fact has really been emphasised in the form of a serious complaint by a few unsympatUetio commentators, but wo hold that in view of the high cost of living the Government was entirely right in this particular matter. We Pave said, and wo say again, that if the Government had taken a courageous and perfectly legitimate attitude towards war profits the new forms of taxation might easily have been fewer, simpler and fairer. But we have acknowledged throughout, and welcomed as tlio great redeeming feature of the Budget, that the working classes lmve been spared. The “ wealthy landowners, me|rohants and manufacturers,” on tho other hand, will have to contribute substantially towards thei extra £2,000,000 which the' Minister of Finance has to raise. There is not an item in the list of new, taxes, with the exception of kerosene, that will affect the workers as a class to an appreciable extent. They will pay a t-riflo by way of tho war stamp and in increased'railway fares, and .so far as wo can see that is about all. “ In adjusting tho taxation and tho rates for various public services,” said Sir Joseph Ward in his Budget speech, “my object has been to do so without imposing additional charges oil the cost of living.” In pursuance of that policy ho refrained from reducing the incomo tax exemption, he cast the

boor duty on a scalo to avoid it being passed on to tho consumer, ho put a duty on motor-cars and reduced tho duty on bicycles, and he provided that tlio additional railway fares shall not apply to workers’ ticlcets. Vo, do’ not see that tho most sympathetic Minister could have done very much move to save working people, from fresh taxation. Some landowners, merchants and m ami lecturers who have profited largely by the war are certainly leniently treated, but '"or all that the new taxation as well as nearly all the extra charges for services will fall upon them and upon every other class ill the community—except the workers. If tho 'Wellington Trades and Labour Council had not boon in a hurry to proclaim its opinion its resolution would probably have been of a less intemperate and loss illogical nature. If the. council lias any sense of fairness it will rescind tho resolution and apologise.