ACROSS THE STRAIT.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 9, 11 January 1908, Page 8

ACROSS THE STRAIT.

GOSSIP FBOM THE EMPIRE

CITY

{From Our Own Correspondent.) '■WELLINGTON, Friday.

Captam Dorrien Smith, an English gentleman who accompanied the recent scientific expedition to the Southern Islands, is leaving for Blenheim to-day. The captain is a great pedestrian, and although a man of considerable wealth, is making several long trips afoot through the Dominion. From Blenheim he intends to walk to the West Coast via Nelson and the Buller Gorge, and from the Coast hopes to make his way down to Milford Sound, The captain ifl one of the Dorrien Smiths who own; the Scilly Isles, where they have created a splendidly profitable industry by encouraging flower-raising and the growing of choice early vegetables for the London market. Wherever he goes the captain is on the look-out for new flowers and plants, and one result of his New Zealand trip will probably be the acclimatisation in the far-away Scilly Islands of many of our native shrubs, ferns and wild flowers. A very distinguished Australian' visitor to Wellington is Sir John, Madden, Chief Justice of Victoria,, who, with his daughter and a- friend, Colonel Campbell, has been staying a few days at the Grand Hotel. Sir John is a plump little p<*rsonage, with smart, well-waxed moustache, is very fenial in his manner, and unburened himself very.freely upon various points to the local interviewers: who, made a prompt descent upon him,' He is a great lover of good sport, and, like the late Baron Brampton (Sir Henry Hawkins that was), is a devoted supporter of amateur boxing. Sir John's daughter, Miss Ruby Madden, is one of the acknowledged Melbourne beauties, and, like all the Maddens, is delightfully free from anything like "side." Sir John was given a big dinner at the "Wellington Club yesterday, and left this-.jmorning with his party for Eotoruu. by the Trunk Lrtie route. 1 hear that, it is on the cards that the party roay^pay Blenheim and kelson a visit on-their way to the Coast, and then cress" over to Christchurch. This is the first time Sir John has visited New Zealand, a*4. he has been greatly impressed, he says, with the bustle and the general air of prosperity and progress which is nowadays so. noticeable in Wellington. Also, -he is greatly taken with the ' 'harbour' arrangements, which are; ha frankly admits, much superior to .those possessed by the Victorian capital Talking of tlie "harbour reminds me of the Harbour Board's meeting yesterday, at which Mr Shirtcliffe, who }$ local manager of the v/ell-known .firm of A. S. Paterson and Co., brought up the subject of the alleged block which takes place in the, Queen's Wharf sheds upon the arrival of one of the big liners. Cargo I is piled into the sheds, which are only one storey, and great delay is experienced by consignees in getting out their goods. Mr Shirtcliffe advocated a very considerable extension of the wharf, and the building of sheds of from three to four storeys in height. That there; is at'present much inconvenience is well knowni ™# cc .trouble ia that if the Queen's Wharf is greatly enlarged, it is an open question whether there will be ! room enough to allow the safe swinging of vessels into the enclosed areas. After a long discussion, the En-" gineer's opinion was asked for. Mr Ferguson pointed out that it would ,'fee unwise, indeed impossible, to make any material change until the new Jiing s Wharf, an enormous structure to the .north of Railway and Glasgow Wharves, i s finished". Ike enormous increase in the trade of i.he port has been more than ever noticeable during the past eighteen months, and already there, are many ,who pretfict that within ten years from now the whole water frontage of Wellington, from Te Aro right down to the Thorndon Baths, will be studded with "Wharves. As for the graving dock, there- is now a very general opinion that the j.e Aro site should be abandoned betore further expense is incurred, and that the dock should be placed at IVirans Bay close to the present Patent blip, an interest in ' which, as you know, lias already been acquired by the U.S.B. Company. Mr Fletcher a very energetic member of the Harbour Board, is bringing up- a motion to tiiis effect at the next meeting of the Board. Meanwhile the sinking oi the caissons for the foundations .is just about, to commence on the Te Aro site. If the site of the dock is to be changed action will have to be taken without delay. The advocates of the Evans' Bay site contend that, if placed there, the dock would .be much-more sheltered from the prevailing winds than it will be if the le Aro site is adhered to. The w ~- "y ls our Prevailing wind in Wellington, and it will, it is said, be a serious obstacle to the safe and speedy docking of large vessels at •Te Aro. There will be a big fight over this dock site, unless I am geratly mistaken. "Meanwhile the Harbour Board is already committed to an expenditure of close upon a million sterling during the next three years. A big sum, but the trade and revenue of the port make the financing both easy and safe. Income tax notices have been sent out, and one hears the usual amount of grumbling. The tax falls heavily upon the salaried class, who, as a rule, do not profit by the great boom m trade, and,who are feeling the increased cost of living. Owing, too, to the absurdly high valuations, the rates come as a very heavy burden. *or instance, a friend of * mine, a Civil servant, pays close upon £15 a year rates on his one house; the valuation (on the unimproved value) Snon PUt T Up last year from £600 to t7. • V fi 1 <f?>! wer ,t° his grumbling _»™ d'! Oh ' *?"' 7 OU m%ht to be very glad your land is worth so much; you can sell at so much more to-day than you could a couple of years ago." "True enough," replies mj friend « but, then, I don't waS to sell. It is my home; I have pinched and scraped to make a good home and don t want to leave it, even if I were to make a good profit." And there is a good deal in his contention On the subject of land taxation and the amount now derivable therefrom Mr Heyes, the Tax Commissioner, has given some very interesting details to a Times reporter. The full effect of the new legislation will, of course, only be seen when this year's land tax is received by the department, but it is estimated that the btate coffers w ill benefit this year to the very comfortable tune of £550,----000, or over £100,000 more than la o V year, the big rise being due mainly to the graduated land tax. The natural increment under the improved valuations is put down at £15,000. The same cause operating upon the graduated big. accounts for another

£8000 of the increase, and £64,000 represents the benefit to the State exchequer"conferred by the Ijand and Income Assessment Act of 1907. _he. absentee tax is growing, too. Absentees pay 50 per cent, more graduated taxation. The amount expected to be realised from the absentee landlord this year is £5700. The total amount of graduated land tax payable this year is £190,000. The above are very big figures, and show a marvellous difference from those of a few years ago. For instance, in 1892 the land and income tax produced £364,000, but this year it will come very close to a million. The income tax this year will yield £300,000, an increase over the previous year of £22,134. In 1892 it was only £67,000. Verily we are growing richer and richer—on paper at any rate. But when one, reads of these vast increases and of a possible surplus at the end of the financial year of something close on to £800,----000, the average citizen or settler cannot be blamed for wondering why living should be so expensive, and what is the practical good of these regularly recurring surpluses if our national liability continues to so largely increase at the same time. Are we all, politicians and people, living in a fool's paradise, or are we steadily marching on to a state of huge private and public wealth? Your readers can answer this question according to their own ideas and lights. Like " Brudder Johnson;" in the nigger minstrel troupe, " I give it up."