IS THERE NEED OF FURTHER TAXATION ?

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 75, 19 June 1866, Page 2

IS THERE NEED OF FURTHER TAXATION ?

[From the Nelson Examiner, June 7.] Mr. Stafford's Government has now been in office for almost eight months. Twothirds of the year in which the promised saving of £240,000 was to be made has passed ; but the weeks and months roll by without our hearing to what extent the Premier has redeemed the promise which, if kept, will prove him fit to rank as the best financier of the colony. The Bubject of this extraordinary saving had been picked to pieces and criticized almost unmercifully both by newspapers and statesmen; the impossibility of its ever being more than a vain promise, has been pointed out with varied degrees of ability by many speakers and writers; but the time is fast drawing near when Mr. Stafford must give satisfactory proofs to the public that the colours he chose to sail uuder are not false ones, and that he has earned the confidence of the colony by having succeeded in cutting down the expenditure, so as to square with its income, when other Ministers only saw a way to escape from their financial difficulties by obtaining an increase of revenue by means of additional taxes. There appears to be a very natural question suggesting itself to the thinking portion of the community in relation to this large saving — a question to which we have never heard any satisfactory answer vouchsafed by Mr. Stafford's supporters, but at the same time one which, we imagine, will not be forgotten on the meeting of the General Assembly; viz: — If Mr. Stafford has succeeded in saving the promised quarter of a million sterling, why should a necessity exist for any additional taxation ? Mr. Stafford told the House that he was confident of being able to keep his promise, and at every opportunity that has offered he has reiterated that promise with a force which has had the effect of convincing some that he intends, by some means or other, to keep it. We confess ourselves therefore unable to see the necessity of additional taxation, if this large sum is to be placed at the credit of the country at the end of the financial year. The entire expenditure which the late Government contemplated amounted to £1,126,402, and in order to cover this without difficulty the Stamp duty was proposed. Mr. Stafford, however, promised us to reduce this amount by £240,000, but says notwithstanding, that he must have a Stamp Duty, and perhaps an Income Tax. We cannot help thinking that the Premier, brimming over with confidence fchat eventually" lie would snow that his promises were not absurd impossibilities, merely took the opportunity, when addressing his constituents in Nelson, of frightening the colonists by threats of still larger imposts than they had imagined were necessary even under the Weld programme. It is ' quite impossible to believe now, that Mr. Stafford was really in earnest when he suggested that our pockets would be required to open so widely for the benefit of the revenue. We prefer looking at the bright side of things, and must believe that he was simply hoaxing his constituents and the country at large — frightening them perhaps, as nurses frighten unruly children into good behaviour. It is better to put this construc-

tion on the Premier's speech than to imagine he would involve himself by the strange contradiction embodied in the assertion that the proposed expenditure of the late Ministry could be cut down, while at the same time he must have at his disposal a few more thousands than his predecessors required. But since Mr. Stafford's accession to office, the native war and its attendant expenses have nearly ceased. Day by day the expenses under this head must be decreasing, and probably before the end of the year it will be difficult to find a native in arms ; added to which, the enormous addition to the revenue, through the increased Customs duties which have been, and still are being received on the West Coast of thia island, must, we hope, have enabled Mr. Stafford to apologize for a threat which at one time caused us some degree of anxiety. We wait with confidence the result of the next session of the Assembly, and can predict the triumph with which the Premier will tell the House, that during one short year of his tenure of office the colony has seen the last of the native war ; that additional taxation is no longer required ; and that, the Surplus Eevenue Act being repealed, a balance remains in the Government coffers which, for the first time for many years, can be devoted to works j of peace in furtherance of our prosperity.