TAXATION BURDENS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19719, 19 August 1927, Page 13

TAXATION BURDENS.

ATTITUDE OF GOVERNMENT.

MANY LANDOWNERS EXEMPT. BURDEN OF LOCAL' RATES. [BT TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] VVELLINGTON. Thursday. "When a newspaper says that unless the burden of taxation is reduced a crash will come, L look over the various classes of taxpayers to see who will be affected by the crash if it does come," said the Minister of Finance, Hon. W. Downie Stewart, in the House this evening, when replying to criticisms that therdT was no reduction in taxation, and that expenditure should be reduced. The Minister said what he complained of in the criticisms was that few of the critics went the Length of saying where the expenditure should bo cut down. He had heard members of the Labour Party say the burden of customs taxation was too great, but they based that assertion on the total volume of the taxes. If the taxes were reduced the increased volume of imports that would follow would yield approximately the same total amount. In Australia it had been found that in spito of a high tariff wall the imports were growing, and they were becoming alarmed. The Minister thought this was due to heavy borrowing. Incidence of Land Taxes. An examination of the incidence of the land taxes showed that the men at the top of the farming scale were carrying the load, while the small men were getting off very lightly as far as the land taxes were concerned. The difficulty of the small men was largely due to local taxation. The Minister quoted a case which had been brought to his notice of an owner of suburban land which was riear enough to a city to be rated on its unimproved value. The property was valued at £SOOO, and was returning a rent of £220 a year from market gardeners. Of the rent £l7o"was taken by local rates and £4O by Government taxes. Reference to the land and income tax statistics for 1926 showed that out of the 85,977 land owners, including leaseholders, 26,084 were taxpayers. A total of 25,684 were paying land taxes and 400 were paying income tax, so that 59,893 paid neither land nor income tax. The taxes collected from the 26,084 contributors amounted to £649,946, of which £622,631 was paid as land taxes. From a land tax point of view this represented 54 per cent, of the total tax collected, 2762 persons paying an average of £l7O 14s 2d, 7902 an average of £l4 2s 6d. and 15,020 others paying an average of £2 12s Id. Income and Company Rates. In the same year local taxation amounted to £5,039,646, of which £2,307,704 %vas paid on rural lands on which the Government taxes amounted to £622,681. The rural community, therefore, had a self-imposed burden of taxation equal to three and two-thirds times the State land tax. Local body revenue from all sources in 1914 was equal to £1 18s lOd per head of the mean population, but in. 1925-26 it was £3 18s Bd, more than double. "It is here, if anywhere," said the Minister, "that the land owner should exercise some scrutiny and say definitely whether his equity in the land "is to be entirely appropriated by the local rating / authorities and himself left with nothing to pledge as security for money he may need to carry on his farming operations." The Minister said the income tax would come up for review when the annual bill came down. _ Here again the people at the top were paying large amounts, and it was wrong to say that the recent remissions in taxation were all in favour of rich people. Company taxation could not be reviewed at this stage, because there was a danger of loss of revenue, but he was keeping an open mind on the merits of the contending views regarding the subject. THE MENTAL HOSPITALS. FORMER OFFICIAL'S ATTACK. REQUEST FOR INQUIRY MADE. [BT TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER. ] WELLINGTON. Thursday. A potition from Dr. R. M. Beattie, medical practitioner of Auckland, presented to Parliament to-day, alleges that the present administration of the Mental Hospitals Department is not in the interests of the patients, is extravagant in many ways, and is a matter of deep public concern. It is also alleged that a projected mental hospital at Drury is likely to pro\e unsuitable. The petitioner prays Parliament to order the setting up of a commission of inquiry to inquire into the administration of the mental hospitals. The petition, which was presented bv Mr. H. G. R. Mason (Eden), sets out that the petitioner came to the Dominion in 1894 and entered the service of the Mental Hospitals Department as assistant medical officer at Auckland, where he remained until 1926, a period of 32 years. He tendered his resignation in 1896 to go into private practice, but withdrew it at the request of the then inspector-general. He was then appointed to Seachff duung the absence of Dr. Truby King on sick leave, and afterwards remained there a few months as assistant. In 1897 lie re tumVd to Auckland as superintendent. The petitioner says every official report was in petitioner's favour, but, without anv previous warning, the petitioner was charged in a letter from the Minister, dated March 9, 1925, with having strained relations in all -directions, and an utter lack of svnipnthy with and co-operation between himself and his senior professional colleague, understudy, and, indeed, almost the whole staff, and that ho did not pay sufficient attention to the ventilation of the hospital, to the classification of the patients and the supply of suitable food or of clothing to certain patients. It was further alleged in the lc ter from the Minister that the petitioner had not used the Wolff Home for the purpose for which it was designed and built, and that he did not pay sufficient attention to the reports of the district inspector Petitioner was thereupon notified or his transfer to a smaller institution. Petitioner afterwards made certain charges regarding the administration of the Tokanui Mental Hospital, but an inquiry asked for by him was refused. He alleges that in his opinion the charges in question go to the root, of mental hospital administration, and are ot the greatest public concern. HON. A. P. McLEOD. [BY TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON. Thursday The Minister of Lands. Hon. A. D. MeLeod, who has been undergoing treatment and observation in connection with eye trouble, is expected to come out <>T hospital to-morrow. It is likely Mr. Me Leod will leave on Saturday for his home in Martinborough, where he will remain for a week.