TAXATION PROPOSALS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19743, 16 September 1927, Page 13

TAXATION PROPOSALS.

AGREED TO BY COUNCIL. BOTH TOE BILLS PASSED. CRITICISM OF EXPENDITURE. [bv telegraph.—special reporter.] WELLINGTON. Thursday The Land and Income Tax Amendment Bill and the Land arid Income Tax (a.mual) Bill were passed by the Legislative Council this afternoon. In moving the second reading of the Land and Income Tax Amendment Bill the Leader of the Council, Sir Francis Bell, said there would be a ludicrously small addition to the income tax,, but the bill provided a much more equitable grading on incomes between £450 and £6OO. The Hon. J. A. Hanau said some effort •iUould have been made tc reduce expenditure. if the country continued as u was going it would soon be on the hign road to ruin. Much of the spending was non-reproductive and it was time a uait was made with the pUing up oi expenditure. The alarming increase in the cost ol government would continue to be reflected in the high cost of iiv,ug. An ever-increasing burden of taxation was being imposed on the people. Sir Francis Beif: What expenditure woufd you cut down Mr. Hanan: That is for the Government to decide upon. Under this bill people with incomes between £6OO and £9OO will be hit the hardest. Sir Francis Bell. .No, they will be the same as before. Mr. Hanan said a heavier impost should have been placed on the higher rates. Why should there not have been a reduction in taxation this year instead of next year, as was promised ? There had been national and local "joy-riding" in expenditure, and it was time a halt was called. Sir James Alien said assuredly there was an increase of taxation under the bills. It had been stated at £175,000 or more. It was possible the people who were being hit by this increased taxation might be relieved under the customs tariff. The Council could not alter the bill, and was there, therefore, any use in their discussing it ? He thought it was time to consider whether the present system of company taxation should not be.altered. Was the present system of company taxation increasing the cost of production and the cost,of living? Sir Thomas Mackenzie said company taxation had been reduced from 8s 9d to 4s 6d, but he would like to see it reduced still further. If an increase in taxation was required he thought the regradings in the bill were fair and equitable.

Replying, Sir Francis Bell said Sir James Allen had admitted that if company taxation were reduced the income tax would have to be increased. The process devised by the Minister of Finance was to create a fairly graduated system of taxation of individuals. It was a genuine effort to place the system of taxation on a fair and equitable basis, so that when the time came for a reduction in taxation the reduction would also be fair.

CATCHING WHITEBAIT. USE OF SET NETS OPPOSED. INVESTIGATION TO BE MADE. [by TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON, Thursday. Reporting on a southern petition presented to the House of Representatives this session praying that the use of set nets for catching whitebait in the Ashley River be made illegal, the Native Affairs Committee recommended to-day that the petition be referred to the Government for inquiry. Several southern members supported the report, among them being Mr. H. W. TJru (Southern Maori), who mentioned the great importance of the matter to the natives of the district. They had the fishing rights in a certain reserve, but on account of the situation of the set nets the whitebait were intercepted before they could reach the reserve, and the latter in consequence was valueless. The Minister of Marine, Hon. G. J. Anderson, said the difficulty complained of had been experienced not only in the South, but also in other parts of the country, but he hoped to have the whole question thoroughly investigated. The whitebait industry was a very important one, the canned being in demand in other parts of the world. Individuals could not be allowed to-buy up the bank of "a river, control the whole of the runnine and,stop other people, including the natives, from cominp in. The report was referred to the Government. During to-day's sitting a further petition on the question was presented by Sir Maui Pomare. In this case ihe petitioners were the Ngatiukawa Tribe, residing in the Manawatu district, and they asked for the removal of the restrictions imposed by the Crown on the stream flowing from the Whakapuni Lake, which prohibits the tribe from fishing for whitebait. The petition says the lake was the life-water of the ancestors of the tribe and was theirs to-day, the fish obtained being eels, flonnders and whitebait.