THE WAR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2127, 28 November 1868, Page 3

THE WAR.

To Hit Editor of the Otago Daily Times,

Sin—On all hands it is agreed that money is required to stamp out the Maori insurrection and compensates tho sufferers. What is Iho bent mode of raising the necessary funds 1 I havo no faith that the amount needed cr.n Vo raised b}' voluntary subscriptions. The incidence of suoh taxation in in the ratio of the benevolence of the individual, and not according to tho length of his purso. The working man, in the.fulness of his sympathy, may give his pound, lut wha* will our great money-lisnders give ? Tho appalling nature of tho crisis may loosen their purse strings, but certainly not wide enough to be in jint proportion with others. Thus it is well-known that voluntary subscriptions almost always fall on the shoulders of those who feel the duty of giving, and are used to it. No, Sir, I regret to say that 1 have no confidence in tho voluntary principle, when it has to be exhibited in surrendering our money. Then what is tho alternative ? Shall we borrow 1 I say decidedly—No ! The last three millions demoralised Auckland, and wo are now saddled with half-a-million of interest annually, a burden quite enough with which to stagger along. Burrowing has been the curse "of this country. The Governments have borrowed, the sheep owners have borrowed, tho agriculturists havo borrowed, and many others havo borrowed, and it is hard lines now to scrape together the per cents. Society cannot stand ten per cent, much longer. Let us have no more borrowing. If wo had only had patience in years past to go on quietly accumulating capital ourselves, we might havo been independent. Light come, light go, is specially true of money; and if the Government bo permitted to borrow again, our cash will be again squandered with frightful faci-

Kty. Tho result will be the Barae, whether Stafford and Co. hold the reins or Fox and Co. A change of Ministry last war brought do change in expenditure. The Weld 'Jovernmenthad to continue the golden stream, and the Minister who had to sign the drafts had to pursue his task often in helpless ignorance of what he was signing for. Let us have no more of that. What, then, are wo to do 1 Follow the dictates of common sense. Provide funds to put down the rebellion. in the way the most direct for ensuring that the pressure will bear equally on all according to their means, and that the money raked will be economically used.

Let Parliament be immediately convened, ar.d a, measure passed to raise a special war assessment for one year only, to bo levied from tho owners of realised property on a uniform scale, and from those who have nothing to depend on but their brains and hands on a graduated scale, at a less rate than the others. The North Island should pay double the rate of tho Middle Island, as the provinces there are more interested, and will reap all the benefits of peace. Owners of mortgaged property, whether real orpersonal, should be charged the full assessment, but with power, aB in England, to deduct the tax from tho interest they pay to their creditors. In this way, the burden of crushing the rebellion would be equitably distributed, and those absentees who derive large revenues from this country would havo to bear their share. It is a fact that there are men in England drawing thousands a year from ground rents and interest paid here, and who never contribute one farthing to aid us in any way. It is unfair that the whole load of taxation should bo borne by the residents, and that tho burden should be, seeing our revenue is from Customs, not according to a man's ability, but according to the number ef his family or dependants. It is time such injustice wero stopped, and, looking at present circumstances, now is the time.—l am, &c., A Commoner.