THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1891.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9300, 16 December 1891, Page 2

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1891.

The Government's great achievement last session—" 'Jhe Land and Income Assessment Act 1891"—was from the first described as at once a mistake and a bungle, and every day, as it passes, confirms the truth of the description. Of its effect in driving away capital from the colony there can be no longer any doubt. There is, indeed, a constant ebb and flow of capital, just as theie is of population. But sometimes the tide takes away more than it brings back ; and as there was no doubt as to the existence of the late exodus, so is there just as little as to tho reality of the withdrawal of abnormally large sums of money. Mr Ballance's habitual pooh-poohing of the matter displays more of the nonch-alance of the placeman than of that gravity and anxious care with regard to the consequences of experimental legislation which befits a man at the head of affairs The public will be curious to know how he treats the subject to-morrow evening at Auckland, whether Avith another Avave of his hand, or with the careful consideration it demands. But there is another subject urgently requiring the attention of the Government. It is as evident that tho Act is recklessly drawn as that its general tendency is to damage tho reputation and prosperily of tho colony. In (he Ohristchurch Press of Friday last there is a letter from IMr Arthur Rhodes (reprinted in another column) in which lie points out its operation in r. spect of the Northern Investment Company of New Zealand. This company's funds, like those of many other iin-estment companies in the colony, are largely raised on debentures issued in England. Under tho Act its mortgages are taxed as laud, and the interest (at 5 per cent, on its debentures as income. The money is thus taxed twice. As the company has L 476.979 iiiA'ested in mortgages, it will have to pay, at the rate of a penny in the pound, the sum of L 1987 3s 5d as land tax, and as its debentures amount to L381,6_2 it will have further to pay, at the rate of a shilling in the pound on the twentieth part thereof, the sum of L 954 2s. . This is no mere supposition or imagination on the part of Mr Rhodes. His figures are taken from the statement of the Commissioner of Taxea forwarded by that official to the Northern Investment Company. There cannot be (he shadow of a doubt that this company will, if the provisions of the Act are cirried out, be taxed twice on the amount of their debentures. The Premier, in a recent telegram to Mr Twomey, of Temukn, said that " there was some doubt as to the meaning of the foreign debenture clause (a strange admission on the part of the author of the Act). The intention, however, was that there should be no duplicate taxation — that tho same money should not be taxed twice over, and thi3 would be made clear before any tax Avas collected." But no announcement Avith reference to the matter has been yet made by the Government, so that it would almost seem as if it Avere their intention to let the debenture-taxing clause take effect. This view is supported by the fact that the bearing of the tax on debentures was clearly and" repeatedly pointed out to the Government jvhen the Bill was before the House, with this only result, lhat Mr Ballance himself altered the cause so as to make its meaning more definite and unmistakable. Its operation, therefore, on a certain class of companies is no new discovery; but tho Tax Commissioner's statemeut of the liabilities of the Northern Investment Company under the Act brings the imposition, as it may be called in both senses of the word, more vividly before the public mind than the words of the clause. That clause states that any company borroAving on debentures " shall be deemed to be the agent of every holder of such debentures, whether such holder bo or be not resident in New Zealand • and such company shall bo liable to pay tax accordingly on behalf of every holder of such debentures, and shall be entitled to deduct in each year from any instalment of interest payable by it upon the amount of such debentures any tax so paid." This is perhaps one of the coolest things ever done by a Colonial Legislature. Mr Ballance seems to havo forgotten that the New Zealand Parliament has not yet acquired the right to legislate for the British race —not even for that small section of the race outside of the colony Avhich lends nioney to the colonists Our Parliament had no business Avhatever to pass an enactment authorising New Zealand citizens to tax certain citizens of Great Britain on behalf of the colony. Such is the exact meaning of the provision, which only requires to be stated to show its monstrous absurdity. To deduct the tax from the interest payable to tbe British debenture - holders, as the Statute directs, would simply bo regarded as an act of repudiation on tho part of the colonists. But no company would stultify itself by naming such a proposal to its ciebenturoholders. The duplicate taxation, whioh Mr Ballance siys was not intended, but which " a babe in finance,"' to use an expression of Sir Julius Vop'ol'.-r, would have semi to be inevitable, will thus fall ou the non-privileged companies. Nay, if the Commissioner of Taxes has maile out a correct statement of the taxation payable by the before-mentioned investment c;mpany, these companies are liable to triplicate taxation, for he has sent in au additional item of L 561 15s, being the tax on L1i,235, the neb profit of the company. Mr Rhodes thinks the

Commissioner is wrong as to this last demaud. His only doubt is " which of of them—the Commissioner or Mr Ballance—ia tho most ignorant as (o the operation and effect of tho Act." The Premier will, perhaps, have something to nay on tho subject to-morrow evening, ft is cloarly the duty of the Government to state, without further delay, whether they intend (o levy duplicate taxation (we shall in the meantime take it for granted lhat tho Commissioner lias erred in making it triplicate) on companies or not, for, Avith all due deference to the honourable gentleman, there cannot be two opinions with regard to the meaning of lho clause.

■A number of applications in Chambers were dealt with by bis Honor Jlr Justice AA'illiams yesterday, and the court was engaged with the" civil action Lodge and others v. Tho Roxburgh Amalgamated Company for the remainder of the day. Tho plaintiffs' case was not concluded when the court rose, so that the case is likely to last for the greater part ef if not for the wholo of to-day. A writ was issued from the Supreme Court yesterday at the instance of Jlr J. K. Scott against the National Mortgage .md Agency Company of New Zealand for indemnification!: for past payments and payments due and to accrue in connection with the purchase of a run iv the Ren Ohau district. Our Auckland correspondent telegraphs that great satisfaction is felt by claimants for volunteer land grants at the action of the Government. The Defence Jlinister has telegraphed to tho Premier lhat claimants are recommended to make a statutory declaration us to identity before a magistrate, when those over 60 years will be paid the award iv cash, and those under CO receive scrip certificates. Jlr G. P. Farquhar, J.P., presided at the Police Court yesterday, when the only case set down for hearing was one of an alleged assault. Jlr Hanlon appeared for the complainant, and stated that as the defendant had tendered an apology and paid costs, application would be made to have the case withdrawn. The case was withdrawn accordingly. Information has been received from Cromwell that the name of the rabbiter found dead near Tarras was Henry A. Sinclair. It is now supposed that the unfortunate man, while under the influence of drink, fell face downward in a creek, in which there was only two or three inches of water. Speaking at the distribution of prizes at AVellington College, the Hon. AY. P. Reeves, Minister for Education, said: —He trusted he would live to see the day when the secondary schools would be as free as the primary schools are now. He did not believe that there was any widespread public prejudice against the secondary schools. He did not suggest for a moment that there was nothing to improve. For instance, it might be a question whether the time and labour of their pupils were not too widely spread over too many branches of learning. Boys aud girls could not do everything. The capacity of brains was limited even in the ease of tho colonial boy and girl, and the hours of study were limited also. Before long public opinion would pronounce itself as to whether our system of examination and inspection of secondary schools was as embracing and so nearly approaching completeness as it ought to be. However, he would not enter into that subject. Mr Graham, the Victorian Jlinister of Agriculture, asked the Hon. J. Jl'Kenzie to supply him with information as to the working of the one-man-one-vote system in this colony. The Jlinister of Lands in his reply writes: — " I represent a farming or agricultural district, interspersed with small townships, two of which are boroughs. I had to meet two opponents at the last election, one brought forward by the squatters, finance agents, and land speculators; the other was called the working man's candidate. I supported by my vote in the House the ' one-man-one-voto' principle, and I advocated the same on the public platform, and ou the polling day I had a good majority over the joint votes of my two opponents, my return being undoubtedly due to the strong support 1 received from the bona fide farmers. The farmers in my constituency regard the small tradesmen and artisans in the townships and small towns as their friends, and thoy consequently pull together. There is no fear existing of any injustice being done by the people in the small towns, as they have to depend upon the farmer for support in every way. In fact, the genuine farmers agree that the liberal measures carried in New Zealand, even in the interests of the fanners themselves, would never have passed without the assistance of the town members, who are generally on the Liberal side. I think, therefore, it would be a great mistake in any of your colonies to set town against country or country against town." The object of tlie visit to New Zealand of Mr AA rhitely King (secretary to the New South AA'ales l'astoralists' Union) is said to be to inquire into the frozen meat trade, with a view to its development in Australia, for the purpose of getting rid of surplus stock, and also into rabbit preservation. He stales that the New Zealand shearers made at least L 30,000 in Australia during the strike. The squatters are loud in their praise, and have agreed to employ New Zealanders freely next season. The old records of the Supreme Court (says the Auckland Herald) contain a few memoranda of interest regarding the late Sir Frederick AA'hitaker's early connection with the New Zealand bar. In the legal practitioners' roll commencing on the 31st of January 1812, his name appears on the first page, and amongst the list of practitioners enrolled the day the roll was opened. The names enrolled on that date and signed by the parties themselves are AVilliam Swainson, AY. J. Brewer, Charles Brewer, George Samuel Evans, Frederick AVhitaker, Thomas Outhwaite, Thomas Edward Conroy, Robert R. Strong, Henry Littlewood. This is the oldest roll of practitioners in New Zealand. Subsequently on the 12th of November 1861, when the lirst rolls of barristers and solicitors were opened under the Law Practitioners Act, the nriuie Frederick AA'hitaker appears first on each roll, followed by those of Thomas Outhwaite, Edward AA'atkin, and Thomas Russell, lt may also be remembered that Sir Frederick AA'hitaker, then Jlr AVhitaker, laid the foundation stone of the present Supreme Court in 1865, and mado one of his most memorable speeches on that occasion. He also laid the foundation stone of the Fivemasons' Hall. A great trouble, has come over the island of Tonga, iv the form of an insect pest. A correspondent of the Fiji Times states:—"A cloud which somo live years since was 'no bigger than a man's hand,' has been gradually expanding until at the present time it threatens to thoroughly obscure the prosperity of these islands. I allude to a 'blight'—an aphis— originally imported from the colonies on some orange trees, which has now taken such utter possession of our trees here that last year our crop of oranges in this island was a total failure. This would matter but little, but unfortunately this blight is attacking other trees besides the oranges, and the last report is that some of the cocoanut trees have been destroyed by it, the young, tender central shoot being killed. Alas ! if this be true, there is a sri.l outlook for the commerce of these islands, which depend wholly on copra, that article being their sole export. These aphides have reached Vavriu, and are already doing much damage, and eventually will cause a loss of somo 1.25,000 a year in that island alone. The Tongau Government, alive at last to the danger, have applied to the various colonies for the best information ami advice on the subject." A number of citizens met yesterday afternoon in the ollice of Jlessrs I!. AVilson aud Co. to bid good-bye to ex-Inspector Jloore on the occasion of bis departure from Dunediu for Gisborne. Jlr Robert AA'ilson was asked to preside, and there wore present—Jlessrs G. L. Denniston, J. T. Jlackerras, AVm. Gregg, Charles S. Reeves, 11. S. Fish (J1.11.R.), T. AY. Kempthorne, ,T. Toomey, John Jlaling (ol Wm. Scoular and Co.), and others. Jlr AA'ilson. in the name of the subscribers, presented Sir Moor.*, with a purse of 100 sovereigns, and expressed the sincere regret of his many friends at his removal from Otago. Mr AVilsou at the same time assured JU- Jloore that he carried with him to his new sphere of duty tho best wishes of the citizens of Dunediu. Jlr Jloore, who was much ah'ccted, replied in appropriate terms,

News o£ the crops from all parts of Otago is of a most favourable nature, and with favourable weather an abundant harvest is assured. The growth of grass this season has been almost phenomenal, and everywhere feed is abundant. The iutluenza claimed another victim yesterday in the person of Constable AVillis, who died at his residence, Castle street. The deceased was very unassuming, but was an able and efficient ollicer. He joined the force about 17 years ago, and was well known throughout nearly the whole of Otago. At dilferent times he was gaoler at Naseby, Clyde, and Queenstown, and the police station at South Dunedin was first opened under his charge.

A notice to consignees, per Canterbury, appears in this issue. The annual meeting of the Otngo Chili Company will be held on December 21, al X p.m., and the annual general meeting of the club at II p.m. Jlessrs E. (!. Remolds and Co. sell fruit this afternoon, at JI.JIO, at their rooms, and Japanese fancy goods at 2.JW. Jlessrs .1. Samson and Cu. sell household furniture and effects to-day. Nominations for handicaps at the Central Taieri races, on I'uxinr* Day, close at 10 p.m. on Thursday, and can also bo received by Mr P. Jliller, saddler, up to that hour. Jlessrs licit!, iAlacl.au, and Co. sell Jill bacon pigs and porkers to-day at Burnside. Mr John Ci-imllirv (for tbe Farmers' Agency Company) holds a stock sale at Clinton on Saturday. A public meeting will be held this evening in the Normal School to discuss the organisation and elect oilicers of the Public Schools Swimming Club. The fourth concert of the fourth series will be given by the Dunedin Orchestral Society tomorrow evening at the Garrison Hall. Jlessrs James AY. AVilson and Co. hold their monthly sale at Brdi-lutha on "Friday, and will sell 20110 hoggets and lambs. Jlr A. 11. Baker's Mandolin, Guitar, and Banjo Band, which has been strengthened by a 'cello, have been practising very hard to give selections between the acts at the benefit to Jlr Stentiford on the lSth, U-'th, and 21st inst. Jlr Baker will play the mandolin, Jlr Parker tbe 'cello, and Jliss (I. Silk the banjo, which, with three guitars, ought to give a pretty fait- representation of the Spanish Students. Jlr Hay, dental surgeon, desires to announce that he has secured and equipped, with the most approved appliances in high-class dentistry, suitable ollic.es at 112 Princes street, immediately opposite Cargill's monument.—lAdvt.] Christinas and New Year presents. Latest novelties in gold brooches set with turquoise and pearls, splendid assortment of gold brooches, bangles, rings, pins, studs, alberts, &c, leather purses, fitted bags, and dressing cases at G. and T. Young's, 88 Princes street.—[Advt.] Established over a quarter of a century. Of otlier soda waters that have come under our notice and take a very high place in Australasia, we would be remiss if we did not mention that of Jlessrs Thomson and Co. Dunedin.—Brewers Journal, I,S'K).-[Anvr. Eden George and Co. (Limited), the leading photographers of Dunedin, who produce by far the best work in New Zealand, take one dozen beautifully enamelled cabinets in any position or style, for los. One pi-ice list adopted, and no extra charges are made to visitors from the country.— [Anv-r.] John Hislop, AA'atchinaker and Jeweller, 74 Princes street. The oldest established house in town. Repairs of all kinds. Good assortment AA'atches, - Clocks, and Jewellery. Spectacles to suit all sights.— Advt