ISSUES AND TISSUES

Opunake Times, 20 July 1934, Page 3

ISSUES AND TISSUES

(To the Editor). Sir,—i notice you have drawn , througn your columns to the unfairness oi the Government in having a further dig at the workers. They want ' some money quickly, so they have decided to tax cigarette papers. The poor fellow, by roiling his own, reckoned on balancing his budget, has now to smoke a pipe or go without; while the man

who can afford “tailor-mades” will by November I be in a position to get bis cheaper. I say definitely that it is not giving the worker a afluare deal. After all, the State is nothing without the individual, and as the working class comprise most of the individuals, it is not asking too much of the State to give the individual an even break. I wonder if any of our M.P.’s roll their own cigarettes. If the Government want money why do they not have the unemployement tax on a sliding scale, with ability to pay the determining factor ? There is no argument against the fact that a man earn ing £‘soo a year and over is in a better position to pay more in the pound than the man who is earning, say, £loo,a year. In conclusion, I hope that all cigarette smokers will change over to pipes and outwit the “financial heads” of the country for a time, until they dig up another scheme to outwit us again.— I am, etc., CHEER YWOOD. Opunake, 18th. July. 1934.