OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2988, 21 June 1911, Page 46

OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

(Feoji Our Own Correspondent.) MELBOURNE, June 7. The attack on the constitutionality of : the Land Tax Act has failed. It will be remembered that one of the first legislative measures of the newly installed Labour Ministry was to impose a progressive land tax, with an exemption ot £SOOO. The real intention of the measure was .not to raise revenue (for the exchequer just then was very full) but was to carry out the Labour policy of burstinicr up the big estates. The powers of taxation of the Federal Parliament are not limited-bv the letter of the Constitution but at the time that the instrument was' framed it was understood that the ■central Government should raise • its revenue from Customs and have resort to direct taxation only if a supreme emergency called for it. For obvious reasons, however, it was impossible to put such a limitation into the letter of the bond. The question on which the constitutionality ,of this measure depended was whether it was in substance a taxing measure or was an indirect device for doing that which had been reserved to the States. A somewhat similar question arose out of the Harvester Excise Act a few years ago. There the Parliament imposed an excise duty of £6 on harvesters, but provided that if the harvesters were manufactured under conditions which a-competent tribunal declared fair and reasonable then the excise should be remitted. As a fact Mr Jutsice Higgins declared that the conditions prevailing at M'Kay's gre-rt works and other places were not fair and reasonable, but tVe manufacturers then contested the validity of the act. The High Court held that the act though ostensibly a taxing act was in reality an attempt' to regulate industry and as such beyond ' the competence of tiie Federal Parliament. So the act -was pronounced invalid in . a judgment enshrined in the reports of the King v. Barger. Inspired by hope from this decision •tertain pastoralists attacked the Land Tax let. The contention was that in substance ?■ the revenue was not an exercise of the taxing power of the Commonwealth, but an attempt to regulate the holding of land in common, that it contravened section 55 of the Constitution, which says that laws imposing taxation shall «deal only with the imposition of taxation, and shall deal with one subject of taxation only, while another ground was that several sections of the Assessment Act were invalid, and that they were so bound up with the whole measure that the act as a whole became invalid. For instance one section says '' that all land owned by a company shall be deemed to be owned by the shareholders as joint owners in the proportion of their interest in the paid-up capital. This, it was contended, was a tax on shares and not on land.

' Arguments for the plaintiff could not find a- friend on-the bench of five judges. All were agreed that the act imposed taxation on land and it was not for the court to inquire into its indirect motives. The law must be construed by its terms and by nothing else, said Mr Justice Barton, and he added that the predictions of ruin indulged in by counsel were not to be addresed to the court but to the Legislature. Mr Justice Higgins in his judgment revealed his known objection to a Parliament .working within limits prescribed by the Court. Somo of the arguments, he said, must seem to an outsider grotesque. Learned counsel had taken the acts and examined every nook and cranny of them with microscopic care in order to discover, if possible, some provision which had transgressed the constitution, even the most significant. It was not pretended that the impugned provisions should affect the plaintiff, but if the f>laintiff could show that the whole of the egislature was bad because of some provision which 'Sid not concern him he would be free from the obligation to pay the tax. Into such barren intellectual gymrfastics the Court wag being forced in this case and probably in cases to ocme. The upshot of the litigation is that while the twin acts as a whole are declared constitutional it will be left for some litigant later on a concrete case to attack particular sections about which the court would not pronounce. MR HUGHES'S MISFORTUNES. As landlord or tenant Mr Hughes, the Acting Prime Minister seems to be unhappy in his relations. A few months ago he was sued by. a lady who had let to him a furnished house in Melbourne, and now he is defendant in a claim in Sydney brought against him by a tenant. The plaintiff. Richard Bellinger, claimed £IOOO, alleging breach of agreement in regard to the working of a dairy farm, assault, imprisonment, and eviction from the farm. The defence was a denial of the breach of agreement, and an allegation that Bellinger had failed to maintain the farm in a state of cleanliness. As to the assault and imprisonment it was pleaded in defence that Bellinger had refused to give up possession after notice and that no more force was used than necessary for the purpose. Bellinger gave a vivid account of the eviction. There had been some differences, and on one occasion Bellinger took exception to Mr Hughes using Government stamps on his correspondence, as he did not wish to become a party to it. Hughes then said,-"Oh, if that is the style of man you are, you won't suit me, and I must get rid of you." He gave him notice to quit, and a few days later came with a force to evict him. The attacking force consisted of Mr Hughes's son Arthur and Joe Nicholls, while a sergeant of police remained in the background. Beyond nailing up some doors they do not appear to have done anything that day, but on July 24 Arthur Hughes and Nicholls came again, with Constable Moffatt. Young Hughes and Nicholls jumped ©n his back, and when he appealed to the constable, the constable said they were

within their rights. The battle was again drawn, and on July 26 Mr Hughes himself came, bringing with him several men whom he ordered to remove the furniture. There was a wild melee, in which W. M. Hughes took part, and exoressed a determination to put Bellinger out, "if it cost him £1000." Bellinger says he was badly treated by the crowd, and in the end he and his wife and family were ejected. They had to walk five miles to Windsor, and spent the night in an empty house.

Mr Hughes's account of the eviction was much milder. He said that in four weeks he became dissatisfied with Bellinger, who then claimed that he was a partner, and refused to go out. This decided Mr Hughes, who took the necessary steps to eject him. On the first occasion Bellinger took up a hostile attitude with a swingle'tree. "On July 26," said the Acting Prime Minister, " I said to Bellinger, 'You must leave.' He declined. He had an axe handle in his hand, and his sons and two other boys were with him. One oi the young fellows had a sapling, another a gun, and another an Indian elub. The lad with the club began striking out very savagely. I tried to hold Ins hands, but he struck me on the head, broke my hat, and made my face bleed. I went to the back, where I saw Bellinger being held, and one of the men lying on the ground unconscious, or partly unconscious. While I was trying to hold him, Bellinger bit me on the arm, through the coat sleeve, and made my arm bleed freely. He also assaulted me otherwise. No more violence was used than was necessary to put Bellinger out of the house."

The jury, after several hours' considera--tion, returned a verdict for the plaintiff for £250, £IOO being for breach of agreement and £l5O for the assault. Now, the non-Labour press are chaffingly suggesting that the Labour Government should introduce legislation to restrain these excesses of the landlord class. AN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR. H.M.S. Guyundah arrived at Broome, in Western Australia, on Monday of last week with two Dutch luggers in tow. The vessels were the Harriett, 15 tons, and the Fortuna, 18 tons, and they were in charge of Captain Smith, who is well known at Broome. The two vessels were taken some 200 miles from Broome while engaged gathering trepang and trocas shells, in contravention of the Australian law. They had some 30 of a coloured crew on board, who had been shipped at Koepang, in Dutch Timor. They were very badly provisioned, and their- arrest indeed seems to have been well timed in their own interests. They have been handed over to the Customs authorities, by whom they have been properly provisioned, and as the crew are all prohibited immigrants, they will be kept under surveillance until the courts decide what is to be done with the vessels.

Interesting questions in international law may arise out of the seizure of the vessels. The authorities are very reticent about the capture, but it is believed that they were engaged in pearling on Scott's Reef, which is some 20 miles in length, and contains on it Sandy Islet. On this islet there is a harbour, which affords protection for small craft engaged in fishing. Australia has claimed jurisdiction over the reef since a proclamation on the subject was issued in 1900. though the Union Jack has never been flown over it. This proclamation fixed the territorial waters of Australia as all the waters falling within a straight line drawn westerly from the most northern point of Australia and northerly from Difu Hartog Island, which lies off the coast'of West Australia. Now a glance at the map will show that some points within these two lines might be 600 miles from Australia. It is possible, therefore, that the Powers may not acquiesce in this attempted extension of the three-mile limit known to international law. However, there would still remain the question whether Scott's Reef, which is 150 miles from the mainland, might not be part of -Australian territory, even though the intervening waters are not. LADY DUDLEY'S PERIL. In the last weeks of her stay amongst us Laviv Dudley had a very narrow escape from death owing -to a motor car accident. Her Excellency, who is in Sydney, frequently goes for an early morning run to Bondf, and on Wednesday of last week the vice-regal 50 h.p. Daimler was got out to take her to the beach. The car, in charge of Cameron Ranhall, was going up hill opposite the Victoria Barracks when the chauffeur attempted to cross between two trams going in opposite directions—the one towards Bondi and the other towards the city. How he came to miscalculate the distance is not clear, but he did so, and he soon realised that he was in grave peril. The cars were fully loaded, but neither had any great speed on, for one was just starting and the other was just finishing its journey. When the chauffeur realised his peril he threw in his top gear, but though the big car leaped forward it could not clear the trams. The tram from Bondi struck first and threw Lady Dudley to the opposite side of her car, but instantly the other car struck and threw her back against the other side. Fortunately both tram drivers had their brakes hard on. The chauffeur said afterwards that another second would have cleared him. That is so, no doubt, but another second on the part of the tram drivers would have resulted in the big motor car being cut clean through and almost certainly in the death of Lady Dudley. As it was, the cabin of the motor car was dented in and the glass of the windows smashed. The steps on both sides were cut through, showing how fairly opposite the tram cars were. The motor was tightly jammed and the trams had to be push.ed back before it could be released. Detective Vincent was on one of the trams, and he liailed a hansom and put Lady Dudley in it. She was driven straight to Government House, having suffered no injury apparently beyond the shock. The chauffeur was uninjured save for a shaking. The body of the car

was smashed, but the engines did not suffer, and the chauffeur was able to take it back slowly to Government House. A NEW UNIVERSITY. Brisbane after many years of hope on the subject is at length the possessor of her own university. For many years past students for professions in the State have been driven to Melbourne and Sydney universities' for their academic Mr Kidston, the late Premier, however, has for some years been working for the establishment of a Queensland University, and when he was in power be brought the work to fruition. The University was opened some months ago, but the formal inaugural ceremony did not take place until Wednesday last. The University was then instituted by impressive and dignified ceremonies, to which a not© of (gorgeous colouring was added by the gowns of the various learned representatives of the various States, who were present. The Governor, Sir William MacGregor, is the Chancellor, and in his address he said that it would always be remembered that the man who took the leading part in founding tho University was that far-see-ing statesman, William Kidston, on whom the University would that day confer its first degree, honoris causa. His Excellency said that the future of the Empire depended as much oh science and industry as on Dreadnoughts and military training, and that the real romances of life were now to be sought in the laboratory and the workshop. Mr Kidston, wearing the gown of a doctor of laws, then came forward to receive the degree of LL.D., the first conferred by the University.