The Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 20, 1916. MR HUGHES’ TROUBLES.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5539, 20 September 1916, Page 4

The Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 20, 1916. MR HUGHES’ TROUBLES.

Tho opposition which unions and other bodies that, claim to represent Labour in Australia are offering to Mr Hughes’ proposals to submit to the popular vote the question of the desirability of introducing compulsory military service will put the Prime, Minister very thoroughly on his mettle. From Sydney, for instance, comes the news that the Wharf labourers’ Union—of which Mr Hughes is the president—has, by an overwhelming majority of its members, decided against conscription, and this is only typical of a number of similar decisions. It may, however, he doubted whether the workers of Avetralia, sis a class, are opposed, under existing circumstances, to the measure of compulsion contemplated by Mr Hughes. Upon this point wo shall, of course, receive no clear indication until the result of the vote to be taken on October 28th is made 1 noun. If that vote should prove to be against the application of compulsion, then, to use Mr Hughes’ own telling phrase “God help Australia.” The Federal Prime Minister seems, indeed, to bo confronted with the gravest and most difficult problem that ho has yetencountered in the course of liis whole public career, Tho contrast between the general plaudits which bis speeches in the Mother Country ovok i (] and the, series of cold douches to which lie is now being treated is sufficiently striking It is evident that political intrigue will enter somewhat largely into the consideration of the proposal which is now before the A us. Italian electors. Tho fact that the executive of the Labour Party in Queensland lias decided not t«> endorse the candidature of any one of the present members of Parliamentwho do not oppose the Government's referendum scheme i.s suggestive of far-reaching consequences. For it implies the possibility that a split may lx> caused in the Labour ranks through the existence of differences of opinion on this vital question. Such a split would bo fraught with such important

political issues that the sequel wid he of interest not only in Australia; hut throughout the British Empire. CONSCRIPTION OF WEALTH Upon the principle that the whole re- j sources of the country must he at the service of the Government if they are required for the prosecution of the war. the last shilling must he held to he available in the event of its being

needed. Wealth is “conscripted to j the extent to which there is a demand j for it. It is none the less “conscript- j i d” because it is transferred from the i

pockets of its owner to those of the ; State through the avenue of taxation. Already there is a fairly stringent “conscription of wealth in force in some parts of the Empire. Most I notably of all is this the case of the United Kingdom itself, where, as elsewhere in the Empire, something is heard of this cry for “conscription of j wealth.” The cry penetrated to the j Prime Minister’s room a few weeks ago. when a deputation representing the Trade Union Congress urged that , the cost of the war should he borne

wholly out of revenue raised from taxation of incomes, and it produced from Mr Asquith a reply in which, in order to illustrate how “conscription j of wealth” has gone on during the 1 war, lie said: I will take two or three typical in- , comes: First, £SOO. The income tax on such an income in 1913-14 was £l3 , in the current year it is £sl. In other words, it has risen from f*d to 2s. But perhaps you won t call that riches. Let it go buy. Take an income of £IOOO a year. The income tax before the war was £3B; now it is £l39 —2s 9d in the pound. Go a step further. Take an income of £SOOO. Before the war the income tax was £292. which means Is 7d in the pound; it is now £l-502. or 6s in the

pound. Now 1 will come to a man with £IOO.OOO a year. Before the war he paid £12.4.58, or 2s 6d in the pound. Now he pays £47.129 or 95d in the pound. lam sure 1 an* not setting it too low. It must be admitted that his is « very substantial “conscription.” And ‘f the man with £IOO,OOO a year paid excess profits also liis total contribution would be over £60.000. or 12s 3d in the pound. Mi Asquith claimed that no other country in the world lias exacted anything from the well-to-do classes comparable with what is I icing exacted at Home.