IN THE HOUSE.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13715, 23 November 1937, Page 5

IN THE HOUSE.

THE FINANCE DEBATE.

PRICE PAID FOR PICOT BROTHERS

Electric Telegraph—Press Association WELLINGTON, Last Night. When the House resumed at 7.30 the Minister of Finance (Hon. W. Nash) moved the second reading of the Finance Bill. He said the main Bill was divided into four or five parts. One part dealt with the soldiers' settlement and it was anticipated that in writing off this account the total loss would be £6,820,000. It wats the account only which was being done away with, not the other legislation dealing with soldier settlement. With regard to the wiping off of the State Advances account, when all the accounts were settled up there would be only a comparatively small amount to be written off. Another part of the Bill, said Mr Nash, gave authority for the borrowing of £‘6,000,000 for public works. This amount was not immediately necessary and the Government was trying to make provision for all public works during this session until the commencement of the next session, but the authority was there for the borrowing of the six millions or part thereof, if required.

Referring to the setting up of a hardship committee under the graduated land tax, it. would operate for two years and deal with taxes railing due on March 31, 1937, also on March 31, 1938. It would comprise the Commissioner of Taxes, SolicitorGeneral and Secretary of the Treasury. It would deal with cases where hardship existed and the committee w ould be limited in the scope of its inquiry and would be able to- recommend to the Minister what relief it thought might be necessary The Minister could then recommend that the relief suggested could be granted.

The Minister proceeded to deal with the. provisions in the Bill covering payment of income tax by goldmining companies which he said paid income tax not on income but on profits. Tlie Bill would enable taxes to be levied on the assets of companies which had been transferred overseas. Another clause exempted irons, stamp duty all transfers of houses from ioeal authorities It had arisen through the requirement ol the Dunedin City Council, which had done splendid work in erecting houses to relieve the housing shortage and desired to transfer the ownership of the houses to private individuals. Anotler section increased the time which persons in receipt of invalidity pensions might be absent from the Dominion without forfeiting their pensions.

Dealing with the provisions in the Bill providing for payment of the new season’s price for butter-fat for produce exported between July 31 and September 4. the Minister stated the total loss would amount to £38,900. This sum would be distributed to dairy companies for distribution to farmers as soon as the Bill was passed and the accounts were in order. The next clause in the Bill dealt with differential cheese payments, the extra farthing, provided for in the Bill enabling butter-fat suppliers for cheese to receive an average of Ih d per lb more than did the suppliers of butter. The total ctfst of this increase would be about £165,000.

Speaking of the Internal Marketing Department, Mr Nash said the Bill would enable the Department to ca rry on.

Opposition members: How much did Picot Brothers cost?

Mr Nash: I think it was about £60,000 for the assets.

He added that if the company had been sold on the stock exchange it would have brought about twice as much as the Government had paid for the company. It was one of the finest distributive organisations in the Dominion.

Air S. G. Holland : How much did the goodwill cost? Air Nash: I’ll, tell the honourable gentleman that a little later. Air Holland: We would like to know the amount for goodwill. The Alinister replied that it would be advisable to have the discussion on that on the Estimates or when considering the department's report. Members were certainly entitled to know what the sum was and he would certainly tell them.

The leader of the Opposition, Hon. A. Hamilton, said there were 40 different subjects discussed in the Bill and he did not intend to 'deal with them all in his half-hour’s speech that evening. He said he had been pleased to learn from the Alinister that the State Advances account was in a healthy condition. The State Advances system had worked very well in its day. Commenting on the provision in the Bill to borrow £6,000,000 for public works, Air Hamilton said the Government was great borrower but objected to paying interest. Why should it borrow if it did not pay interest?

He continued to- deal with the hardship clause under the graduated land tax. stating that the Bill carried out the Alinister’,s promise to set ui> a committee to investigate hardship under the tax. He thought it was a very conservative committee, two of its members being tax collectors themselves. He thought the graduated land tax should be abolished altogether because it was inequitable and was 90 per cent, unjustified. Until there was a classification of land there was no justification for the graduated land tax at all. It hit companies with branches throughout the Dominion and also large farmers whose holdings might be quite unsuitable for subdivision. A clause should lie inserted in the hardship clause stipulating that the person’s ability tto pay should l»e eo.iiiHidcred in the assessment of tin* tax He thought it unwise that the committee should have to refer its decisions as to who paid the tax to the Minister. The Alinister should write the law and leave it to his officers to administer it. Mr Hamilton said be failed to sec* why the Alinister lia.l

not put the price paid for Picot Brothers in the Bill. Mr J. G. Barclay said the leader of the Opposition had fritieixed the graduated land tax as unjust, hut a commission had been set up to deal with, two or three per cent, ol losses where injustice had occurred. The tax could he justified a hundred per cent, and the bulk of it was paid in the cities.

Mr Barclay continued that the present Government was spending the money it borrowed more wisely than any previous Government had done The Minister, lie said, had dealt with the farmers both generously and fairly. How much control jiad the farmers over the marketing of their produce in the past, lie asked.. Palmers put their milk or cream cans outside their gates and a milk lnn-v came along and , ollr-cted them. ThoV had no more sav in the marketing oi their pis,dure then than they did now, but to-day tiler were getting .i much tailor deal th .in they iven n the past. Mr W. J. Broad font said Mr Barclay’s contention that the farmer previously had little control of marketing his produce was a poor compliment to the wonderful co-opera-tive system which had done so much to build up the dairying industry in the Dominion. The Minister’s statement regarding orthodox hollowing did not square with other statements from his party though he thought these were intended to please the monetary reformers. The committee to investigate hardship in connection with the land tax in,eluded two officers interested in maintaining revenue and only one with judicial experience. The necessity for the graduated land tax to break up large estates had disappeared. The debate bad not concluded when the House rose at 10.30.