CURRENT TOPICS

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXXII, Issue 60, 8 May 1924, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS

TAXATION AM) THE FARMER. A simple statement of the farmer's receipts and, expenses, the difference being his net income, is the only real and honest basis on which taxation should be levied, if it is to ue levied at all, says the Otago Daily Times. It is what the farmer himself goes by—he has, perforce, to go by it —and it should te good enough for the Government as well. We are convinced that the institution ("•£ such a system would not result in the loss of one penny of revenue to the Treasury; and few outside the farming class itself can realise, or would believe, the enormous relief which it is thus in the power of the authorities to render to a muchharried claSB of workers, without the slightest drawback in the way of cost or loss of revenue. The most honest farmer, who would scorn anything in the shape of evasion, regards the official schedule with despair. Even the authorities themselves seem to have an inkling of this; for in microscopic print at the foot of their sheet they suggest that "a copy of the taxpayer's balance sheet and profit and loss account, or statement of assets and liabilities at the beginning and end of the year," etc., etc., will he accepted instead. DOLES AND "TAIHOA." There are several contributing causes of the industrial depression which still holds Great Britain in its throttling grip; and it was asserted during the last general election, and has been re-asserted since, that "the Labor Party i B the only party that has a positive remedy for unemployment." So far the Government at Home has done little toward prescribing that remedy, hovever. Opposing the Protectionist policy enunciated by Mr Stanley Baldwin at the last general election, both Liberals and Labor made the tranquilising of Europe one of the main planks in their respective platforms. They said that British statesmen would then set about the task of finding markets abroad which the country had previously exploited. Is not this arrant folly and a most short-sighted policy? The policy oi the Labor Government, indeed, seems to be a choice between desperate palliatives—doles and a gospel of "taihoa."—"Timaru Post." THE TRANSIT OF MERCURY. At Mr W. Bun-ell's Stratford observatory an opportunity was afforded to-day' to sea the planet Mercury in transit across the face of the sun. Mr Binrell informed a "Stratford Evening Post" reporter that he was unable to see the first contact, which took place about 15$ minutes past! nine. He did not see it for the first half hour, but from that time witnessed this rare occurrence at intervals. Transits of- Mercur- 'ir, 3 not so rare as those of Venus tbo'ifiib of sufficient interest to conm-nd universal attention. . The last tiwsit of Venus occurred in 1882. and the next will rot be until 2001. A transit is similar to an eclipse- of the suri I by the moon except that the planet/ is near to the sun, and so far from the "earth that it only obscures a small portion of our luminary. The planet's shadow is immense, and when it is stated that Mercury is 3000 miles in diameter, some idea i can be formed of the vastness of the plenet in transit. An eclipse of the mcon is quite different to the transit mentioned, being caused by the moon entering the earth's shadow. It should be mentioned that instead of an eclipse being witnessed over a. limitod area for a few minutes the shadow of Mercury is 133 times greater in diameter than the earth. While its speed is so great that its edge crosses the entire surface of the earth in 3i minutes to perform; the journey the whole shadow occupies nearly eight hours. Soon after one o'clock to-day, a "Stratford Evening Post" reporter was afforded an opportunity of seeing the transit of Mercury which, by the aid of Mr BurrelPs telescope, lo"koj like a black spot in the blue heavens.