THE FINANCIAL REFORM MOVEMENT

Colonist, Volume X, Issue 762, 17 September 1867, Page 3

THE FINANCIAL REFORM MOVEMENT

(From the- Wellington Independent.)

The cry for Financial Refotm which has more than once been raised by this journal on behalf of an over-taxed people is now echoed from Nelson. The financial statement has been received in that province with the utmost dissatisfaction, and now we learn by a special telegram, that a large and enthusiastic meeting has been held to protest against its proposals. The resolutions adopted at the meeting embody the conclusions at which every man would arrive who has carefully considered the financial position of the Colony, and the proposals of the Government by which it is ruled. It is natural thafc the tax paying colonists of .Nelson should look with alarm upon any proposal to increase the public debt of the colony, and it is a logical sequence of this opinion that they should demand a reduction, both in expenditure and taxation, so that'if the yield of its gold-fields decreases, the Colony may be prepared for the adverse change. It is a healthy sign of the times that a Financial Eeform Association is boing formed. Such an organisation has long'been urgently needed in a country which is strangled by red tape, overrun by officialism, and crushed by excessive taxation. The Government and the Parliament alike need to be vigilantly watched in their dealings with the public revenue, by such an organisation as this society, will create. The Pi-ess can do much, but it cannot do all. The' efforts of a few earnest men (directed to the special object of Financial Eeform will. be of the greatest benefit to the country.

Every Province will contain a branch of tho Association—all working on the platform and through the Press—for a purpose iv common. Our warmest wishes are given for the earnest prosecution of this movement, and our most strenuous efforts shall be devoted to ensure the attainmeut.of'the objects for which it has been originated.