TAXATION.

Colonist, Volume XXXII, Issue 5501, 23 May 1889, Page 3

TAXATION.

To the Editor of the Cobnist. Sib,—Kindly allow me to utter vaj sentiments on the above subject, for it is of vital importance, and I believe matters are very crooked in our country, and are getting more | crooked every day. Isn't it true ? You know it is. When I think upon the evil days that have fallen on our land, I am worried over it. Wa have a fine estate, a real tiptopper, and no mistake; only matters are tending as sure as death to repudiation, if we do not pull the right way, and go for a right basis. Just look a moment at the power there is amongst us. The elements of greatness are here that would, if rightly applied, give us a place in the front rank among the nations of the earth. Every New Zealander has reason to be proud of his country; her daughters are ohaite and passing fair, hsr goni are clearbrained, with naiads formed ttfii Boenes of grandeur and beauty, everything around us tends to lift our minds to a higher level. The storms that sweep along our coasts, the gentle breezes thai ever and aeon fan ont brows with their touch of delight, the sunshine that throws its brillianoy over land and sea, all things about us make our hearts swell with pride as we think of the land that has given us birth, and yet here we are grizzling our tnsides out to make both ends meet—tt get up the ever augmenting stream of gold that is wanted to pay the bare interest on our loans. Too much burden is placed on the bone and sinew of our lands, the real grit that creates wealth, and too littla on the men who sit on a stump and grew so fat that they can; hardly ms out of their eyes, just getting rich by no effort of their own, throngk the energy and enterprise of the toilers. This is what I and an ever increasing multitude object to, and a howl of indignation will arise and sound from end to end of oar crippled country that will make every individual hair of •very stump sitter stand on end, and comptl them to tuck up their sleeves and go to work, and pay their fair whaok towards taxation, Then, and then wily, will we be on the way to »true and lasting prosperity, Thire are (Mjet! bib; «9k«i in m \nl, mping

when they hare not toiled. It is sell-etident that there are three prime fictorl that go to make the wealth of any country-land, labor, and capital. . The last two are fast friends; they are inseparable, just like Siamese twins, for kill one end the other is dead. Capital is bat labor garnered up for; future use, it is essential to the operations of labor, and1 these two aru, as things are fixed up at present, forced to bear an undue burden, while the land is comparatively free from the burden it ought to aad can bear. Why tax energy and thrift, ai at present, in the iniquitous property tax, and allow the stuiap-sitter to get off nearly soot free? The Customs duties, tco, are nearly all wrong, as I hope to show you ere long, and the pressure that is brought about by their operations retards trade, lnjurts the many and enriches the few, briigs grim care into the life of nearly every business man in the land, roosting on his shoulders when he is awake, and sitting on big head when he is asleep, ready to peek at him the moment he is awake, and him with talons and beak all the week long. .. ■ If this continues it -will make our beautiful islands one great sweating shop, where mart. dark, browed, and sullen, will utter curses loud and deep; where women will faint, and children cry for want ef bread; and where all who will not obey the imperious mandates of landlords may go to Jericho, or even farther still. It won't do, Mr Editor, thiags must alter. See the operation of the Property Tax, This has a tendenoy to drive away from our land the very thing we want most, and that is—capital; and hence trade languishes, and manufactures are kept in obeyancefor tbe want »f it. This tax is onnningly framed, and at a first glance the specious £500 exemption looks fair encugb, for it would eeem that everyone who has not amassed £500 gets off scot free, A niae little bit of dust this for our eyes. Is ii so ? Ask the merchant who owns, say £10,000 worth of stock, He has an exemption of £500, and on the balance he has to pay tax year after year. Think you, does he give this to his customers? Not likely. This tax, with all other expenses of running bis business, is added and charged on his goods, and so it finds its way into the retailer's shop, and hence all wbo buy from him have to pay extra, and so it is wide-reaching in its effect. In my next I Trill show you whsre tke Customs Duties press unduly, and then give you a scheme for arranging an equitable basis. The whole matter is as easy-as winking. Yours, &0., J. H. Stbbr.