MR. MASSEY ON TAXATION.

Colonist, Volume LIV, Issue 13277, 30 November 1911, Page 3

MR. MASSEY ON TAXATION.

How and why it is wo ("New Zealand Times") cannot get Mr. Masscy to tell the public his views, if he has any, on the very important subject of taxation V With brief intervals, lie has now been talking politics continuously for about a year, in all parts of the country and in the House of Representatives. During all that time ho has.harped on indebtedness and taxation with wearisome persistency, yet wo defy a solitar- person who has heard those speeches, or read the copious reports of them, to say they have derived even the vaguest idea of what the Leader of the Opposition considers legitimates avenues of taxation. Not the slightest idea has been given of how Mr. Massey imagines the public revenue ought to be raised; not a hint as to which of the present taxes would be removed if the constituencies, forgetting the records of the last twenty-one years, were to make him Prime Minister. At Winton on Friday Mr. Massey onco more told his oft-repeated story of increased taxation, and again impressed upon his audience that "You can impose what taxation you like, but it will always come back on to the rank and file of the people." We suppose that is why the opulent gentlemen who support'Mr. Massey's party object So much to pay taxes—because, after all, they are really paying them, and it hurts them so much to pass it on to the poor rank and file. Is it because of his regard for the unfortunate working man that Mr. Massey is in political association with Mr. George Hunter and Mr. W. C Buchanan, for instance? Is it to relievo the burden of taxation on the masses that Mr. H.M. Campbell seeks to represent Hawke's Bay and Mr. D. D. Macfarlane wants to succeed Mr. Forbes as member for Hurunui ? We refuse to believe it. If it were found, such a simple matter to "pass on" the taxes, we should not hear nearly so much about them from the Opposition. But whether taxation is paid by the persons upon whom it is levied or wholly by the "rank nnd file" is not the point just now. What we want to know—what the whnlo corn in unity is properly entitled to bo told in precise terms—is this: If Mr. Massev happened" to be in office, which of the <"dstin<r taxes would he remove or reduce, and how would he Tr>-»ke up ih° deficiency in revenue? The cost of living, I lie says, cannot be reduced unless tax-

atibn is reduced. There is something plausible about this, certainly, but it is arrant nonsense all the same. The fact is that during the whole period of Liberalism from 1891 to Jnow taxation on necessaries of life has been steadily diminished. Customs duties on articles in everyday use have been cut down, by more than ?5 per cant. The rise in the 6ost;6f living is ji real and serious.tiling, as':everybody Knows full well, but it would have been.very much greater if tht> Liberals had maintained the Conservative tariff. The main factor increasing the pressure on family earnings is the eVergrowing toll exacted by the ground landlord. Nothing has advanced throughout New Zealand quite so terribly as-tlie oharge for rent, and this oppression is almost solely due to the tight hold :Mr.. Massey's friends have, kept in the rural lands of the Dominion. Instead of-the cost of living being lessened by reducing taxation, wo believe there is. one important direction in which higher and more- general taxes would go far to provide a solvent, We believe that remedy will yet be used by the Legislature. In the meantime^ we ask once more, what are MV. Massey's views or proposals, if he has any, regarding taxation? lie said at Winton that when the taxation of racing clubs Was at "more than a fair rate" the "spending power of the district was reduced." Does he mean that he would lessen the cost of living by abolishing the totalisator tax ?