The Star. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1915. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11505, 29 September 1915, Page 4

The Star. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1915. EDITORIAL NOTES.

■ The new financial proposals placed before the House by the Minister of Finaaice will not commend themselves to very many people. The widespread desire is that money needed in this time of war should be drawn, as far as is possible from those actually profiting by the war. The cost of living has gone . up, and while that presents many problems to the consumer it means good prices to the producer. Indeed, more than one producer has admitted that sine© the outbreak of war he lias done remarkably well, and, speaking generally, that is the case. It follows, logically that the burdens imposed by additional taxation should bo placed upon his back, since he can best carry it, but no one can say that the amended proposals of the Government do that. When the Financial Statement was introduced it was contended that the tax on kerosene and petrol would press with undue severity on the farmer. It was a tax upon his light and locomotion, and, in nrany ways, would hit the farmer, particularly the small farmer, very hard. Tho representations made on this point evidently carried weight, and the ■'Minister has decided to jettison the tax on. mineral oils, and with it £190,000 of, revenue. To meet this adjustment it 5s proposed to levy & primage duty of y\ 1 per cent on all goods imported into the Dominion. There are a few exceptions, as ostrich feathers, ova and returned empties, but they do not . count. What does matter is that " { '&200,000 is to be raised by means of , . . primage duty, or in other words, through the Customs Department. This can mean only one thing—added imposts for the consumer; an increase in tho cost of living. It may be argued (that tho merchants will not pass on » levy of 1 per cent, indeed the member tor Christchurch North has said so definitely, but it is asking the average • man to believe too much to suggest that '•: the merchants will be content to pay out of their own pockets ! , £_vK),ooo. Sir Joseph Ward, according ''■ to the report, "refuted the statement that the primage duty would be passed on without the ordinary family being aware of it." The ordinary family will be very well aware of it, and that is just the point. The people expected that any adjust- _, .- ment of the taxation proposals would [ not impose any added burden upon the \ ■•>< •' ordinary family," to quote the Minis- \ •'* ter's statement, but they have been \~' disappointed. It comes to this: I. £190,000, the tax on mineral oils, has been changed to £200,000 primage duty. The first affected tho oonsumers to a '* : ' l, certain extent, the second will affect ,k "' no one but the consumer. Many people , confidently expected that the Minister, instead/of resting conteni with an ad,,,v:' ditional £74,240 from the graduated land tax, would make good a fair portion of his requirements from that source. In order to tap war profits, the \ s Minister decided to extend the income tax to farmers. He now finds that the . amount likely to he derived from this - . • source is some £BO,OOO below his origil aial estimate. Instead of adjusting the [ tax to secure tho revenue, he has en- \ deavoured to make good the deficiency I in other ways, but the new lines do not I tax war profits as did the original pro-

,Jn the Budget the Minister of Finance said that " the steadily increasing oosfc of living is causing a great deal of anxiety," and it must bo admitted that the latest proposals will not lessen that anxiety. Increases made in the Customs tariff, and primage duties, have a. nasty habit of growing during the " passing on" process, and the working people feel the effects. We cannot help thinking that the Minister, faced with the necessity of finding the money, has turned in the wrong direction. The cost of living i.s causing great anxiety, as he says, but it cannot be contended that the new proposals will improve the outlook.

Tho Allies* drive in the west has brought forth columns of comment, ft is an effort of the first magnitude, and the correspondents and the military experts are having the time of their lives assessing its true significance. Even tho Press of neutral countries is busy speculating on the coming phases of the fight, and the American newspapers are paying glowing tributes to the elan of Anglo-French armies. A marked characteristic, especially of French comment is the moderation and sanity with which ihe critics view the- situaton. The J'Mafficking," but on all sides there is a frank recognition of the stupendous * difficulties yet to be overcome if tho Germans are to bo pushed beyond their i second and third lines oI trenches. Tho

Paria " Matin " is very conscious of the difficulties still to be encountered, and warns its readora that the Germans "put their trust not in their first linos, which are mainly defended by machine guns, but in the defensive organisation of .tk> second end third lines."

It is indeed «. transformed Franca that looks on the world "to-das. A Franco free from the hysteria and lightness which has boon traditionally associated with tho vivacious French nature. It is not the light-hear tad Fraaiee of IS7O, tho enthusiastic and defiant Franco of tho Revolution, but the martyred and glorified France of Joan of Are that wo behold. Her bosom lias been pierced by the shafts of tho enemy, and her suffering has been the transfiguration of tho character. Tho French who have been a stimulus to civilisation in literature, art and in ideals of freedom are again leading the world in their almost tragic determination to rid their fair land of the invader.

Despite assurances of German news parser* to tho contrary, tho effect of the" Allies' offensive i» bound to causa uneasiness in Germany. The " Frsnkfuxter Zeitung" claims that ths cnemj has not selected a favourable moment for the offensive, but a glance at the European Situation shows that Joffro and Kitchener have struck at the psychological moment. With Bulgaria inclining towards tho Central Powers, Serbia threatened by invasion, and with Russia's armies still holding the Germans in the east, it would hare been difficult to find a time more opportune, both strategically and politically, for opening an attack. Rursia holds such large German and Austrian armies on her extended front that tho German forces in France are miliars numerically weaker than they been at any time since the first invasion. But with the Russian armies still in tho field and intact, the Germans cannot withdraw large forces without endangering the positions they have so dearly won, and even the safety of the armies themselves.

With everj' advance into Russia the enemy's lines of communication grow longer and more complicated, and more and more troops are required to guard them. The factor of distance must tell, too, in the shifting of large forces from one theatre to another. Whan Germany was fighting along; her own borders, it was an easy matter to transport armies from east to west and vice versa, but now that her eastern armies are well removed from her network of railways, the tranference of men and munitions is not such an easy matter.

In his last speech, delivered in the House of Lords, Lord Kitchener said that the German offensive against Russa had shot its bolt. We are now beginning to realise the significance of that remark. The Russians, despite their reverses, are ready to take advantage of any slackening of effort on the part of the enemy. General I vanoff quickly took the offnesive against the Austrians when their advance was held up in the swamp lands of southeastern Galicia, and the armies of General Ruszky in the Dvinsk district may at any time turn the tables on the Germans. The situation from the Allies' standpoint is most encouraging and we can afford to look quietly and optimistically to the future.