CONSCRIPTION OF WEALTH.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12065, 21 July 1917, Page 7

CONSCRIPTION OF WEALTH.

TIER'S OF MR J- CRAIGIE. M.P. j 1 t>l-RECT LEVY ON CAPITAL- j 1 i f Mr J Or&igie, member for Tiniaru. i vrjio tss passing ihrctigli Cbristchurch c tlii;, morning on liis way to Welling- * ton, was waylaid by a " Star'' repcrtoi and asked to amplify the report of . his j remarks in Pfirliair.cnt on the burning \ subject of tho conscription of wealth. I ( Mr Oraigie's views on this aubject, as J expressed in the House, havo attracted ; | a great deal of attention, and a great deal of both favourable and hostile j j criticism, and in the course of an m- j . teresting chat this morning the member ' for Timaru cies.lt very clearly and do- ; , finitely with hjs proposals and the oh- ' 1 j actions which had been raised against j | them. j , Mr said that New Zealand, in common with other parts of the Empire, had quite properly been called , upon to make considerable sacrifices of men. As far as he could ascertain, up to the present about 17 per cent of the enlisted men were married men who had voluntarily oSered their services. The time bad now come when it was I necessary to make a vcr.v much heaviei I levy upon the married men of the com- | I munity. The members of the Second I Division were no less disinclined than | the members of the First, Division to shoulder their duty in this respect, but they were naturally anxious that their wives and children and other depend- J enta should bo safeguarded against pn- j ration during their absence* from tho j Dominion. The position was that the : Government of tho country was, and quite rightly, taking the fullest powers to conscript the life and liberty of male citizens of military age, but it had , neglected hitherto to mate a corresponding levy upon the wealth of the Dominion. It was only the common- j est justice that the sacrifice demanded I from the Dominion shctold be shared as equally as possible. Perfect equality of sacrifice was an unattainable, ideal, as only a section of the male portion of , the community could b-o utilised foi ' military service, but there should be at least an attempt to lessen, on the i financial side, the discrepancy between . the sacrifice of the soldier and that of j the stay-at-homes, who at present were j required to give up very little, if anything. As a matter of fact, owing to the fact that New Zealand produce was ' being sold to Britain at great advances ; over pre-war rates, tho country, financially was more prosperous than ever. Income taxes and war taxes imposed on incomes which were in most instances largely increased by reason of j the war involved no real sacrifice. The time had come when the Domiri- , ion must face the issue squarely and | tackle the conscription of wealth in the j same determined fashion as the con- j "■cription of men had been undertaken, < I The term '' conscription of wealth '' had beem used very freely in some quayI ters, and was heartily detested in others. There wer© manj difficult probI lems bound up in its realisation, 33 every intelligent man had to admit, I and it was perhaps for this reason tliav, no definite proposals, of a practical I character at all events, had been made for the securing of a real, sacrifice on 1 the part of the wealthier members of the community. ' His proposal, which might bo considered by some to be unscientific, and ' which was probably capable of amendment, was that a direct levy should be made on capital on a sliding [ starting at 1 per cent for a capital of £2500 and rising to 20 per oent for a. capital of £200.000. The l*vy, which in the case of the £2500 capital Y°!v produce £25, and in the case of che £200.000 capital £40,000, would be -pread over 'three years, and he estimated that it ought to produce £10,000,000 in each instalment. I be C 30,000,000 thus secured should be : nvested by the Government as a carefully safeguarded trust fund, under non-political trustees, and should be made absolutely secure against aliena- . tion by any Government. Tho interest

khculd be solely used to provide an annual income for the support and re- j iief or soldiers' dependents. At o per i cent the amount thus produced annual- j iv r.jiould be about £1,500.000. " This levy should be in addition to, ana quite independent of, th& ordinary channels of taxation —a special direct levy for a specific purpose. The objection had beer, raised that ■ Hie sudden removal of such a vast amount of capital !investment in industry would d;;.,.. • the money market. Personaliy .bo could see no diffcretice in the probatile result on the money market between taking tho { money outright and raising it by loan, j There would be a difference, ot' course. : bocaus® his scheme would involve vnak- | ing the rich poorer, while a loan would mako them richer.

It- had been laid down as-$n axiom-j by Mr Massey. in days, that | the burden of al! taxation eventually rested on the shoulders of the wagcMirriing consumer!-. These represented t fit least 80 per cent of the population, i Those people were providing 80 per | cent of thA men at 'the front, and to ; ask them to bear the whole burden of ; war taxation in" addition was glaringly ! and obviously unfair: The way to the sacrifice of'wealth did not lie through I taxation, because taxation could be j "passed on.A direct levy on capital ] could not be "pass3»d on." j It had been argued that- the method j he proposed was unfair because people earned varying rates of interest on their capital, and that the sacrifice asked for from a rr;an owning £IO,OOO which earned 10 per cent would not be the same as the sacrifice on the man who owned £IO.OOO earning only 3 per cent or 4 pei; cent. The reply to that was that the man with the higher rate of interest had enjoyed a larger income and had paid higher taxation upon it. Capital, aa capita], must be regarded fm of equivalent value. £' for £, however it was invested. Asked whether he thought the National Cabinet would adopt a scheme on the lines of his proposal, Mr Craigie Raid that, past experience did not favour the idea of the National Cabinet exhibiting courage or initiative. Instead of leading a people caper to be led, the Government had all along | waited for the people to give it a lead, and had acted, in such matters as conscription and the war loan, only when pressure from outside became too' strong to be disregarded. Hie Ck»verni merit might, be reluctant to take any such diaitic action he proposed, but , the conscience of the people had been ! stirred, and the injustice of the present ; war policy was too striking to be allcnc- | ed to continue. .

Mr Cranio added that Mr Statham, M.P. for Dunedin, wiif, a supporter of his scheme, and lie (Mr Craigie) had received many letters, some of them from men of wealth and high standing :n the community, expressing appreciation of the stand he had taken.