The Waipawa Mail. TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1917. CURRENT TOPICS.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 7915, 7 August 1917, Page 2

The Waipawa Mail. TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1917. CURRENT TOPICS.

Three Years of War.

Saturday last was the third anniversary of the entry of Britain into the Great War which was destined to play havoc with principalities and Powers, to add many pages, written in blood, to the world’s history, and to bring many great changes in the governing laws of the nations of the whole civilised world. And what is the position of the Allies at the end of the three years, the period for which the incomparable Kitchener set about preparing when he took control of the British army ? Let us glance at the darker side of the picture first. First and foremost is the unexpected and regrettable failure of Russia, who now stands in a worse position, from the military point of view, than at any stage of the three years. The country is rent with revolution and distrust, and the morale of the army and navy is broken by sedition and the pernicious and unscrupulous propaganda of the enemy. On the West the enemy maintains a solid and determined front to the repeated onslaughts of the Allies, and the advance has been slow. The summer is getting on and so little has seemingly been .achieved. .Italy has done good work, but has not been heard of for weeks, while the situation in the Balkan States is not such as to encourage one to hope for an early peace. At sea the submarine continues to be as great a menace as ever, and the weekly tally of ships sunk shows little sign of diminution. The Other Side. This is the position we are facing at the commencement of the fourth year of war. But there is a brighter side to the picture. We know that the armies of the Allies, except those of Russia, were never more eager for fight, never better equipped with guns and munitions. The economic position is sound, despite the efforts of the while that of Germany and Austria

must, by the prohibition of exports from America to neutrals, vbeconm steadily worse. But above all is the unbroken and reliant spirit of' the British and French nations, the inflexible determination to see this thing through to a victorious end. There seems no reasonable hope of the war finishing this year now. Had it not been for the failure of Russia there was a possibility, but a great opportunity was lost and we must prepare for the future. The coming winter will tell its tale on the feeding problem of the enemy countries and for that reason we must look hopefully to the spring of next year. * • • V The New Taxation. The imposition of a heavier income tax on the wealthy, as forecasted in the Budget, was overdue. The new proposals bring our income tax system more into line with that in England, though our exemption limit is much higher than the English. In England a man begins to pay at £l3l, on which he may be taxed as much as £1 13s. At £3OO, our exemption limit, he may have to pay £27. In the ordinary income tax Sir Joseph Ward improves the graduation, abolishing the breaks between £4OO and £6400. The special tax levied last year will be graduated and increased by 50 per cent, all round. The result will be that the minimum combined income tax will be Is 3d in the £, and the maximum 7s 6d. The man with £6400 a year will now pay just double the tax imposed last year. In England he pays between five and six shillings, but he may also be liable for tax of 80 per cent, on war profits. Our taxation of intermediate incomes, however, will still be below the English rates.

The Customs Duties. But while the brunt of taxation should fall on those best able to bear it, sound taxation should affect the whole community. The Government are therefore justified in raising the Customs and excise duties. The percentage return from these Departments of revenue has been falling in the last few years owing to the heavy increases in other taxation. We may regard certain of these new taxes, such as those on tobacco, tea, and beer, as substitutes for the lowering of the income tax exemption limit. The tea tax will add materially to the budget of households that are already feeling the pinch of the cost of living, but it should be borne in mind that in England the duty is a shilling,* four times as great as that now proposed. The extra amount to be paid for tea will be part of the poor man’s share in the financing of the war, towards which he must in justice contribute according to his means. The well-to-do man will pay his tea-tax as well as the poor man, in addition to his income tax. The tax on amusements is a just measure. It has been levied successfully in England, and anyone can see for himself that there is a rich field for it in New Zealand, especially in the large centres. Sir Joseph Ward declines to increase the duty on motor cars. He may be right, but we would like to know where he gets his estimate that nearly 90 per cent, of the cars imported during the war have been for utility purposes.