The Waipa Post. PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1912. TAXATION AND COST OF LIVING.

Waipa Post, Volume II, Issue 77, 16 January 1912, Page 2

The Waipa Post. PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1912. TAXATION AND COST OF LIVING.

THE revenue returns for the December quarter of the financial year show the substantial increase of over half a million as compared with the corresponding period of the previous year. Customs gives an increase of £172,254, the new stamp duties, with their increased drain on the estates of deceased persons, yield an increase of £145,865; and railways show a return of £187,765 above that of last year. It is a matter for congratulation to all that the revenue of the country yields such excellent returns, and the Prime Minister may take pride in what he calls "the buoyancy of the revenue." We are surprised that a man of Sir Joseph Ward's ability cannot see, that to keep on taking such large sums from the pockets of the people may well account to a large extent for the increased cost of living. Last year the revenue of the Dominion increased by over a million pounds, and yet the taxpayers get no relief but their burdens are added to. We are satisfied that instead of talking of appointing a Royal Commission to inquire into the increased cost of living, it would be a far wiser and more statesmanlike business to relieve the taxpayers of some of this drain on their pockets, by means of remissions of Customs taxation, lightening the death duties, more particularly on the smaller estates and reducing the fares for longdistance travelling on the railways. One of the first duties of the next Parliament should be to thoroughly go into these matters, and give relief to the long-suffer-ing taxpayer. There can be no question but that having enjoyed

seasons of prosperity for a long time, the burdens of the individual who keep the country going, have been persistently increased. And so far, he has said very little about the matter. But unless we are very much mistaken, this condition of things has come to a full slop, for the simple reason that the strain has reached breaking point, and there must be a change. What the country needs is not ineffective Royal Commissions —we I have had more than enough of them —but we want these questions of the cost of living, etc., handled in a capable statesmanlike manner, for we are absolutely convinced that relief can be given to the taxpayer; the worried housekeeper can be made happy, by a great reduction in the cost of living, and the whole country be brought into a condition of more substantial prosperity, if the men whom we have sent to Parliament will take their duties seriously and attend to them. We have had more than than enough of talk —the time has come for action. Definite, clear, and emphatic is the call, and if the vox populi, is the vox dei, those who are responsible will do well to heed the command. And facing their duties like men, give the country that relief for which it is most urgently calling.