QUESTIONS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LX, Issue 17063, 16 August 1917, Page 5

QUESTIONS.

Replying to questions, Ministers said:—

That persons arriving from Schles-wig-Holstein would be regarded as Germans.

That in view of the difficulties of transport it was impracticable to forward to each man at the front a Christmas gift in the shape of a tin of New Zealand butter.

That it would be an everlasting disgrace to New Zealand if recreation grounds passed into the hands of mortgagees during the absence of our soldiers, and the Government would join with the public to prevent anything of the sort taking place.

That local camps were not considered necessary for training the Second Division, if they were called up. That the police have instructions to take all possible steps to suppress illegal betting in the Dominion. i Consider able, difficulty, however, exists in obtaining evidence sufficient to prosecute those persons who are believed to be operating as bookmakers, as the bulk of their betting transactions are done under assumed names by correspondence. The Police Department has drawn the attention of the Post and Telegraph authorities to the use

made by bookmakers of the post and telegraph services, and regulations to more effectively deal with suspected persons were under consideration. That initial steps towards a weeds survey and special weed-control investigations, have already been taken. Tliese matters will, in view of their undoubted importance, he prosecuted as rapidly as circumstances will permit.

On the House resuming at 7.30, th« debate on the Budget was continued by 'Mr Mander, who remarked upon the » magnitude of the borrowing proposals but considered that any loan to win* the war was justified, so long as due ecenomy was observed in its expenditure. He deprecated attacks upon capital, because after the war every pound of capital would be required to increase productioin. Statistics showed a considerable falling-oft in; exports and imports, from which he argued that the position of the Dominion was not as satisfactory as many paople thought. Uu the other hand, taxation, was increasing, which greatly accentuated th 0 need for care on the part of the people. Speaking of taxation in detail, he favoured an extension of the principle of graduation on incomes above £b4OO, and he foresaw grave hardship under the mortgage tax, quoting special cases to support his contention. He strongly disapproved of the idea of calling up boys at nineteen for mili- • tary service, as he did of the proposal to tax tea, which he believed was inconsistent with the profession to ;•*■ duce the coso of Jiving. Mr Poole said the Budget was r*v markable for- the record reacned in revenue and expenditure, and for tn© demands made upon the people, vot notwithstanding the enormity of the ' demands, there was a tone of'hopefulness about the Budget, which seemed to look cheerfully into the future. He congratulated the Minister of Finance on the splendid service he was doing tor the Dominion in the present crisis, which service was proved by the comparatively scathless manner in which the Budget, came through discussion. Much of the criticism stored up had been rendered pointless by the breadth of the proposals, consequently on several occasions the teeth of the violent had been drawn. Discussing the National Cabinet, he said it was,obvious- ' ly a creature of compromise. kThough there Were complaints on all; sides, it was the duty of the people to malcethe best use of it under the existing circumstances. At least they deserved credit for producing 'such.'a' Budget, which was clearly along right lines. He saw with regret a tendency, among the town and country members to drift further apart. This should not be iv such a crisis, wlien every effort • sriould be bent to win the war- It was entirely wrong to regard the former su a ciixaberer of the ground, just as it was wicked to regard the resident of the cities as a thief and marauder, for it Was the genius of these city residents .which gave the former those complicated pieces of mechanism which enabled the man on the land to take, from the breast orf Mother Earth the wonderful wealth represented.by.Bs per cent of the exports of this 'Dominion. • He therefore put in a plea for better feeling between town and country. Neither could afford to.despise the other, ' but the sooner they recognised that each was interdependent, the better for the community at large. As a legacy of war, we wer,e bound to find the money asked for in the Budget, but-in this connection he said there was ( abundant evidence that the Administration had failed to deal energetically with the cost of living, Tney had been altogether too timid in dealing with the problem of increases in pensions and war bonus. There Wereevidences of the fact. He thought it, a travesty upon our patriotism that' we had to offer as an inducement freedom from income tax to get the money • we needed for the loan. While supporting the amusement tax, he by ', ho means joined in the general condemnafcion of picture shows, which, if the censorship was improved, would do a great deal to relieve the monotony and brighten many people's drab lives. Whiie on the subject of the tea tax, he was not decided, for he could see that it was going to hit many poorpeople, who now regarded the product of the teapot as part of tneir daily sustenance. Concluding, he urged the development of fishing, tanning, paper and fruit industries, as means of helloing returned soldiers, who, unless assisted. in time, would become a dan* " gerous problem on our hands. I Mr Taibot expressed the opinion that the Budget had not taken sufficient toll of the wealth which had flowed into the Dominion Bince the declaru- -.„ tion of war. It was idle to, suppose that the war could be financed by a conjuror's trick taxation. Heavy tax* ation was the only way in which we ' could fool the bill. He could not imagine any section of the community objecting to bear a fair share of the burden. At present there, was evidence of too, much extravagance. Waste should be checked by taxation, which - j the Budget provided under four heads —income, land. Customs and amusements. Dealing with the first, he favoured as much revenue as possible ' ' being obtained from that souixmj. The increase would not be seriously felt at ' a time like this, when the wap created^ ' greatly increased profits. At the same time there should be differentiation between earned and unearned incomes, as in Britain. He'also supported the sug-■ "^ gestion of a surtax on large incomes. ' - Land aggregation was going on in the ; Dominion, and for that reason he fav-' . oured more severe taxation on larger- " properties than the Budget proposed. The tax on tea found no favour with the speaker, but he advocated drastic," taxation on luxuries, especially motorcars, many of which were not utility cars. The amusement tax should L>© extended to racing^ and the beer duty should be substantially increased. In concluding he expressed the hope that wisdom and courage would be given to our rulers, to meet the changing conditions^ following upon the conclusion of the war. The adjournment of the debate was moved by Mr. Statham. , The House rose at 10.50.