UNKNOWN

Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 13, 30 May 1872, Page 2

UNKNOWN

To suggest any new made in whioh to tax the New Zealand sol tiers is very like suggesting the fLtlcliLion of the proverbial last straw to the load of the camel. It is useless, however, for ns to attempt to disguise the fact that the taxation of the people will have to bo increased unless we are to pursue the old plan of j borrowing to pay old debts. It will be remembered that tne deficiency in revenue for t.lie last financial year was C 100,000, that is to say. our liabilities for the year exceeded our income by that amount. This year the interest on the <£l,'Jl)l\000, borrowed for the carrying' on of public works, will have to be met, and we believe wo are correct in stating that the whole of this money has disappeared, whilst it h needless to add, as the fact is patent to all, that not a single work commenced has been completed, so that nothing hus as yet been added to the revenue by the expenditure of the first instalment of the loan. The doubling 1 ot the stamp duty on cheques and receipts has proved a failure in not hav ing- pro luce 1 the additional amount of revenue anticipated ; it is also the most unpopular tax in "force. Indirect taxation in the shape of customs' duties has beeu carried to the furthcstlimit. The poor man is ndmitted on all hands to be contributing more than his fair share to the revenue : lie consumes as much tea, tobacco, and spirits as his richer neighbour, and his clothing, being of a coarser description, occupies more space, and conse- j quently pays a heavier duty than the more j costly garments of the rich. The ingenuity j of public speakers an 1 writers has beeu exer- j cised to devise a means of making both ends meet which will not. at the same time completely stagnate the industry of the people. It is now pretty generally agreed that direct taxbtion will have to be resorted to, the only I difference of opinion being as to the form it shall assume. Three taxes have be?n suggested, i.e., Income, Property, and Land ; each of these have their good and bad phases. It is urgo 1 against the Income Tax that it is open to evasion, and that it is a speoies of governmental inquisition; also, that the expense of collecting would be very great. A Property Tax is open to.'the'objection that it taxes only a class, and in very many instances the mail best able to pay escapes taxation altogether.

Tho merchants, for instance, carrying on business in our towns arc accumulating wealth as ,their capital increases, they extend their business, so that they have no money to spare to invest, in landed and house property.' The taxation of land is contrary • to all the principle-} ol [>olitieal economy; such a tax con Id have no other effect than to hamper the farming and grazing interests, on which we principally depend for ability to pay any taxes at all Ihe only source of ] wealth possessed by New Zealand has to be extracted from the soil in the shape of grain and wool, or from the bowels of the earth in that of minora s. She is not yet, ur»- , fortunately, a manufacturing country, and it is only in a densely populated country that manufacturing on an extensive scale can be carried on. It is to be feared that the day is yet far distant when art.icies manufactured from the natural productions of this colony will be found in any quantities in tho markets of the world. The absentee land owners, or such of them as own unoccupied land, should without doubt be taxed, and that pretty heavily. No injustice would be inflicted l>y taxing ail land owned by absentees and not let on a. long lease to some person resident upon it and employing it either for agricultural or pastoral purposes. ft is manifestly unfair that these men should be allowed to own land purchased by them in the early days at a merely nominal rate and withhold it from uso till they are enabled to sell out at a handsome profit, the increase in value having been brought about by those who were content to remain in the country and undergo the trials and hardships incidental to colonization. To look at the question in a purely monet ary light, the taxes paid by residents in the country go to swell tho already distended pouches of the landjobbers.

Wo are of opinion that a property tax would only touch a certain portion of the community, and that a land tax would do an incalculable amount of damage to our farmers and erraziers. An income tax, therefore, is i . • the only one of the throe which can be imposed, either on .the recognised principles of political economy or on those of justice— making ev r ery man in the country bear a fair share of its burdena. Au income (ax makes nil but the very poor contribute to the revenue :>f the country, and a tax on absentees cannot fail to meet with universal approval. It is anything 1 but a pleasant task fop [i writer,, who. is. dependcut upon the public for support, to suggest fresh taxation. It would, however, ba hoping- against hope to suppose that without s une new form of taxation we can possibly make revenue and expenditure balan. •&.