GRADUATED LAND TAX.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2475, 14 April 1909, Page 5

GRADUATED LAND TAX.

1 RESOLUTION OF CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE. 'Per Press Association.! \ " ! WELLINGTON, April 13. j At the afternoon silting of the Cham- ! hers of Commerce conference to-day, ! Air. 'Kettle's resolution re mortgage | and graduated land taxes was carried, j with the latter portion amended to read jas follows: ‘‘That the incidence of the ■ graduated tax on land generally, and {.specially as affecting the interests of j the private individuals in companies, |be carefully reconsidered with a view to such tax being wholly of partially abolished.” STATEMENT BY THE PREMIER. AYELLINGTON, April 13. .Speaking at the Chamber of Commerce dinner lo the meeting of delegates to the conference to-night. Sir j Joseph” Ward contradicted the -tate- ! ments made by Air. Kettle during the J day's discussion on the effects of the {mortgage and graduated land taxes. A statement had been made, Sir Jos- ! oph AA'ard said, that the Government | was responsible lor the stringency in i the money market by absorbing local | money. That was contrary to fact. | During the last twelve mouths the | Government had only borrowed j from the public in Now Zealand bo- { tween U9U.000 and £IOO.OOO. That had j been unsolicited, wlnle, in the moan--1 time, the Government had brought a j very large sum f>f outside money to the country. The sum they had brought iu and circulated ran into several hundreds of thousands of pounds. As to a statement regarding the difficulty of ! obtaining money in New Zealand through Government institutions, ho re- | grotted it bad been made. During the i 1-ist 12 months the Advances to Sot- ! tiers Department had lent out in cash ! nearly two millions, though ho had not I the actual figures. At the same time I the Government had lent £200,00G to ! local bodies, making a total of considj erably over two millions. Then it had i boon said that the graduated tax was ! imposed upon buildings, but he wanted to say that there was no building in | any part of New Zealand upon which i taxation was levied bv the Government. | Another statement lie wanted to con- { tradiet was that, on account of the i operation of the mortgage tax, money ! wa< not coming into New Zea'and. As | a matter of fact, he said, within the : last six weeks he had refused AusS tralian niouev amounting, in one sum, | to £250,000, ‘which was offered for mj vestment in New Zealand at 4 per cent, jl n addition, during the coming month i a sum of £233.000 had been arranged { for in Australia for investment m New i Zealand at 4 per cent.