PULICE OPINION.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2575, 9 August 1909, Page 2

PULICE OPINION.

MR. MASSEY ON TAXATION. Mr. Massey'o comments upon tho increase of , ou.-;uion threatened by Dr. Findlay are very much to the point and will'be b .an ouo by the nersonal experience and observation of every intelligent citiiien. Tho so-cailed “concessions’’ in ruw&.’ charges, taxes, and so forth mauu annually by the Government are ore,empty pretences, lor the revenue ii » , dily increased out of all to the increase of population. .-oral statement of our Dominion taxation, as very aptly quoted by ..c_.ucr of the Opposition, shows that u u..s increased from £3 9s 2d per capita in 1981 to £5 0s 4d per capita in Ei/OS. Now, according to the virtual ao Ling-Prime Minister, for Air Carroll cannot be taken seriously as a leader of the Government, it has become necessary to increase taxation still more, and to increase it directly, ill indirect processes having evidently been exhausted. Reckless extravagance in administration, criminal waste ol jbde money in uncalled for public worlds of a nnlitical and sectional character, and inexplicable noglect of land settlement and agricultural development, are plainly the causes of tho existing position. All through the prosperous years it was declaimed from every Government platform that prosperity was not due to tho high prices and to increasing production,, but to the unprecedentedly good administration with which the country was blessed. It is inconsistent to ask the public to believe that depression lias come horn causes beyond the control of this 1 nxst-of- all - possi Itlp Governments, but consistency was never a noticeable virtue of office-holders. —“New Zealand Herald.” AN AUCKLAND “BOOM.” For* the gamblers who join in the. game in the hope of making something out of it, and leaving someone else to “nurse the baby,” wo have no sympathy. whether they live in the North or in the South. Our concern is for the genuine investor, not usually given to speculation, who holds out during the earlier stages of the fever, but is very apt to be drawn in towards the end of the boom, and is usually among those left lamenting. Wo bog to assure this worthy person that he is no match for o astute gentlemen who are working the mining market at the present iirne, and we strongly suggest that if Auckland people like to indulge in this mi heal thy form of amusement they should be allowed to indulge in it by themselves, without any assistance from the South.—“ Christchurch Press.” FARMERS IN CONFERENCE. We have over and over again shown that the farmer has moro reason to be politically alert than any other man—far more reason, even, than the trades Unionist. The last General Election marked a turn in tho tide of State Socialist dominion, and it is at the next General Election that the farmera must exorcise all their power if they are to make themselves quite sale against aggression. There is, of course, no reason, why the Union should run its own candidates for seats in Parliament. But it is urgently necessary that such organisation should be effected as would ensure that the farmers in any electorate would be left m no doubt as to tho candidate who would best serve their interests. —The “Dominion.” FARMERS AND POLITICS. It requires little imagination to see what would happen if the anti-agrarian party- were a Lowed to work their wiH freely. As Mr. Wilson puts it: “With security of tenure and as little restriction as possible, you will have farmers working like hives of bees. Exploit, threaten, and tax, and they will be like drones.” But the outlook is much more hopeful than it was. Not only is the time “not far distant” when an Agrarian party, fully armed and well organised, must be formed ; that time is here already. The Union must not relax their vigilance; they must be specially vigilant during the coming session.— The “Dominion.”