HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1112, 4 August 1882, Page 2

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

WELLINGTON, August 2. The Colonial Treasurer, without comment, moved that the Speaker leave the chair, in order that the House might go into Committee ef Supply, Thereupon Montgomery rose, amid Opposition cheers. He said it was his intention to offer some observations regarding the financial position of the Colony. In doing so, however, it was not his desire to speak on the Loan Bill, nor had he any intention of saying anything calculated to call forth any party feeling. It was simply his wish to examine the condition of the finances of the Colony to the best of his ability. Regarding the question of taxation. He held that the present taxation amounted to £3 9s per head, including men, women, and children, while property-tax class paid £3 per ! head more. In Victoria and New South Wales, taxation was not more than £2 per head. The industrial classes of this Colony must awake to the fact that they were mdre heavily taxed than their neighbors, and when they did awake to that "fact they would insist upon the property-tax class bearing a fairer share of burthen. What he asked was, what caused this taxation ? Ih wa4thaito&ft^|atfl|ion§ thatjssftp&L! borrowea-^some of^-which had been spent profitably, while some Jiad been absolutely thrown away. This money had directly benefitted property, and had raised the value of the landed property to the extent fully of £20, 000,000. . The debate that ensued occupied the whole of the evening. — — ■^"^^^— «■*»