STRANGEHOLD TAXATION

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 49, 28 January 1932, Page 2

STRANGEHOLD TAXATION

ITS CAUSE AND THE REMEDY.

/ . (By “Lucifer.”) No. 1.

If we take the present unfavourable economic conditions • as affecting all countries and nationalities in the world we cannot go far wrong; true it is that some ’ countries are not feeling the pinch to such a gruelling extent as others, but it will be freely admitted that we here in New Zealand axe having no small share of the bad times and consequent hardship. Prices of our exportable products are at low water-mark and unemployment of the breadwinning part Of our population stalks abroad everywhere in this beautiful land of the south.At the present time there does not appear to be any bright and warm cloud arising on the horizon to dispel the fog and relieve us of the dire conditions above mentioned, but, at the same time there are many causes existing in this country which collectively' contribute to the stranglehold taxation under which the country now 'suffers and groans, and it is safe to say that the “Ultima Thule” has been reached. It is said and. often,said, again that destructive criticism is quite easy, and everyone will so admit, but it is here proposed to submit something of a constructive nature that would abolish the causes of the above mentioned heavy taxation —if not altogether, it would, so modify the said causes that taxation • would be at a satisfactory minimum instead of as it is now at the steam roller produced outrageous maximum. . e It has been quoted time after time by Premiers, politicians, and the man in the street: “Oh but bear in mind that we hero are not nearly so weighed down by taxation as some other countries,” and figures are .given to clinch the argument. But after all what has this to do with the matter under consideration; if other countries are extravagantly and badly managed, is that any reason why we here should copy their example hnd suffer from similar bad management? Clearly it is patent that if by better methods we can run our country at less expense and as efficiently than has been done in the past, it. would be the essence or madness did we not seize the opportunity so to do and thereby lift our people out of this taxation morass m which we are almost submerged. It has been stated over and over again that in this Dominion .there is “too much Government in business and a total lack of ordinary business methods in the Government.” With this . statement the great majority of heavy taxpayers will agree; besides it is apparent that the above statement cannot be refuted as the following alphabetical list of Government activities and departments will show:—

Agricultural Mines Audit Nat. Provident Agent Generals’ Native Customs Naval Defence Prime Minister’s Crown Law Police Education Public Service External Affairs Commissioner’s Electoral Printing and Fire Insurance Stationery Fisheries Public Trust Health Public Works Industries, Com- Prisons merco, Tourist and Pensions Publicity Post & Telegraph Internal Affairs Railways Immigration Repatriation Justice ' Stamps Legislative Scenery PreLand and Income servoition Tax Scientific and Labour Industries Life Insurance State Forests Lands and Survey State Coal j Mental Hospitals State Advances Marine Treasury Main Highways Transport Machinery Inspec-Valuation tion

In addition to the above mentioned departments there are several of minor importance, but the list given is quite sufficient to indicate the very, extensive part performed by the “Government in Business.” No wonder there is heavy abnormal taxation. ( It is contended by the writer that a number of these departments (some of them the most expensive and cumbersome) are not required at all and these mostly are the direct cause of taxation that would not be necessary but for their existence. For this and similar reasons the people who have money to invest keep their purse strings tightly fastened as the risk of venturing into new industries is. too great. There is plenty of money in the country as the vast sums deposited with the six banks doing business here will show, but capital is very shy in a period of great depression iike the present and prefers the Safety of the banks rather than investing in mythifcal uncertainties. Now the total overseas indebtedness (borrowed money) of the Dominion today is £281,000,000. This with interest at 4J per cent, entails the sending Home each year of nearly £12,000,000 in order to keep up our credit. This means that each man, woman and child of over 1,500,000 population has to find £8 12s to send out of the Dominion to pay interest on borrowed money. Not only this for there is the fact that the internal expenditure of, the Government in business amounts to about another £13,000,000 on which there is no interest to pav.- The taxpayer has to find in order to meet this exoessive and to a ■ large extent' unnecessary * impost another £8 13s. per head which together with the £8 12s before mentioned amounts to £l7 6s to be extracted from- every man, woman and child for the privilege of living in this beautiful overgoverned land. This means that the average family (husband, wife and three children) has to pay per year at the above rates a .sum of £B6- 6s. If this is not a unleapable hurdle the writer does not know what is. .This money has to be found no matter where it comes from, and the whole people from the richest to the poorest have to find it with the result that the grinding process has become unbearable. It is known that a part of the loans raised by the Government have been re-loaned under the Advances to Settlers’ housing and numerous other schemes, and the interest thus earned amounts to about £6,000,000, but the fact cannot be gainsaid that whoever finds this money it lias to be found by Bomeone in the Dominion who are borrowers and has to be sent overseas as part of tho interest total of £12,000,000 previously mentioned. Since the vear 1911 the present time taxation has increased about one hundred per cent., and half of this amount has been added since _ IJJo, whilst the public debt increased in jhe year 1930-31 by £8,650,000. If this state of affairs continues there ib nothing will save the Dominion and the individual from hopeless bankruptcy and repudiation. ~ If. the Coalition Government is really in earnest appended is some matter with suggestions ("iat may be .of use in giving it a lead as to where immediate and permanent savings may be accomplished without detracting, from or impairing efficiency in administration. . In. considering or discussing the various ramifications of the Government and the numerous departments which from time to time the said Government has established, fostered and nursed, it

obviously would be fair to commence at the top of the tree and investigate the premier department first to which most people attribute (wrongly of course) all our troubles'and tribulations, although the numerous politicians (?) who at various periods in the past have cumbered seats in Parliament are to blame for the ever increasing and staggering 'expenditure to which the country is now committed, with the natural result that a forced halt (nearly a crash) has had to be made which will further accenuate the present stagnation. I.—Legislative Department, which includes Law Drafting Office, General Assembly, Library, Hansard, Bellamy’s, and general expenses. In England the proportion of members of Parliament i (61o) to population is about 1 in 78,000, whilst here in New Zealand there is one member of Parliament (80) to about every 20,000 of the population, but if the proportion in this country were reduced to that pertaining in the Old Land the total number of M.P’s. here would be only 21. The expenditure under the above heading for the year ending 31st March, 1930, was £194,000 made up as follows:—Honoraria of and allowances to members and officers, £63,300; salaries. £32,170; postage, telegrams and telephones, £3126; postage, stamps supplied | to members, £2231; printing and stationery, £16,314; rent of buildings, £29,192; railway concessions to and travelling expenses of members, etc. (about £266 per member), £29,237; Bellamy’s, £10,568. The difference between these amounts and the total £194,000, is made up of sundry smaller charges. In order to show the gross waste caused by sittings of the Houses of Parliament the following illustration is given: If Parliament sat for five months in each year (which is about the average) and no sittings were missed, .the latter would amount to 110 days, and at 10 hours per day the cost when Parliament is sitting works out at iust under £2 19s 9d per minute. It will be seen from this that Parliament as at present constituted is a. very expensive luxury, and one is inclined to cogitate “is it worth the money?” Without hesitation the writer answers himself with an emphatic negative. From* the number of commissions, boards, and committees set up at various times by Parliament it occurs to the writer that there is very little for the iatter to do (perhaps the less the better), for whenever it gets itself tangled up in a dilemma or quandary it immediately dumps its work by setting up either a commission, board or committee of outside •• business men to get it out of the mire which in some cases Parliament itself created. Here are some of the boards set up ' in recent years.—Arbitration, Land, Prisons, Broadcasting, Meat, Railways, Dairy Produce, Marketing, Transport, Immigration, Main Highways. Unemployment, Loans, National Park, Economic Committee, War Pensions. The writer has often wondered if when, members of Parliament are occupying the floor of the House in making speeches (some of them bubbly froth or vilifying the other fellow) they remember that every minute of time taken up costs the country at the rate of just under £3. One would think if they did so that each party would select a few of the best speakers to represent them, varying the same in turn, and so save thousands of pounds of public money, and at the same time avoid nauseous reiteration and repetition. But no. it seems that the average member thinks he must make as many speeches as possible in order to impress his constituents and to Hades with the cost!

. There is in Southern Europe a country, with a. population about thirty; times larger than that, of New Zealand, governed or carried on by one man who appoints all his own officers, including ’Ministers, judges, councillors, district superintendents, naval and military, officers, etc.,., from the highest to the iowest grade. With the assistance of these appointees he seems to run the country successfully,; the people appear i to be satisfied, and are more prosperous; than ever before in their history. Of course.it is not supposed that this shrewd person oversees the whole business of the Kingdom, but at any rate he is ” all-powerful and holds the. veto. There are no elections. The purport of this paragraph goes to show that it is not necessary to have about 110 legislator to run a country with a population lof 1,500,000 all told. I Now a one-man show is not in keeping with the character or liberty enjoyed by the British people no matter where they are, but at the same time it is evident that both as to the numbers of 'our masters and the attendant cost we ; are just a teeny-weeny bit over-govern-ed in this country. • Now without any apologies this writer states (and it requires little.consideration so to do) ■ that the Dominion could be better managed by 30. members of Parliament and 20 Legislative Councillors than it is at present by the present unwieldy number (about 110) of, in some cases, lugubrious speechmakers; 6uch speeches costing about £3 per minute when the House is sitting. Here is a golden opportunity for selfabnegation by the present members to show that they have the good of the country at heart. If Parliament were reduced as above suggested there would be an annual saving in proportion to the present cost (£194,000) of fiveeighths of the latter amount, namely, £120,000, and this is well worth while putting into practice at this time when the country' is in the throes of severe stagnation likely to continue for spine time to come. Another change could be advantageously made by extending the life of Parliament to five years (it is six in England) when a further saving of £42,000 would bo made in the cost of elections spread over the period named. In the event of a much smaller Parliament being adopted a larger honorarium could bo .paid, when better men would be attracted to fill the positions.