GREAT IRONMONGERY SALE. SELLING OFF RETIRING FROM THE RETAIL. GREAT REDUCTIONS. Furnishing Ironmongery. Builders' Ironmongery. Mechanics' Tools. Garden Tools. Lawn Mowers. Mangles and Clothes Wringers. Perambulators from 21/ Lamps. Clocks. Guns and Ammunition. Kerosene, "Light o' World." E. P. Ware and Cutlery. Bedsteads and Improved Mattrasses. Wire Netting, specially made for Aviaries. Acorn Stoves. Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machines. Needles and Parts Reduced. Hand Machines with cover, from 45/ LONG & CO., & M. S. JOSEPH, Late of Mutual Store, 8 Detmold Bldngs. (2nd floor), 237 Collins Street, Melbourne. Life, Fire, Plate Glass, Guarantee, and Accident Insurances effected. Rents and Debts Collected. Loans Negotiated. Business of all kinds Transacted. GENERAL PRINTING EXECUTED AT LOW RATES. Advertisements taken for the Beacon and other publications. MISS S. E. GREAVES, Typewriter, 849 COLLINS STREET. Copying of every description carefully executed. Shorthand Correspondence, German and French Translations. Moderate Charges. Elsternwick, H. B. Davies, J. Green; Glenferrie H. Crome; G. W. Owen; H. B. Hawksburn, J. Hewitt; T. H. Edwards, 140 Kensington, W. Sharp; Kew, H. Kellett. Instruction Given. Newmarket, Summers Bros., A. Wrigley; THE BEACON. THE BEACON. THE BEACON may be obtained from the following news' agents: MELBOURNE AND SUBURBS. Melbourne Railway Bookstalls; Jno. Armstrong, 86 Elizabeth street; C. Musgrove, 419 Elizabeth-street; Gordon and Gotch, Queen-street; F. Thompson, 165 Bourkestreet; F. M Gill, 181 Elizabeth-street; T. Halley, 258 Elizabeth-street; G. Lederman & Co., 448 Flinders-street; Bird, Bourke-street. Melbourne South-H. L. Jones, Clarendon-street; D. Callander, Bank-street West. Abbotsford-C. Lake, Cr. of Yarra and Nicholson-streets; A. Wright, 247 Johnstonstreet. Armadale, W. G. Lock. Ascotvale, R. Beckefeld. Auburn, G. W. Owen. Balaclava, J. Emlyn; Braybrook Junction, Mrs. Allen; Brighton, F. Blackbam; Brighton (Beach), A. E. Bentley; Brighton (Middle), A. Marshall. Brunswick-J. Clarke, Sydney-road; Lawrence Bros., Sydney-road; Brunswick (West), W. Dowsley, Victoria-street; Brunswick (East), C. A. Bourne, Lygon-street; Brunswick (North), W. J. Roberts, 879 Sydney-road; Burnley, E. O. G. Slade, 373 Bridge-rd., Richmond. Camberwell, E. Freemantle; Carlton-W. Burroughs, 325 Lygon-street; W. H. Dedman, 71 Elgin-street. Carlton (North)— March, Nicholson-st, off N. C. Tramway Sheds; T. G. Coventry, Newry and Rath down-streets; Miss K. Goodsir, Rathdownstreet; Urquhart Bros., Rathdownstreet. Caulfield-J. Knox, Miss E. Shackell; Clifton Hill, Watson and Perrett; Coburg, Mrs. Summers. Collingwood-G. Carnell, 183 Smith-street; C. L. Smith, 279 Wellington-street; W. D. Wright, son-street, Abbotsford. 101 Elizabeth Street. Victoria Parade; W. Philpott, 37 Nichol son, M. F. Ebbot. Parkville, E. Lyons & Son; Port Melbourne, Richmond, H. Warwick, Bridge-road; J. COUNTRY. All Railway Bookstalls. Bacchus Marsh, Morton & Hussey; Bad- Klander, W. W. Lyght; Cheltenhamn, T. Chandler; Cranbourne, J. D. Hudson, F. Bethune; Creswick, J. Roycraft. Dandenong, H. S. M. Ross; Daylesford, J. Robertson and Hamilton Bros.; Dimboola, Geo. Ryan and A. Lehman; Diamond Creek, W. Farmer; Donald, Mrs. Kay; Drouin, A. H. Gilbank; Drysdale, W. Ferguson; Dunkeld, J. Grey; Dunolly, M. F. Pelletier. Echuca, Fosdyke & Co. and W. Tre bilco; Elmore, H. Cotton and W. Collee; Euros, J. Main; Egerton, R. G. Stewart. THE BEACON. VOL I., No 2. JUNE 1ST, 1893. BUSINESS ANNOUNCEMENTS. incubus at our heels which may retard the hoped-for recovery of business. We are decidedly of opinion that these doubts are fully justified; that indiscriminate reconstruction is full of danger to the country as a whole, for the business people of Melbourne, and for the shareholders and depositors in the banks as well. Communications to the Editor must be written on one side of the paper only, and must be accompanied by a signature, not necessarily for publication. Matter which does not reach the office before the 28th of the month cannot be inserted in the following number. SUBSCRIPTION RATES. 1s. 6d. per annum, post free; to Great 1s. 6d. per annum, post free; to Great Britain, 2s., and to U.S.A., 50c. per annum, post free. The praises of reconstructing the banks which have decided to "temporarily" suspend payment have been sung with so much enthusiasm both by the press and the public-there is apparently such a general consensus of opinion that reconstruction is a patriotic duty-that it appears as if some courage were required for the expressions of dissent. It, however, only appears so. The public is making a virtue of what appears to be a necessity; men are attempting to act with grace in choosing what looks like the lesser of two evils. Underneath the enthusiasm there is a load of doubt; of doubt which is expressed with bated breath, that after all it might be better to accept the losses which are inevitable; to have the matter done with once for all, instead of dragging an The present condition of the banks is unquestionably due to the ease with which English deposits were obtained. The large amount of English capital available, opened to directors and managers a vista of unprecedented gains and dividends. They eagerly competed for it, and obtained more than could be utilised in sound banking business. "Wild-cat" banking was the consequence; advances were granted with a free hand on the security of land, and men were thus induced to enter into land speculation who otherwise would never have dreamed of such a course. As the speculation extended, land rose in nominal value, and with it rose the advances which the banks made thereon. When the inevitable crash came, the banks found themselves in possession of securities which were largely unrealisable, and the real value of which was largely and seriously less than the loans which they had granted. Instead of facing the situation, and making a market for the land, an action which was recommended to them even by so conservative a journal as the "Argus," they refused to let any land go at its real value, i.e., at a price which would have enabled the purchaser to make a profit from its use. The total collapse of business which we witness is the immediate consequence of this insensate action; a more farseeing policy might have avoided it, and might have saved some of the banks themselves. At the time when the banks entered largely upon the illegitimate business which we have illustrated, the united paid-up capital of those which have suspended was £6,500,000; when reconstructed on the plans suggested it will amount to almost £26,000,000. PRICE, 1D. If, then, banks had to go in for wild speculation in order to earn a tempting dividend on the smaller capital, at a time when business was active and the colony fairly prosperous, how can they expect to earn even a small dividend in a legitimate manner, when their capital has been increased fourfold, and at a time when business is more than languid; at a time when this capital is largely represented by advances on unused land, returning no interest. This clearly is a question which shareholders who are clamouring for reconstruction, and depositors who are invited to become shareholders, may well ponder over. Moreover, the policy of reconstruction is adopted for the purpose of enabling the banks to wait until the labour of the population has increased the value of their landed securities to the amount of the advances made thereon. The banks which have not to repay any deposits for five years can complacently await the advent of this hoped-for time. In the mean time they are enabled to refuse any offer which might allow an intending user to make a profitable living from the land. The land, therefore, remains idle, and with it remain idle the hands which might be employed in creating wealth from it. These unemployed men, unemployed through the policy of the banks, must starve or emigrate. The best of them choose the latter alternative. The official records show an exodus of about 40,000 during 1892 alone. How can land values rise if we force the population to leave the country? Clearly the opposite must be the case, they must fall still lower, and at the end of the moratorium the banks must find themselves in the same position as now, unable to realise at their price, and unable to pay their creditors. The policy of indiscriminate reconstruction, therefore, must defeat itself. It is a policy which, Micawber-like, waits upon something to turn up, which it in reality chokes off. To the business men of Melbourne these considerations ought to appeal with the force of a steam hammer. How can they live, when large sections Farmers and the Single of their customers are compelled to live in enforced idleness or emigrate? All observers agree that the numbers of traders in every branch are even now far in excess of the trade which population, in its existing state, can offer them. What if this population is to be still more impoverished and Will it pay to make a frantic effort to save some of the sums lost, when it can only be done by ruining one's business, by killing the goose that lays the golden eggs? reduced in numbers? These considerations ought to make it manifest to all business men that indiscriminate reconstruction is a suicidal policy for them. It is very unfortunate that no steps have been taken to ascertain the real value of the assets of every one of the suspended banks. In the absence of this indispensable information, it is impossible to definitely designate the banks which deserve to be reconstructed and those which ought to be allowed to liquidate. The statistical information which we publish in another column may, however, prove of some value in the decision of this question. But whatever else is decided upon, this much must be clear to the meanest understanding, that anything short of forcing the banks and other holders of unused or half-used land to permit of the use of this land, must prove ruinous alike to the working and mercantile classes of this colony. If they will only learn by example-by the example of a a colony which has triumphantly emerged from similar depression and danger-they will see that a moderate tax on land values, all improvements being exempted, can save them, and will, through the greater activity and prosperity which it engenders, raise the value of our banks' securities in a shorter time than is otherwise possible. Why not appoint a commission to proceed to New Zealand and study there the system which, in spite of many mistakes, has rescued that colony from utter ruin and raised it to unprecedented prosperity, the system of taxing the unimproved value of land? Mr.Trenwith poses occasionally as the leader in the movement for the taxation of land values, though he has never yet opened his mouth in Parliament to support it. The following utterance exhibits the sincerity of this occasional profession:-"An Income Tax has been spoken of, but there seems to be a desire to cover up this idea and treat it as unpopular. Yet this is the only fair and direct tax that can be inflicted." Tax. II. In our last issue we treated generally of the large reduction in the farmers' taxation which the gradual abolition. of the present system, and the substitution of a tax on land values, would bring about. We showed that the farmers are now taxed at the rate of about 17s. per acre and year, whereas, ON REPLACEMENTS of furniture, crockery, and kitchen requisites, Expenditure, say, £12 a year=5s. per week. Tax averages 1s. 3d. per week. ON MEDICINES, OINTMENTS, &c., £2 10s. a year, or 1s. per week. Tax, 3d. Clothing.. Replacements Medicines SUMMARY. Expend. Tax Tax per year. per wk. per year. £ s. d. s. d. £ s. d. 39 0 0..4 1 .10 12 6 under the Single Tax system, their taxation could not exceed 3s. per acre and year. The present taxation we showed to arise from duties, protective and otherwise, from excessive railway rates, other Government taxes, and local rates of various kinds. We also Food (£1 1s. week) 51 12 0.4 0.10 10 2 promised to publish greater details of the more important items than our space permitted at that time. We now redeem this pledge as far as the taxation through the Customs House and its consequences are concerned, leaving the detailed exposition of the influence of excessive railway freights for the next issue. The figures which we publish below are calculated on the basis of a farm of 200 acres, 150 acres of which are cultivated. They are, however, equally applicable to smaller farms, or farms where the cultivated area bears a comparatively small proportion to the grazing area. The figures are necessarily approximate only, but every farmer, by following the course adopted, can work it out for himself to suit his own case. Taxes paid on household expenditure amounting to 40s. a week. ON FOOD, &c. Total .. .. . 12 0 0..1 3 3 5 0 .. 2 10 0..0 3 0 13 £108 2 0 £25 0 8 Add wholesalers' and retailers' profits on this (60 per cent.)b 15 0 10 Taxes on Household Expenditure per annum £40 1 6 120 0 0 Total excess price paid £140 0 0 The yearly interest on this sum at 8 per cent. The yearly wear and tear on this sum at 10 per cent. The tax on reaper and binder twine (83. tax and 2s. retailer's profit on tax), 10s. per cwt., on 4 cwt. is equal to In all, per annum £11 4 0 14 0 0 200 £27 4 s. d. s. d. .. 1 6 0 3 0 2 Add to this annual taxes household expenditure on 40 1 6 0 0 0 1 1 0 09 05 1 4 04 Tobacco Total ::: (a) This is the duty on hops and sugar alone. At 12 bushels to the acre, per acre The burden cast by Protection on farming has, it is indisputable, thrown much country land out of cultivation, and attracted a large number of men from the country to the metropolis. The same burdens have prevented the most persistent farmers from extending their cultivation as much as they would have done. The influence and importance of the farming class being reduced in these ways, and the quantity of freight which they can offer being much less than it ought to be, farmers may safely reckon that they now pay a further 1d. per bushel on railway carriage than they would have paid under Free Trade Per acre Increased railway charges, then, deduct s. d. 10 Lectures of the Month. 100 people, and the lecture was well 10 per acre from his produce annually 20 4. The shipping freights on grain to Europe are raised by Protection. It was imposed with the avowed purpose of diminishing imports, and there is little doubt that it has made them less than they otherwise would have In consequence, fewer ships arrive here with goods, the competition between ships for homeward cargoes is less, and whenever we have a large harvest, grain freights rise accordingly. In 1891 they rose in January 12s. 6d. per ton, i.e., 41d. per bushel. At 12 bushels to the acre, been. that is 4s. 3d. per acre. The price the farmer receives for wheat is reduced to this extent by this indirect effect of protection. Summarising these deductions made by protection from the real value of his productions, we find the cost of protection to the Victorian farmer to be : 8. d. 6 83 6 3 Total per acre 12 113 or, on a farm of 200 acres, 150 of which are cultivated, £129 15s. 10d. per In increased expenditure annum. FREETRADE AND SINGLE TAX. On Sunday, the 30th of April, the workers of Melbourne joined their fellows in all lands in the celebration of Labour Day. More than 5000 assembled on the banks of the Yarra to listen to the speeches delivered by delegates from the Knights of Labour, the Democratic Club, the Single Tax League, and the unemployed. The delegate of the Trades' Hall Council, though his election had been notified to the committee, did not put in an appearance. Mr. Max Hirsch, a delegate from the Single Tax League, took the chair. The best speech of the day was that of Mr. Henry Taylor, member of the Council of the Single Tax League of South Australia, who attended unofficially, and whose happy utterances roused the crowd to enthusiasm. Mr. J. W. Flemming, the representative of the Knights of Labour, also made a speech bristling with good sound sense. He had no doubt but that a change in our system, alike advantageous to every class, would shortly be brought about by constitutional reforms. He called upon each man to use his influence in the direction of breaking up the monopoly of natural opportunities to which our unjust social conditions are due. The following resolutions were passed unanimously : That this meeting sends fraternal greetings to the workers of all lands, and rejoices that the celebration of Labour Day by the workers of the world has become a bond of inter national brotherhood, and a sign of impend ing emancipation. That this meeting declares the equal right of all men to the use of the natural opportu. nities of wealth; that it recognises land monoply as the main cause of existing social injustice, misery, vice, and crime, and that it therefore demands the gradual nationalisa tion of the land by means of a tax on its rental value, all improvements being exempted. That this meeting demands legislative recognition of the absolutely equal political rights of every adult member of the community; strenuously protests against monoply and privilege in every guise; and that, of all workers everywhere, it pledges itself to while declaring the solidarity of the interests strive for the substitution of a co-operative for the present immoral wage system of in. dustry. On May 2nd a meeting of farmers and townsmen took place at Mooroopna, where, at the invitation of local residents, Mr. Max Hirsch delivered an address on "Freetrade and Free Land." The meeting was attended by about received. On May 3rd a similar meeting, attended by about 150, took place at Shepparton, the subject being "FreeSeveral trade and the Single Tax." local men ably supported Mr. Hirsch in the subsequent discussion, both on the Freetrade and Single Tax issue. dressed a meeting of the Essendon On May 3rd Mr. R. Houston adBranch of the A.Ñ.A., on "Land and Poverty." Mr. Houston was attentively listened to and closely criticised, with the result that several new members joined the Single Tax League. On May 6th the members of the Single Tax League held an open-air meeting in Brunswick, which was largely attended. Freetrade and Single Tax was the subject. Several Protectionists took part in the discussion, to their utter discomfiture. members propose to subsidise some prominent advocates of Protection to attend when local opponents become scarce. The The Hirsch succeeded in driving home the point he wanted to make that Protection increases prices, and that, according to Mr. Trenwith himself, it must therefore reduce wages and the debate was marked by extreme disopportunities of employment. courtesy on the part of Mr. Trenwith, who at times was positively insulting. He, however, did not succeed in disturbing Mr. Hirsch's equanimity. The hall was crowded to excess, no more standing room being available, while hundreds failed to obtain admission. The Freetraders proposed to hold the debate in the Athenæum, but the Protectionists would not consent. Another open air meeting was held at Brunswick, on Saturday, 20th, and although the weather was extremely cold a good attendance presidency, and the other officers were decry the depositors. No attempt has and thoughtful audience was ob-confirmed in their respective offices. been made to expose errors, which, in tained. This meeting brought to Mr. Murray Smith's presidential some cases, made suspension inevia close a most successful three address was most interesting, and table, and thus draw a distinction bemonths' campaign. A word of praise included a letter he had received from tween sound and unsound banking. is due to the efforts of Messrs. Hirst, a friend in the United States, a farmer, Good and bad were placed on the Hassett, Hodgkiss, and several resi- who says that "there is scarcely a same footing, and the people, deeming dents of Brunswick, who were untiring farmer in the Western States and in all alike unsafe, acted without disin their efforts to make these meet- Canada who is not up to his neck in crimination, till even a strong bank ings a success. debt." The accounts of the Associa- like the National Bank of Australasia tion showed a surplus of £31, but as thought it politic to close its doors. its efforts have to be largely extended, The question is, Shall this system an earnest appeal for further funds of hushing up everything be conwas made and responded to to a tinued? Would it not be better to gratifying extent. Much amusement face the truth and get to the roots of was created by an aged Protectionist, the evil which is now upon us? who contradicted the statement that Should not all enquiry be made rethe farmers were turning to Freetrade, garding the assets of suspended inand who, when asked how he knew, stitutions, and the equitable system said that forty years ago he travelled of the debtor explaining his affairs among the farmers and found it other to his creditors be rigidly insisted on ? At the Port Melbourne Town Hall, on Monday evening, 22nd, Mr. R. Houston lectured on " The Irish Question; Its Cause and Remedy." A splendid audience attended, nearly a hundred people failing to obtain admission. The principal point explained was that of the monopoly of the land in Ireland; the misery of the people was carefully traced to this monopoly. The debate was very animated, and the lecturer's reply had to be post-wise. poned to June 5th. The annual meeting of the Single Tax League of Victoria took place on the 22nd ult., at the Bourke-street Coffee Palace; the president, Mr. Max Hirsch, in the chair. Mr. A. C. Nichols, the energetic secretary, read a most able report, giving a picture of the progress of the movement throughout the world. Mr. Max Hirsch and Mr. A. C. Nichols were unanimously re-elected to the offices of president and hon. secretary respectively, and as Mr. H. H. Spencer's private engagements prevented his retention of the treasurership, Mr. W. H. Renwick was elected as hon. treasurer. There was a larger attendance of members than on any previous occasion, the hall being filled from end to end. Much enthusiasm was displayed, especially over the re-election of the president, and all the speeches were marked by the utmost confidence in the near approach of the practical application of the League's teaching. The secretary of the Liberal Protection League was accorded the hearing which the League always grants to its opponents; his discomfiture by the president, however, added largely to the enjoyment of the evening. The annual meeting of the Freetrade Democratic Association took place in the upper hall, Town-hall, on the 29th inst. The bad weather seriously interfered with the attendance. A lengthy and comprehensive report was read by the Secretary, dealing with the progress of the Association itself, and with that of the Freetrade idea in the United States and the Continent of Europe. Mr. Murray Smith was re-elected to the The open-air work is telling most effectually, as a large amount of fresh support has been obtained, and letters are coming in every week inquiring about our fixtures, and inviting speakers to revisit districts where they have already been. Sidelights on Banking. The past few weeks have been unprecedented in the banking history of Victoria. The slight breeze which disturbed the surface of financial affairs in Melbourne, commencing with the troubles of the Premier Permanent Building Society in December, 1889, culminated in a hurricane which has affected some of the largest institutions in the city. The unfortunate feature of the times is the indisposition of the people of Victoria to face the stern facts of the situation. This indisposition is the offspring of a weak kind of pride, miscalled patriotic, which led us in past years to put aside as unworthy of attention the friendly warnings of experienced English and Colonial writers. When the failures of the land banks justified these admonitions, the same spirit was in evidence, and instead of recognising that these suspensions were the natural outcome of ignoring certain financial and economic laws, the unfortunate depositor was accused of wrecking perfectly sound institutions, and legislation was directed against him. The lesson then given was not taken to heart, and in dealing with the more recent events, even the daily Press has been content to gloss over everything unsound and again Any difficulties placed in the way of obtaining payment of debts must cause curtailment of credit. The Voluntary Liquidation Act might have protected the assets of suspended institutions from liquidation, but by altering the relations of debtor and creditor, adversely to the former, did not assist solvent ones. Reconstruction schemes which practically force depositors to agree to arrangements they do not like may help suspended banks for the present, but must sow the seeds of future disaster. In the interests of the community reconstruction should not be allowed before the assets of reconstructed institutions are valued by some independent authority. If liquidation be the ultimate fate of any of them, much harm and no good is done by putting it off. The apprehension of further troubles must restrict enterprise, and prevent capital from being used for the development of the country and of our much-needed export trade. The following statistical tables will, under the circumstances, be of interest. A portion of our troubles was caused by the sudden and heavy increase of banking advances in the land boom times, and rightly or wrongly the public believe that some of these advances made on real estate cannot be realised for many years to come and are entitled to know more about them than has hitherto been placed before them. We rely for our calculations on the sworn averages of the last quarter of each year, published from time to time in the " Australasian Insurance and Banking Record." The following table shows advances made in Victoria each year by the |