2. DEACUI MELBOURNE, JUNE 1ST, 1894. NOUNCEMENTS. question of the hour is that of finance RIPTION RATES. ia, one copy, 2s. 6d. per an he Colonies, 8s. 6d. On more y, 3s., and to U.S.A., 75c. per preferred. on may commence at any time. = are in print, but early applicacommunications to be MANAGER, Beacon Newspaper ble. usiness Chambers, 349 Collins-street, eceiving their copies in er will please accept ation that their second Lion (2s. 6d.) is now due. and taxation. In our issue of August, 1893, we predicted that the optimistic forecast of the Budget could not pria, two copies to UNE address, possibly be realised by at least - 4d. In the other Colonies, opies, 78. 6d. Four copies to £600,000. This prediction has unfor-88-to each 2. per copy sub-tunately been fulfilled, and though at be added for postage. To savings in expenditure have reduced the resulting deficit, it will, nevertheless, amount to about £400,000. To make good this amount, and to equalise the national receipts with expenditure, will require changes in our system of taxation, and such changes must affect the pecuniary interest of every citizen. Parliament ought therefore to be placed in possession of, at least, the general direction which they will take, at the earliest moment. Will the Customs duties be reduced, so as to direct into the Treasury some portion of the vast sums which they now pour into private pockets? Will an income tax, or property tax, or a tax on the unimproved value of land, be relied on for any further sums which the Treasurer may require? These are questions which come home to every man, yet on these questions the Governor's speech is absolutely silent. Beacon. s are highest, there will be the on and the most equitable dis ith. There will invention be the brain guide best the hand. e greatest comfort, the widest wledge, the purest morals, and tism."-HENRY GEORGE (Pro del. UNE 1ST, 1894. recess of more than six liament has come together to take into consideration the country and to decide medies which shall restore litic to health and strength. ty of the Government, for eing, to lead the deliberaliament and to submit, for its the measures which it holds t urgently required. Apart eulogies which a Government sably heap upon itself for its ormances, the speech which ses to Parliament on the of a session, through the , ought therefore to consist of ry of the Bills which it will end Parliament to pass into A careful examination of ment read to Parliament on th last ought, therefore, to us to form some judgment capacity of the Ministry for with the present crisis, and to a forecast of the legislative of the session. red at in this way, the Gover speech is by no means of an This much is therefore made manifest. The Government has not yet made up its mind with regard to the financial policy which it intends to follow. Instead of leading the House in this, the most important matter, Government will try to find out what the opinion of the House is, and will then "nail its colours to the mast" in obediently following the most numerous crowd. The Governor's speech, thus robbed of its main interest, by silence on the subject on which it ought to have been most explicit, reveals a similar want of moral courage in the proposals which it does contain. It reveals beyond question that the main occupation of Ministers, during the long recess, has been to listen to public opinion, or what passes as such; that the Government is devoid of any political opinions of its own, and is merely the shuttlecock for the battledores of the two metropolitan morning papers. Instead of following its own course. either of them, it a possible feat of har its political go-cart. gramme is a hotch-p tradictory proposal journals have made. it concedes the est State mortgage offi misleading title of and the adhesion of to be secured by t freights and fares on Beyond these two Governor's speech startling. Even the Issue scheme is not m there can be no doub establish it has been Government intends ward. th The discussion of proposals must, round the reduction in and the Credit Fo present stage we can point out a few of the beset both these ques The loans business by an independent independent of the is, however, obvious board can be indepe ment. What will Parli large numbers of far for interest? What the complaint arise, will, that the sche because the really p man who is overwhe cannot be benefited in the face of compl arising over a large would be able to s whether it would n manner which would lead to disaster, seen sideration which ou shirked. Nor is this all. has arisen that mar traders are as much cheap money from the farmers. This was pected. Yet what a does it open for who will ultimately the bill. These cons to such an alte vate hands. educe freights they are, suffer ndication as to the resulting e good. Is the ay, so that farFreight; or are de valuable by led upon for a many benefits conferred upon r's speech casts estion, which, determine the posal. rtant measures rnment, should of the farmers, time like the makes it all the e question of t touched upon. ay, that it is one e Government sent anomalous of our Mallee m the security ey are entitled. of their short es at a variable of a suitable nable them to f the land and thout delay. at the Gover reveal a more e, that on the o confirm our country will rudderless ship. arises, whether ent might not that the answer one can tell at still less to hope bers who fill the Their composius, their ideas eir leaders too e hope that a th and purpose n them. This The advocates of a Government note issue claim for their nostrum that it will accomplish three very important things: : 1. That the public will be prevented from suffering loss through the failure of banks. 2. That it will increase the currency, and thus fortify and enlarge every industry in the country. 3. That the revenue will be increased. In order to achieve these objects, they propose that the Government shall undertake the exclusive issue of notes, redeemable at any time in gold; that the Government shall hold in gold 25 per cent. of the note issue for the purpose of such redemption; and that, in addition to the notes circulating in the country, the banks shall be compelled to lock up in their coffers a certain value of such notes, probably equal to five per cent. of the amount of their deposits. We will not here enter into the question, whether the enlargement of the currency would give a healthy stimulus to industry, or whether it would merely conduce to wild speculation; nor, will we enquire whether the Government possesses the moral right, to force the banks to grant it a non-interest bearing loan, or whether such action is mere robbery. All we want to do is to show that the proposed scheme cannot achieve any of the objects aimed at, except the third, while it must become the source of grave dangers. What strikes us first is the absolute inaninity of the idea that the public will be prevented from suffering loss through the failure of a bank." If the Government takes the issue of notes out of the banks' hands, the banks will still continue to take deposits; they may still lend these deposits as recklessly as of yore; they may therefore fail as easily as now, and the public may therefore be exposed to the same suffering as they have lately passed through. In other words, the sly inefficient; withdrawal of the right to issue bank y centres upon notes adds in no respect to the stability which will of the banks. The case is no better boxes, either if the contention is, that the substituat an earlier tion of State notes for bank notes will es, and subject save the public from loss on the notes posals of the issued by a bank that has closed its adequate and doors. The State issue of notes would ·will probably not ommand creator confidence on he suspended banks was so little do that they were received as freel as unquestioningly as gold. The himself remembers paying a bill of a few shillings with pound note of the Colonial Bank receiving the change, while the of that institution were actually c The public apprehended no loss regard to bank notes, and h reason to apprehend any. the objects aimed at is, ther absolutely futile; the State would have and could have no g element of security than our p bank notes possess, secured as are on the whole assets of the is banks. The second object aimed at increase the currency, at a time every sign points to the fact th have too much currency already the note issue yields a profit t banks, they are naturally desir circulate as many notes as the will take. Yet ever since the ning of 1889 there has been a gi but steady decline of their note i On the 31st December, 1888 aggregate note issues of our amounted to £1,728,033, wher the same date in 1893 it sto £1,121,675. The difference may been made up by a greater circu of gold. This, however, is ver likely; it is much more likely the coin in circulation has de pari passu with notes, and tha reason for the decline is to be in the reduced volume of trade increase the currency beyond t quirements of trade is manife work of superfluity, even if it co done. It, however, cannot be either by the issue of redeemable or gold coin, for the former woul back on the issuer (as they have on the banks), and the latter wo exported. The only way in wh can be done is by the issue of tender notes which cannot b deemed, and no one has as yet to make this proposal. The two objects of the pro scheme evidently are beyond its There remains the third, viz., crease the revenue. As has al been stated, the proposal is to r present bank notes, and also to c the banks to hold 5 per cent. of deposits in State notes. The a which mould thug ha ahaanbod I greater circulation of advantages arising from this new departure are therefore summed up in a gain to the Treasury of the insignificant sum of L38,000 a year. Apart, however, from the arbitrary act of making a forced loan, without interest, from the banks, there must be set against this advantage a serious and real danger to which it exposes the community. Whoever recollects the unbridled denunciations which were hurled in Parliament, by the press, and an bank notes, say e total issue of State e L2,800,000 in round inst this amount the ill hold 25 per cent. in demption of the notes, way, is condemned by st as a most inadequate e amount of coin lent to nt free of interest by the banks would therefore be taxation. Ninety-four Radical M.P.'s presented a memorial to Sir William Harcourt last January, with suggestions for the incoming Budget. The programme includes a free breakfast table and the reduction of grants in aid of local taxation from the Imperial Treasury, and their replacement by a muni. cipal tax on land values. Judge James G. Maguire introduced to Congress on January 27 a Bill "to provide increased revenue by a direct tax on the value of land in the United States." The Bill is very long, but most of the text is a description of the machinery intended to assess and collect the tax. One-third column reports of the Bill appear in the New York " Times," Herald," Sun," and other papers.-The 66 'Bulletin," of New York. 66 A correspondent writes: "I think it sig. nificant and calculated to give heart to burdened agriculturalists, that in the case of one of our men, who told the bank they could take his farm, as he could neither pay principal or interest (9 per cent.), that the bank begged him to stay, and try and pay them at the rate of 6 per cent. He said he would stay if they liked, but would not guarantee anything, and they let him stay." "Free Land League" is the title of a new organisation, formed in New York, with the following platform:— America is fast becoming the property of a few. All men have a right to live without paying some one else rent. We would abolish this system of landlordism, which is killing American manhood, by concentrating all taxes on land values, thus making cheap land and high wages. The Launceston Examiner (Tas.), in various issues has contained three leading articles dealing with A. J. Ogilvie's "The Cause of a Crisis," a booklet written to prove that all tribute paid by the worker arises from private ownership of land. The same paper has for some time past contained a heated correspondence on the tax on unimproved land values, some of the most valuable letters being by Mr. H. S. Wark, of Latrobe, who has done much for the Single Tax in Tas. mania. A most remarkable episode in the history of China was an attempt, made in the eleventh century, to benefit the farmers and agriculture generally by loaning the farmers the money of the State at two per cent. interest. The results were most disastrous. The public treasury was emptied and the greater part of the funds stolen before reaching the plough. men for whom it was intended. Many abuses were practised and distress was universal.- From " Agriculture in China," by Chas. Denby. Immense progress has been made in Toronto, Canada, in the agitation for local option in municipal taxation. If local option is given, there is little doubt that it will be used in favour of exempting improvements. This system already prevails in the NorthWest territories of Canada, and we learn by The flutter in the dove cot, raised b fessor Morris' appeal to England for ass to our unemployed workers, is eas plained. It may throw doubt on what i critically called "our securities," i claims to the future results of the la our people. Naturally those who posse want to sell these claims in the moder market, lustily condemn the Prof action as unpatriotic. The appeal woul been equally unpatriotic had our st unemployed made it themselves. patriotic duty to starve in silence, in o avoid the danger, that English cap lower the price which they are prepa pay for themselves and their fellows. It i The renowned Father Malone, fo years parish priest in Brooklyn, ba appointed, after a heated struggle, position of Regent of the State Univer the Legislature of the State of New The significance of the appointment, hi held by a bishop, is that Father Malor friend of Henry George and of M'Glynn, and as distinguished a Single as he is revered as a priest. It also that the Republicans of New York Sta not regarding the profession of the Tax doctrine as a bar to such hono they have to confer. By-the-by, George has lately been asked to explai Single Tax before the Legislature of York State. Our Metropolitan Board of Works ex empty lots from the payment of water on the plea that no water is used on If, however, some eccentric citizen w use nothing but rain water, his claim exempted from the rate would be scouted alleged reason cannot therefore be the tru The real reason for the exemption is, t the rate were charged, it would be more cult to keep land idle, and that any ference with the "idle lot industry posed to the spirit of our laws. Ther the men who build houses have to heavier rates in order that the men Carter, M.L.A., informs us that ite true that he at the A.N.A. poke of the Single Tax on land consfication," he nevertheless oted for a tax on land values. glad to be able to record this = confess that Mr. Carter's posiot appear to us to be exactly is consfication, to tax the land E. on its capital value, it must iscation, to tax it one-half per mere quantity of land values t make any difference in the of the act. Hence, Mr. Carter oted for an act which he declared ation-which is not exactly an thing to do. ill forgive his gic, if-when comes before -he will vote as he did at pol. a strange time, in a time when a Bishop can The tendency of modern history is towards possible to deny Argus Boy-" Patterson is going to simplify the tariff." Beacon Boy-"Is he? He will never be able to make it as simple as is the workingman who 'Argus" of the 14th last contained a n of more than ordinary significance. orded that the Right Rev. C. E. ce, D.D., Bishop of Bathurst, in adg a public meeting at Thirsk, in Yorktated that: ndid investments in real estate might now in Sydney, and that a million invested at sent time would probably be worth five in a few years." Bishop of Bathurst, we have no doubt, mns gambling, except in land values; mns it because the winner must injure any notice of a man who is constantly That the "Age" is not quite impervious to ity of not him.' some Char of t Asso inter hear, "Lo and inver prese was "Ag even and We rep small tax on land val excessive taxation th they, but the mortgage granted they would have tax. It would come "Already those interested in the produce strangulation system had given warning note of their intention to fight. One of the means to break the scheme would be the stipulation, now being urged, |