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Chapter I.
Extract from His Excellency's address to the Legislative Council
of the 13th of October, 1938.
.On the other hand, while the Colony is not likely to experience financial stringency this year or next, it is not to be expected that its revenues will maintain their present dimensions, partly fortuitous as they are, when Sino-Japanese hostilities come to an end. The prospect must be faced, therefore, that either the policies represented by these developments of the social services must be reversed or more revenue must be found. The former alternative is, I hope, unthinkable as for the latter, it will not be seriously contended that this community is heavily taxed at present and I believe that I correctly interpret the sentiments of the majority in asserting that further taxation to provide the amount necessary to support and develop those policies could be borne without hardship, provided that fair and equitable means of levying it are found.
How that should be put into effect I am not prepared at this stage to say it is a subject for close expert examination. Our present sources of revenue are few and not very flexible. Moreover, owing to our special economic conditions, certain obvious sources of revenue appear to be ruled out; but I am sure that it would not be beyond our abilities to devise means of broadening the basis of taxation in the Colony. I intend, therefore, in the near future to appoint a committee to make a thorough, but I hope not prolonged, examination of this problem, which I believe to be, on a long view, the most important financial question now facing the Colony........
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Chapter II.
Terms of Reference of Committee.
To consider and report what methods of taxation could best be adopted in the Colony, should it be necessary to raise additional revenue, having regard to the Colony's general economic position and the importance of distributing any additional burden in the most equitable manner in relation to the incidence of existing
taxation.
Chapter III.
Details of Meetings.
Six meetings were held between the 29th of December, 1938, and the 15th of March, 1939. No members of the public were called upon to give evidence at these meetings, but various Heads of Departments were consulted as occasion arose. The Honourable Mr. J. J. Paterson resigned from the Committee on the 6th of March, 1939, and is therefore unable to sign the report.