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No. 17.
The petitioners base their case on the
following considerations :-
(1)
That the non-payment in 1931 of the
15 per cent. basic increase was inequitable,
was not in the event justified by the financial
outcome of that year, and was nevertheless not
restored. The implication that the Government
cannot now take similar action in what appears
to them to be similar circumstances because an
apparent error was made in the past cannot be
accepted.
(2) It appears to be assumed that the
(3)
Colonial Government regard the $10,000,000
surplus as sacrosanct and have no intention
of imposing additional taxation. In fact,
a considerable raid on the surplus was
contemplated, and the mere decrease in the
sterling value of the dollar will result in
additional revenue from certain Customs
duties of an amount somewhat exceeding the
saving attributable to the salary levy.
It is argued further that the effect of
the lower exchange will benefit the Colony
in many ways, and that the serious view taken
of the Colony's finances cannot really be
justified.
The petitioners quote in support
of this contention the rise in market value
of the stocks and shares of certain local
Companies.
The petitioners further put forward
elaborate proposals for increasing taxation and a
plea for a reduction in the size and expense of the
Service which reads all the more strangely in view
of
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