PROBLEMS OF EMPIRE.
Its advantages and disadvantages.The advantages of this plan are claimed to be that while it leaves the Imperial Parliament entirely unfettered as to means of raising its revenue, it imposes on the national legislatures only such restraints as are involved in the common fiscal and trade policy of the United Kingdom. Its disadvantages are (1) that the elasticity of the Imperial revenues would be impaired, and (2) that the concurrent use of the same taxes by the national and Imperial authorities would lead to complication of accounts and difficulties in collection.
As regards the first objection, it is practically certain that the national authorities would resort to the use of income tax and estate duty. Assuming that both the Imperial authority and the national authorities levied an income tax, the income tax would be fully utilised in time of peace, and there would be little, if any, reserve to meet the emergencies of war.
As regards the second objection, it must be admitted that under the Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth concurrent powers of taxation are granted to both the Commonwealth and State Parliaments. The collection and control of customs and excise are vested in the Commonwealth Parliament, but the States retain the power to impose customs and excise duties until the imposition of uniform duties by the Commonwealth. For ten years after the establishment of the Commonwealth not more than one-fourth of the net revenue from customs and excise may be applied by the Commonwealth to its own expenditure. The conditions in the United Kingdom and Australia are utterly dissimilar. In Australia the major part of the expenditure is state or local, and there was no pre-existing Commonwealth debt charge. In the United Kingdom,
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