ADDITIONAL TAXATION IN PUNJAB

Lahore, Sunday, October 19, 1924

THE Punjab Government has issued an important resolution stating its position with regard to the recent enhancement of water rates and the other proposals for additional taxation to meet the deficit in the budget for the year 1924-25. No attempt is made by the government to explain why the deficit could not be wiped out by retrenchment, nor is it even stated that any attempts were made to secure that end. The deficit is taken as an inevitable fact, the existence of which must not be questioned and need not be explained. All that the people of the province are expected to do is to assist the government in finding more money. The government conveniently forgets the fact that when the Budget was on the anvil of the Legislative Council, various concrete proposals were put forward by non-official members to balance revenue and expenditure, which were stoutly resisted by the official benches. As usual, the government is totally obvious of the fact that a deficit budget is by itself no justification for more taxation, though it is undoubtedly a valid ground for the suspicion that the government is extravagant. The conclusion is further strengthened by the fact that the government is not called upon to meet any extraordinary expenditure during the current year, that the crops have been good and that other provinces have been able to recover from the effects of the financial crisis that followed the inauguration of the reforms. The cause of the refusal of the government to effect much needed retrenchments in public expenditure is perfectly obvious.