heavy tax, as both the clothing and boot-making industries are being developed. An agitation is now on foot to take the duties off the necessaries of life. Under the Assessment Act of 1891, there is an ordinary land tax on the actual value of land, an owner being allowed to deduct any amount owing by him secured by a registered mortgage. The value of all improvements is exempted: besides which, an exemption of £500 is allowed when the balance, after making the above deductions, does not exceed £1,500. Above that a smaller exemption is made, which ceases when the balance amounts to £2,500. Mortgages are subject to the land tax. There is also a graduated land tax, which commences when the unimproved value is £5,000, the present value of all improvements, but not mortgages, being deducted. Twenty per cent, additional tax is levied in the case of persons who have been absent from the colony for three years or more. Income-tax is levied on all incomes above £300; and a deduction of £300 is made from taxable incomes. Companies are not allowed the £300 exemption, and pay a higher tax than individuals. Seventy-five per cent, of the colony's revenue is raised by the Customs and Excise duties.
A noteworthy feature of the Government which now holds, and has held for eight years, the reins of power in New Zealand is the several Acts passed for the benefit of the working classes. The whole body of legislation known in New Zealand as the "Labour Laws" has been collected and published by the Department of Labour, in a pamphlet which contains in its preface the following passage:—
"The labour laws have been passed in the effort to regulate certain conditions affecting employer and employed. Their scope embraces many difficult positions into which the exigencies of modern industrial life have
