CONTRIBUTIONS OF, AND REPAYMENTS TO, THE STATES OF THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH, 1908-09.[145]

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Contributions to  Repayments from
Revenue.         Commonwealth.
-----------------------------------------------------------
L              L
New South Wales              5,621,958      3,326,276
Victoria                     3,750,161      1,987,435
Queensland                   1,989,540      1,027,047
South Australia              1,307,621        716,957
Western Australia            1,166,126        627,938
Tasmania                       515,387        244,747
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Total Common-      Total
wealth Revenue.    Repayments.
--------------------------------
14,350,793      7,930,395
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Here are the details of revenue for 1908-1909 in the
richest and the poorest State, respectively: 
Particulars.                    New South Wales. 
      Tasmania. 

                                     L
                   L

Refunded by the Commonwealth    3,377,213        
    232,342

Taxation (direct)                 907,249        
    250,835

Public Works and Services       7,309,062        
    329,192

Land                            1,778,002        
     96,519

Miscellaneous                     274,600        
     25,017
Totals                         13,646,126        
    934,405
Now, Ireland raises no public revenues at all from
Public Works, only L24,500 out of a total of ten millions
from public lands; while 29.25 per cent, of her “true”
tax revenue comes from direct taxation and 70.75 per
cent, from Customs and Excise.  To take away even
a third of her receipts from Customs and Excise would
be to leave her with a deficit of three millions and
a half, which would have to be made up by additions
to a direct taxation, which is already vastly higher
than in any part of Australia.  She needs every
penny of her revenue from whatever source derived,
and there is no possibility of extracting from her
a contribution to Imperial services, unless it be
an illusory contribution based on faked figures.
The real moral to be derived from the Australian comparison
is that both Australia and Ireland are countries where
accumulated wealth is comparatively small, and where
the importance of indirect taxation is very great. 
All the more reason for giving Ireland control of her
own indirect taxation.  Canada, and, indeed, all
the self-governing Colonies, suggest the same moral. 
In Canada the Federal or Dominion Parliament has an
unlimited power of taxation, the Provinces being vested
only with the concurrent right of direct taxation
within their respective borders (B.N.  America
Act, Clauses 91 and 92).  In practice, nearly the
whole Federal tax revenue is derived from Customs
and Excise.  We have no materials for a comparison
of gross and net provincial contributions, because
no records are compiled.  Under an Act of 1907,
revising the former arrangements, two small subsidies,
forming a fixed charge on the gross Federal revenue,
and bearing no specific proportion to the income from
Customs and Excise, are given to each Province.