General Purposes.

Education Tax For

AN interesting development in connec tion with the Administration of New Guinea is a recent official de cision that the Education Tax there shall in future be paid into the consoli dated revenue fund.

This tax, which is imposed upon all employers of labour as a means of rais ing funds for the education of the na tives, is one of the grievances of the planters and miners of the Territory.

It represents in the course of the year quite a heavy imposition and it is an aspect of the Australian Administration that reads very well in the annual re port to the League of Nations. But it is a nightmare to the employers who de clare that while it represents a substan tial sum taken each years from their pockets, there is very little to show for it in the way of educational benefit con ferred upon the natives.

It is believed that the new arrange ment means that, while it is not in tended to forego the tax, it is intended to use the money thus raised for the general benefit of the natives rather than for a particular purpose, the bene fit of which has not been too apparent in the past.