THE PREMIER AND THE LAND.

Evening Post, Volume LXX, Issue 58, 6 September 1905, Page 2

THE PREMIER AND THE LAND.

TO THR EDITOE Sir,— The -Premier, in moving the land resolutions in the House, appeared very anxious and perturbed in spirit over the bare possibility of being compelled by that terrible Opposition to increa-se the graduated land-tax. Great Cfesar's ghoet! And this is the man who twelve years ago came into office pledged to fh9 policy of .bursting up large estates by means of a graduated tax. This ia the man who tells us he has " his back to the door" all the tims; the great Democrat who believes in the doctrine of the land foT the people ! If lie has had his back to the door all these years, it must be a weak and Bpinekss part of his anatomy. Ten years ago this graduated tax amounted to £80,000. To-day it is £102,000, a-.i increase of, say, £2200 a year for that period ; so it would seem his anxiety all the time has been to prevent the tax revenue from flowing in. That tho land-tax administration by ths great Liberal party has baen a delusion "and a snare there can be no doubt. The whole scheme was instituted for .the purpose of vohe-catcoing, and rests on a huge injustice to tho non-landholdfeTS. The Year Book for j 1896 tells us : " All these deductions very largely reduce <thc number of land tax payers as compared with the number of Mand-ownera, ths former being about 13,000 only, while of Ihe latter thera are upwards of 90,000." To-day tli» number of those who pay is incrcansd to 18,500/ and those who don't to 97,213. Wild Mr. Seddon tell us why, if one man pays land-tax, 'all others should not pay? On what principle is the tax based, and what justice can there be in taxing one and exempting the other? Are there any wage-camera exempt from paying import duty on goods of a simiIsjc -character upon -whi-eli otherb pay? Thers .can be only ono reason for a tax upon Jand valusa— viz., to enable the Governmsnt to take from Ihat portion of the population who are privileged by ths -oth-siß to 'hoild land, thai. .inc^aaeed value given to the land year by year which the community unconsciously creatto. Then 1 ask jfr. hkddon how can h& justify taking these increasid values from one class of land-holders only? But it is not only the graduated tax, but the ordinary tax also, that shows hojv useless the Premier is whan his "back is to the door." Some months since an ex-M.H.R. sent too a Teturn— B— 2o, 1903— from the Land and Income Tax Department, to which he attached soma comments. He saya: "The return of which tha present is tlio suceseeor is B— 2oa, 1892, and it sh<>ws thero were at the end of that period 91,501 freehoMere in this country, so t'hab the number has increased by 24,212. The total unimproved value "of tho freehold land at tha|t date was £54,427,175, while at the date of the present return >» /™ £74,524,604-an increase of £20,097 429. Scrutinising these figures, we find that the land-tax revenue ia really decreasing, in epits of the Tapidly increasing value of land. A sum in Gimple proportion shows that, accord"iSJ 10 ln * difference between values of SXL?2? 1903) i<h(i r °™nue, which xros 4^07,181 in the former year, should have betn £385,000 in tho latter yeftr - J«»t £60,000 above the actual receipts " When -the Seddon Ministry camo into power itney took up the parable of the Ballanco Ministry, that was, amongst other things, to ceaee from selling land • from that Urns forward tho public estate wao to be leased, not sold ; and the foliooni o onf Sl /, talKn from the T « nr B <>°k for 1903 .Am what a fearless nlormer '-Mr. Seddon is when 'h's back is to the IRQ? ? i J ono fa / M tho P*°P k - F ™™ 1891 to 1902 (twelve years) they— th-Govcrnment-fiold for cash 396,886 acres for .the 6 um of £339,808; so,, for less ■than £1 per acre on the average, th»v •have given away the use and occupation of their and for ol] time. In addition period 472 772 acres on deferred paynwnt; besides this there « a large quaaitity leased, with tho option of purchase. *s this Liberalism? If it is, I Bay . have us from our friends." Mr SedbMm tolls us * lh n e aro onl y about 7'mnnffi aCMe ?t? t Crown land an <' 7 000,000 acres of native land available for cottlemsnt, and we should be careful how we deal with it This sounds very much hke lockmg the, stable door when the steed v stolen. Thero is ono thing wo could do towards .taking better care of it, which T strongly recommend to S£ fflf f 11 ° w - rol "n*{«-vk., find some one else .to keep the key. "Better an open foo than a tifce friend."— l am, etc., Wang-anui, 4th September.