TAXING THE FARMER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume xxii, Issue 6458, 30 December 1904, Page 3

TAXING THE FARMER.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—When any cause has to have recourse to falsehood and misrepresentation to bolster itself up, it must be in a sorry plight indeed. I have often been amazed .it the barefaced way in which certain pettifogging politicians, whose one dasirp seem 3to be self-advertisement, will descend

to the most contemptible tactics, putting words into an opponent's month which he never uttered, attributing to him viowa and opinions which he never dreamt of, for the purpose of driving him from a position which he never took up. This may pass for cutenoss amongst politicians of a cer-

tain typo but amongst fair minded and honest men, it is altogether beneath contempt. lam led to the above reflections after the perusal of the letter in Thursday's Mail on " Taxing the Farmer," above the signature of H. G. Ell. Mr £11 starts off by " naming " Mr Studholme, Mr O'Halloran,and myself, as "political guides who have strenuously and pei>i.ret:tly advocated the taxation of improvement" tho house the farmer has built lo -.halter his family, etc., etc. Let ma first say that ~\lr StndhalTO is absent ■from tho colony, aai oP course can know nothing of the cow tr?!y attack so charauteristieally " Eliisli." Mr O'Hullovsn lives in North Canterbury; therefore I only am left in this district of the three named to meet the baseless and rain imagining of this man. And let me hero add that tlrs is not tha first; time he has attacked me by name on this very subject of taxation. On tho former occasion, be took advantage of the coward's privilege by stating in the House what whs a deliberate untruth, viz , that I had said that tho city property owners did not pay tax; a thing which I defy him to prove that I ever feaid I also challenge Mr Ell to adduce one single instance in which either Mr Studholme, Mr O'Halloran, or mysalf have ever publicly' advocated the views lie attributes to us in his latter of Thursday ; and if he cannot do i it, then, if he has any of the instincts of a j gentleman lie will withdraw the statements he has made nnd apologise for making them, or else be branded as a coward, a falsifier, and unworthy of tho position he occupies as a representative of the people. For myself, I have never had occasion to express »ny opinion either for or against the system which ought to be hereafter known as the " Ellish " system, seeing the H. G. Ell has been the ohief apoatle of it. Now, however, that the subject has been broached, let me say this. That, speaking as a ratepayer, I regard it as a matter of small concern which Rystem is in vogue. What monies are required for local government and local needs we have to find, and it is quite immaterial whether it comes out of our right hand pocket or our left hand pocket, we have to find the money in any case, and what money we raise we get the benefit of in local work's, etc. The figures supplied by, Mr Ell himself in the letter of Thursday, show how small a difference it wouid make. In one of his "examples" it makes the immense difference of four pence saved, in another, two shillings are saved, in still another two shilliigs and five pence. But when one comes to further analyse his figures we find that if we take the whole eleven "examples," that the difference is actually on the wrong side, as the total sum contributed by these eleven ratepayers «nder the present system is .£4.7 18e 4d, while under the "Ellish system " it would be £52 18s 6d. Further, if the system is of such immense advantage as Mr Ell claims for it, how is it that only one small road district in Canterbury has adopted it 'I And how does he account for the howl of indignation which rose from the small farmers of the St Albans district when they found how they had been tricked into putting their heads into the " Ellish " noose so temptingly held out to them.. Farther, Mr Ell, as one of the lawmakers of this colony, ought to know (and if he doesn't know he ought to keep silonce and not expose his own ignl ranee) that the Rating on Unimproved Value Act 1896, does not and cannot apply to this district. Forasmuch as the Act can only be adopted in a " district under the Act," which is defined as " any borough or county and it includes any town district or road district withiu any county wherein the Counties Act, 1888, is suspended, or the County Council does not levy a general rate." Thus it will be seen that the provieions of the Act cannot apply to the Ashburton County, and I may add that in this opinion I am supported by an eminent legal authority, whose letter is before me as I write. What then can be the object of H. GvEll writing such a letter as that of Thursday. As I havel saidjhe either knows orjhe doesn't know that his attempt at agitation must be fruitless as far as this district is concerned. If he knows it. why does he write such a letter, unless it be to gratify a little petty personal spite apainst men whom he does not know, and whose opinion he has grossly and wilfully misrepresented, or to indulge in a little vainglorious selfadvertisement, or to curry favour with those whosa representative he is; and if he does not know, then why does he not, like Bro. Fox, " lie low, and say nuffin ?" Solomon says :,—" Even a fool is accounted wise if ho holds his peace." And in this way even Mr Ell might attain a reputation for great wisdom. Besides, I have never heard ,it said that Mr Ell has any very special qualifications, natural or acquired, to enable him to be a competent i judge as to what conditions men who are I farming land should do it under. I take j the liberty of thinking that the men who aro on the land are the best judges of what I suits them. It is true, I believe, that Mr Mr Ell's " forbears" were some time connected with land. I have an indistinct recollection of some one of the name of Ell being engaged, many years ago, in the business of farming in the Halswell district, and also running a bacon factory and boiling-flown establishment at the same time; and lam credibly informed that H.G. wa£ originally intended for the Bame useful vocation. And lam sure that afl who love good bacon, and hate bad politics, will much regret that he was ever lured from his natural habitat into the demoralising pursuit of politics—and votes.—l am, etc., Gko. W. Leaolky Wakanui, Dec. 29th, 1904.