TAB ROOT OF OUR TROUBLES.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 219, 15 September 1924, Page 15

TAB ROOT OF OUR TROUBLES.

; I (Tβ the Editor.) ■ -Sir,—ln reply to "Sine Nomine," and what ho says about Crown lands, I would point out that "the gyes hstte long ago beeh picked out" of the proposition, and land speculation now relates, almost exclusively, ,to alienated areas. ■ This, however, does hot affect in the. slightest degree . *iy. argument condemning'the policy^,whiph allowed any of the land of New Zealand tb be alienated. Had the various Governments leased instead of sold, the: |and revenue would now be about £20,000,000 (on. ah. unimproved fcaais), or enough to dffcet all rAtee and taxes. Ttiis can tbe substantiated from official sources. Therefore it is clear that by selling the land, and thereby heedlessly imposing on the the existing burden of taxation, those responsible have committed the country to a "fool pblicv.' . Thai is the issue. As lor the claim that "land purchased may, and often does, lie for years unremuhera''tive," I say there is no need for that. The point is merely the argument of the land speculator who ought to be on Kb K6*e iist==-"he never Would be miseed." I am, etc., . * C.H.N.