LRGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 14, 11 October 1907, Page 6

LRGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

iAND AND, INCOME ASSESSMENT '-"':' ■'-'."':¥■ .'"•'•' ; ; BILL. ■.■;' ON THE SECOND ' "/H'r";' V BEADING, . ;. ■ ' ' .'Amongst tho formal matters which ■ occupied the Council's attention' yesterday afternoon, before the main business I of the sitting was reached, was a notice of motion by the Hon. T. K. Macdonald < -for a'' return showing full particulars, as ■to salaries, terms of engagement,'etc.,:

I of thestaff of the High Commissioner. ; '."• The'-samo Councillor gave notice to ask ! the.'.'A.ttor'ney-Gencral.what steps -the '. '.. Government proposed to take to erect' , : /■additional coastal lights around tho; '. shores of the Dominion. Notice was ( also : given of a motion to grant a. weok]s leavo-of ;i absence to,,the, Hon. . Colonel Feldwick'on 1 important public :;. business. , . v ,| Land Tax. : , ; Tho ■ Attorney-General (Hon. Dr. j Findlay),in moving'tho second reading ':'6f tho Land and Income Assessment -.'"', Bill,-'said that its principal object was j to induco, if not to compol, the sub- , ;< division of large estates. It had as V auxiliary objects an increase of the j graduated land tax and the prevention j'of evasion of that tax. The "burstinglip" of largo estates and placing strenuous and; vhard-working settlers npon I them was so generally recognised'as one ■ /..of the, great factors of "the progress of ~tho Dominion that, probably the only question on which' Councillors would differ in. this connection was as to V whether the Bill went far enough. It did, however, impose a larger.tax,than • / was in; force in other parts of the Em-'. ! pire,- and seeing-' that compromise was ■'.■; necessary on such a'subject, and that the measuro had'already undergone tho test, of: searching debates in another place, ho thoyght it might well be accepted as tho best Bill which was practicable aV present.;,; The', clauses de- ■;."■ signed to guard against evasion ,had ; been, drafted, it was agreed, by a very • skilful hand, and it would be extremely ; difficult to get pastithem. . '■..:., ;: ..'., A at English History.' . Thq Hon. J,JR. Sinclair said ho did • not suppose any fair-minded man could be.found'to say a word in defence of , that' system; wlrich had: left so -many defenders of their country' without a ' foot of-its soil. The-hon. .gentleman glanced at'the:, history, ~bf"land tenure; in England, dwelling especially upon tho enclosure of the commons and the depopulation; of -the rural -districts. The men who; so supported' Marlboroughthat he never cngagod in a battle that; 'ho did not win, or laid siege to.a.town. that he did not take, were deprived of the least, foothold in tho'country for which they had fought. This was the ■ result of unjust land laws. The classes interested contrived to;shift, the burden of taxation from the landholders to those less able to bear it. In-his judgment, land carried but a very moderate share of tho burden of taxation.' The New Zealand Official'' Year-Book for 1906 showed that tho land tax, ordinary and graduated, realised £335,755, whilo tho extent of tho alienated lands \ ■'- of the Dominion totalled 37,000,000 acros. Tho dutj; on tobacco yielded only £37,000 less than'the total paid by all tho alienated lands in tbe colony.

Surely landowners had nothing to complain of in this. ' . Freehold Only a Tenure* Tho policy of breaking up largo estates to settle small farmers upon them was wise and statesmanlike. It-ought' novor to bo forgotten that the law of England recognised no absolute ownership of land by any individual. Free-, hold was only i tenure The land system of England had led to 2250 persons —a number.. equal to tho population of tho small'borough of Karori— holding ono half.'of; the enclosed landof England andi„Wales. Labour? Member's Endorsement. Tho Hon J; T! Paul welcomed tho Bill as giving' practical effect to tho principle' of limitation 'of estates in land. Ho thought tho incroaso in the graduated land tax should have begun, with properties of a lower valuo than £40,000 unimproved. Ho thought no man had a legitimate ' grievanco in being provented from holding more than £30,000 worth of unimproved land value There had evidently been a marked advance in public* opinion'in this country,i for . the ;Bill. of 1891, which first brought in the graduated land tax, was only carried by 16 votes m the House, of Representatives, whereas tho present'"Bill" was passed unanimously by that Chamber. Comparing tho present proposals with the land tax programme %of the,, Federal Labour party, Mr. Paul showed that, in regard to tho lowor values tho Australian scheme was more . drastic, although tho roverso was tho caso when the higher values wero reached. Yet Mr. Joseph Cook, tho loader of the Federal Opposition, which corresponded roughly with the. Opposition : in. this country, ndiciiled tho idea that the Labour party's proposed scale of taxation would ha vo the result of breaking up estates. . The' speaker.'therefore, was inclined to think; that the

present Bill would not bring many estates' under £100,000 into the market, though it .would, probably have the desired effect on larger estates,-ivnless the/owner .could' find a lawyer clover enough' to enable him to evade the tax. "A First Instalment." .-/.The Farmers'- TJnipn?*was evidently prepared to talki'limit'ation, as /.evidenced, by the 'proceedings'' of a recent conference, but rjj'ady to oppose any'scheme that was brought forward. He regretted that'a!TJnion, which was supposed' to.", exist for' the benefit of thei small farmers and would-be farmers,. shoui3' , infr' people of the Dominion';Would';ihsistjdrii the demand f6r;Uahdf;'being,jSatisfied.. .The future of .the Doriiisori;,;depbnded;largoly on 'that satisfied, and, if this measujreidid;notfji'a.ye^that-effect, another to take-its pla'co.' 'HdUiailedtho Bill as the- first instalment)..of,-a more .progressive land''/policy!!! ..','!*'. ■ The' Hon. \"W. "W. ll'.Gardlo said the first graduated land tax'was regarded as a;screw which'' might- have to bo turned a' littlo ,moro from time to time. If the prosent Bill was not thoroughly efficient for its purpose, there 'was! ,110 doubt'that there would,bo an-' other turn of tho screw later on.

ln<thß,E.ottyrMHe,.B.ush,^ As one who had devoted many years 'to'.'the promotion of closer settlement, he'was; sorry to .see that the settlers: were growing,■fpyer,;;in;;.many"'distrjcts; Ho'/instanced : / ; the '.'. Forty-Mile' Bush, where £60-ari-acre land was being bought up by large owners and stocked", with sheep. Ho know of a: settlement where the number of settlers',had been reduced in this way from 50 to three.';

Tho same thing was likely to happen in: the King Country. He advocated an; "amendment to the Land Transfer Act; to make it: impbssiblo for a man to re-, .gistcr as the owner .of more than 640: •acres of first-class land.- Capitalists should be prevented from monopolising a'■wh'ole' : 'CountryCTde: "^ ; Ho'fdid'-ndfi--'ap-; prove of clause 16, requiring '15 -per cont. of the purchase-money to be paid before'its seller of larid.iiould be free of the land tax thereon, and would like to have; inserted instead a clause to provide -for the disposal of tho, land among Bmall settlers.- '{!'■-. ■ "A- Socialistic; B!U.'V The Hon. H. H. Scotland said the Atto'rneyjGeneral had insinuated all that he could against tho large landholders. Did not city people 'eyon. do such.a thing as.'subdivide their property . among their children ? The Bill rovoaled, tho impure, source from'whioh it sprang—tho envious, unchristian Labour party, the unions, who were the haters of , their. country. (Oil lOh I and laughter,) . The Government already had power to acquire all largo; estates,-and there was rib need to force tho owners to sell by'< means of this tax. It could be dono quietly. A Councillor: "What could be quieter;'.than, a .tax?"...,...... ~>.,.'.

_The Hon. H. H. Scotland proceeded to say that the acquisition-of estates by the; Government- carried ' on very gradually. ,',' The Bill;:was a Socialist Bill. (Hear, hear.)' He did not know if'.the Government had consulted Mr: Bon Tillctt on the provisions of the measure, but he thought •it. a. pity j. that .it ,had .riot been hold back until the arrival of Mr. Keir Hardie, as . that gentleman, would doubtless have been able to offer some valuable suggestions. . A Dark, Future, ~ ..'.;•; ._;;,■•"•,< The;Bill would be found to be only the: 'first : of a ; number of Socialistic measures, which '.would have tho effect of frightening capital away from the country, causing all employees of labour'to go. through .'.'.the Bankruptcy Court, and ; closing l the English monoy market against us., He himself owned sixty-four acres of freeholdJand;land'. he did not covet one acre more. (Hear," hear.); They ought: to r.bcar in. mind that the large landholders had" not been an unmitigated curso to tho country. (A Councillor.: ."That's; something. I .') Who established the frozen: meat industry'? These'despised and persecuted—or- proposed to ,bo perse'cuted—large landowners. They certainly started the; Dominion, and for many years the labourers were dependent upon t-homV ' >'~. .The, .landowners ought to bo judged with moro. charity than had boen shown towards them in the Council that day. Last Year's Dill Preferred. 7 Tho Hon. J. Rigg said; tho speech thoy had'just listened-, to'might bo''do l ' scribed as a' voice from the past:' Ho' .was sorry the, Government .had,,abandoned the' Lan d: Bill of "last session. •As . ; a.-, result. the, Ministry . had; lost prestige. It was < a mistake' to feci the pulse of 'the'pcoplo' tod often in. con-: riection with great; measures, of pror, grcssivc legislation. He favoured tho limitation proposals of last year, and did not approvo of. .the graduated land tax as a "means of 'disintegrating large estates. ''He' did'mot 'think' tho Bill would havo much result in bursting up those properties. It might embarrass encumbered estates' and lead, in ■ some cases, to tho bankruptcy of the holders; but that, ho supposed, must bo regarded as a necessary evil accompanying a well-intentioned measure The Hon. O- Samuel said'ho; endorsed almost everything in the speech of tho Hon. Mr. Sinclair, That speech

was a most able ono —(hoar, hear) —and it seemed to him that no impartial person could fail to agreo with tho views that .had, boon, so well expressed. (Hear, hear:);;Tho.-.Speaker put forward objections to tho rotrospeetivo operation of Section 3 and Section 8. of .., tho , Bill, ; and adversely criticised several other'clauses, though he considered that tho Bill was very well drafted. -•; ~, ; , A Candid Friend. ".'!' Ho was afraid tho clause dealing with properties worked in common would, unduly interfere .with co-opera-tion, -in farnn'ng. Ho objected also to Section 16 (tho seller to remain liable for land tax until-possession has been delivered and fifteen per cent, of .the,.purchase money paid) and especially to tho new, proviso giving tho power to- the Commissioner of Taxes to exempt the seller from tho operation of the section. Tho Commissioner .was ..an.officer whose success depended upon his zeal, and not upon his judicial 'attributes!'; However, tho ■ Commissioner had already expressed his opinion, :in a report to tho Minister, upon the cases that would como before him undor this section. He .would bo placed in the position of a judge in a case wherein he was an advocate or a party. An' appeal should be,,',allowed to tho Supremo Court, or somo other officer should bo entrusted with the powers referred to. (Hear, .hoar.') It was rcgrettablo: that tho. Bill" would apparently prevent_ a man. dividing his estate among his sons, but would leave him free to distribute jt, among strangers. Nevertheless',.,liq,,,heartily approved of the Bill as' a "whole, and hoped it would have tlie'effect which was intended, and'as to tho desirability of .which. ,thoro : could hardly bo two,. opinions.;';, .";,,,'.,. At 4.45 p!ni. the .debate was adjourned, until this afternoon.