FARMERS AND RATES.

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 June 1928, Page 3

FARMERS AND RATES.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —Will you allow me space in your paper to reply to your leading article of June 20 on the farmer and charitable aid rate We will take anyone who has accumulated £lOOO, and wants to try making a living in that industry, and so buys land to that value in the Grey County. He will find that he has to pay a charitable aid rate of £4 3s 4d for trying to make a living, and not only that, the more he works and improves the place the valuation and taxes go up, out of all proportion to what he gets for his produce, and he thinks that is unjust. In any community where a tax is levied for the benefit of tlhat community, if just, ought to be levied in fair proportion to what they receive for their services to that community. You can call it either a tax on labour or-capital, for capital is only stored labour whichever way you take it, and that s all it can command or demand. You quote some North Island farmer for what he did in his district. Ido not know the conditions up there, but I fail to see logic in your argument when you want the farmer io dip further in his pocket when die is over-burdened, now, how that is going'to 1 relieve him. Also in reply to “Observer,” I would like to inform him that there are a good lew farms vacant in this district, and I can assure him that if he is willing to work and put up with a lot of hardships he will pull through, but if he wants a wage he had better stop where he is, as for a farmer there is no wage; it is either profit or loss. The few years that I have been here. I have seen a good number of men put their hard-earned cash into farming and drift away after losing their time and cash. —I am, etc., J. AV ARD. Ahaura, June 25. _____