MR R. STOUT ON THE PROPERTY

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5555, 9 December 1879, Page 3

MR R. STOUT ON THE PROPERTY

\^The,>following letter from Mr R. Stout JbnHhe^mpde of operation of the property ti\x appears in the Oiago Daily Times : — "-Will- the tax tend to encourage thrift amongst the people 1 It will be observed thafffom'.theV'grosS/yftluie of. -i the; property a man holds there is to be deducted the s amount jof the debts he owes. Let me take "two cases.'' "The Tone is a deferred payment holder. "By r% 'law ? he is not allowed to mortgage his land; and even -supposing his personal property,. is pledged Sy ; bill of sale, or still he is, as f cqmpareUSnth:a neighbor of his, free from.debt.', ' Xassurrieithat ihe value of his 'land'fs'-JE&OO, hc'h'jiVin'g some payments yet to mako to the Government, and after deducting his debts; t from ;thevalue of his stocky farm., implements, furniture, &c.j there is a- balance of £200 to 1 the good.. Under the proposed ' ; tfix : hd. ••'''•will- .•'have.-, to pay £1 13s 4d. His neighbor neav. him holds '5000 acres; whilst he only holds 200 acres; but His "neighbor has

not improved his' land. '. '-. He has some sheep on' it, and a shepherd's hut or two, and woolahed. &c, but little or none of it has been ploughed^. His neighbour also bought his.lanci when loan Companies and baiiks were pressing :> pe6plc't6 borrow, land if his neighbor's* land ahd ; sheep were •sold to-morrow they, would ,not , meet the mortgages on them. ;; .prqpeftytax the holder "of. 5000. acres of land pays nothing,' 1 *hUe : his'tieighbour— the 1 deferred-payment holder-^has; biit; of JKisj small iucome arid profits, to ! pay She Treasurer £1 13 a 4A— as much, perhaps, as his road ' rates amounnt to. '" But, then, the f scheme _is bold and honest,' and

therefore, deferred payment-holder, yoir niiist pay, whilst your 500-acre holder escapes this 'fair tax \ ' And how will it - stand, with, struggling filty tradesmen V--I suppose, ., two,' ; .shopkeeper's. . Ofie -te heavily 'indefete.d —so heavily 'indeed', that he may "remark, as one remarked; -ih4 other day to me. '.If I cannot prove' that I owe* as much: as I 0wn,, 1 am not s much at figures.' Under this beneficent system he pays nothing.- His neighbour, whomhe is underselling, .however; isj.-not, in debfcj-andhe has to pay the tax on -the : . •value of- hiis stock-in-trade. Let me give

two examples. One man has put his all — £3000— in a business. . This is his capita], and; on it he; has ;to pay the tax.' His .competitor; in the same business, has •• no. capital^. He has.had advances frorii perhaps merchants in Glasgow,'; but :as he has started business .without capital, the Government say to' him : '.You -arc; to escape taxation. . Aud' we warn" you'— l can fancy, the Treasurer., continuing ,:■■' if you are ever foolish enough ; to, save any/-, thing in this colony we shall immediately tax you. As long, however, as you remain in debt, arid live up to,, if not beyond, iyour means, we think it proper, in. order to benefit struggling city tradesmen, to encourage you. iri- your extravagant- career, and hence we free •you ..from taxation!' If it be said that the person in debt will have to pay interest. on the debt he owes, I reply a person. who invests his' capital in business also. expects interest, and therefore that will not prevent the indebted tradesman Jbeing able to undersell — to the amount of the tax— the careful, saving, and free-from-debt tradesman. That, therefore, which requires the encouragement of the Government — the saving habit, and which the Go'vermenfc Life Assurance system and Savings Bank were supplied to promote — is, by this property tax, discouraged. Lot ; me give two more examples : How is the land speculator affected I Suppose a case of a speculator who has bought 500 acres of land. He has done nothing with it save mortgage it to the full amount of its value. By this proposed property tax he would pay nothing, whilst the holder of the 500 acres alongside of him who has improved his land,, erected a dwellinghouse and farm buildings and fences, will have to pay a heavy tax, perhaps double his road rates and county tax. But then the tax is put on in" the interests of the ' pioneer settler,' and therefore, he must, not grumble. And thus will the 'pioneer settler 5 discover that a Conservative Government, .whilst anxious to promote his interests, must look after the welfare of the speculator. For if H it did not; what would his supporters say ? Is not ' the land speculator one of the ' poorer classes V Let me contrast the existing land tax as affecting speculators in land. Under it the' owner of the. land, whether it was mortgaged, or not, and whether it was improved or' not, paid the same. : The ' pioneer settler would not, therefore, have to pay more than the land, speculator. , Both' paid bri the value of their land. If he did -not improve his land he did not "thereby escape taxation, and the * Liberals' — foolish people— did not. think the colony .would ' be ' benefited by telling- colonists, the more you mortgage your land the: less burdens on it you will have to pay. "Their advice; was notj'Get into debt— that is the : highest 'ideal of * a good colonist ; but it was only, Purchase the quantity of land, you. can use, and if you do; and go on improving it, we will not tax you on your improvements." .