COMMUNITY-CREATED LAND VALUES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16492, 6 March 1914, Page 2

COMMUNITY-CREATED LAND VALUES.

TO THE EDITOR. ■ . ~ £ Sir,—l see that Mr David Jones hjjij again been telling his; pretty tales to the ladies, and that tkey’diU not take them with, the proverbial grain of salt. • Among other: "things, Mr Jones said that the single. ■< tgx theory had been exploded long ago. By whom has it been exploded, and where, and when P The Tories' would, of course, like to explode it. They * have attempted the task many times, but all their attempts have failed' miserably. The more they attack the single tax the better advertisement it •receives and the more popular it becomes. The. .value of agricultural land, like" urban land, is due to the presence of population in’ New'-Zea-land, and to the expenditure of publio money on railways, roads and bridges, telegraphs and telephones, and other public utilities. But why does Mr Jones single out agricultural land instead of the much moro valuable land in the urban and: suburban; districts? He knows per-j fectly well\that under, the single tax' town sites would yield: more revenue to the State than would farming land, < for the simple reason that more com-' inunity-created value attaches to the former than to the latter.: Mr, Jones’s little game, however, is. to try and I delude the working-farmers into the belief that the burden of taxation is to be placed upon them under the single tax, which is a most abominable j untruths - - - • “ And if this theory we're brought in,” said Air Jones, “ why did it I apply only to land ?” Apparently he: has yet to learn the essential difference between what "‘s termed property in land and property in 'things of human production. For enlightenment on this point let him read “The Condition of Labour,” by Henry George. The difference between the “Lyttelton Times” and the’ land monopolists is that the “ Times J ’ ren-j ders. a most valuable service do the; community in return for its revenue, j while the land monopolists.,'render no service to the community in’ retprn for J the huge tribute which they V exact 1 from the community. - •- j ■ “If the theory (single tax)" were* adopted,” continued Mr Jones, “they, must go to all branches of industry,] shipping and so on.”' We must do. nothing of the kind. We have no 1 moral right to tax industry, becausa the earnings of the individual do not. belong to the community. ;; To tax industry, as we do now, is to mcreaea prices to the consumers, y To adequately tax land values and untax i industry is to cheapen land'by ing the' available market supply and ' to increase trade and productivity all round, which means more employment and increased wages for the people—-j in short, a better distribution of wealth. . ' ' . jY. : : As . regards : shipping, where there is a monopoly; as in New Zealand, the f remedy is for the > Government to 6tart in competition and so control passenger, fares and freights. '■ . _ j As for Mr Lloyd George,, h©-is. on the right track. : y What lias; pended has gone in securing a revaluation of the land of Great Britain, ■ which, owing to the political as*mdancy of the Joneses, had not been valued for about 250 years. Let Lloyd George pursue his-policy for a, few years and tlion. seo._.’now" tho revenue will roll in. It is too soon, as yet to look for great results. Give ( him a fair innings. _ , , That the principle o* the single tax is gaining in popular favour is demon-] strated by the fact that over 100 boroughs in New Zealand have volun-J tarily adopted the rating on unimproved values, _ the two latest j boroughs to do so being Riccarton and | Rangiora, and that, too, in spite of j the wicked misrepresentations of tne Tory Press. This does-not look Ilk® the single tax principle being falla<>! ions and the pet theory of fools and faddists. „ , . ! If Sir Joseph Ward comes out as the Lloyd George of New Zealaud the] great mass of the people will rally j round him. and he will accomplish: more for the workers m town and] country than any previous statesman./ in these islands.-I am,