The Marlborough Express. Published Every Evening. MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 1898. THE CHEVIOT PURCHASE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXIX, Issue 6, 9 January 1893, Page 2

The Marlborough Express. Published Every Evening. MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 1898. THE CHEVIOT PURCHASE.

Fob some time past the Press of the Colony have been disoussing the purchase of the Cheviot Estate from the executors of the late " Readymoney" Robinson. It will be recollected that they placed a lower value on it than did the Government valuer, and called on the Commissioner to purchase it at their valuation under the regulations provided by the Land and Income Assessment Act. The price was over a quarter of a million of money, and the expenditure of so large a sum must have given the Government a considerable amount of consideration, and they, m making the experiment of testing their own theory, no doubt only did so after much deliberation. New Zealand has apparently entered on a phase of experimental legislation, at which not only inhabitants of this colony, but of all others, are looking with interest. It is due to Mr Ballanos and his Ministry to say that so far a3 figure 3go hia anticipations seem to have been realised so far. The Land Tax is up to the estimate, and while we confess to a feeling still of dubiousness as to the Income Tax, we rooogniso that the Consolidated and General Revenue receipts being so much above those of last year, may to a great extent be trusted to pull up any deficieaoy m this, should a deficiency occur. Thes3 are matters connected with this purchase which will no doubt be thoroughly threshed out when Parliament meets. It i* stated that it will cost £24,000 to survey the estate and lay it off m small blocks, and this has to be added to the purohaae raonsy, aad m addition to this m the loss of £3000 a year for Land Tax, for of courss the Government will pay no taxea on the land. Furthermore there have to be considered the question of improvements and of tha railway. The improvements, according to a contemporary, are valued at between £30,000 and £40,000, aad it is open to question aa to how far thesa will ba available when tha rua is sub-divided. With regard to the railway it is known that Mr Eobinson held on to hi 3 land m the hope that the construction of a railway would enhance ita value, but the Government having the land will have to take into consideration how far this policy of waiting will suit them, and whether it would not. enhance the letting value of the land to pat m hand some of the work at once. The buratirjg.np polio? baa been com..

meuced, and down south a deputation have asked that another exparimeat m the shapa of a co-operative farm bo commenced, to which tho Premier is Baid to bo favorable. To do this would mean extra delay m getting refunded the mon^y expanded m the purchase of the estate, and already it i 3 somewhat questionable as to whether the colony will reap any advantage from *hia purchases— at least for a long timo to come. Tho Post puts fcho matter clearly when [it says : — " Tho probability of all the land being immediately let and rendered re-productive, even to tho extent of 4 per oent, ie a very poor one. Probably a oonsiderabla extent will remain unlot for a numbsr of years, and all this time the interest on it 3 east and survey will be acoruing, and will have to be found out of tho colonial revenue. In any event, at least a year'a full interest will require to be added to the capital coat before any return can be obtained, and it must not bo forgottan that the ravenuo Buffers by the £3000 a year of tax which would have been received had the Government not acquired the property. It may of course ba said that any loss of Land Tax or interest will be more than recouped to the Treasury by the increased Customs and general taxation which will acorue from thß settlement of. this large area of country with small farmers. That is not quite certain. If the oocupiers are attracted to the colony from abroad, and bring fresh population and capital into tha colony to occupy and cultivate this land, then, no doubt, the indirect return will bo large ; but if thero is a mere transfer of population from one part of the colony to the oiher — from, say, Akaroa or south of the Waitaki to north of the Hurunui— a3 there haa bsen from tb.3 South Island to the bash districts of .Wellington and Taranaki, then the increase m general taxation will ba very small indeed, although the production of the colony may bo somewhat enlarged." If the Government score well off this point of their policy they will have strengthened a position by no msan3 weak to-day, for with all their fads they havo managed to keep withia their estimates aud to show an increasing revenue. That they have followed Sir Harry Atkinson's idea of making the people a tax paying machine is not unnatural, and though the revenue is going up it is not likely they will reduce duties when they find that a surplus is likely- to result, which will enable them to find work for their supporters, if only by creating state farms on the Cheviot and olsowhero.