TAXATION OF RENTS AND ROYALTIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12409, 23 October 1903, Page 7

TAXATION OF RENTS AND ROYALTIES

f '; TO THE EDITOR. ' Sir,—l think Mr. F. M. King is mistaken if ? he expects that the taxation of rents and 1 royalties would benefit British industry. In " my opinion it would tend to cripple industries. s The most sensible plan would be for the State 1 to purchase the "privilege" held by indi- ' viduals and allow labour products to be : saddled only with the actual cost of produc--5 tion. The owner:* of the privilege would 8 charge tho tax on to the consumer, or those ' who use the products of land or mines. I II havo gone deep enough into this question " to see that a country able to pay 4s 6d in rents and royalties may be more prosperous than the country where only 6d or 3d is paid. People living on rents and royalties aro sometimes important additions to the community, *. in that they aro consumers and not producers. h In any case the rents and royalties have a t- "value," and this value, to the industrious is members of any community, is like the bunch 1, of carrots to the donkey, it keeps us struggling e on until even single-taxers find themselves in c possession of some sort of privilege values. —I i- am, etc., A. Sanfokd.