"BENEFITS" OF SINGLE TAX

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15003, 27 May 1912, Page 5

"BENEFITS " OF SINGLE TAX

SPEECH BY HON. G. FOWLDS. AN UNSYMPATHETIC AUDIENCE. : [BT telegbaph.— association.] New Plymouth, Sunday. The Hon. G. Fowlds was duo to speak in New Plymouth on Saturday night, on the United Labour party, but he spent 40 minutes of his address in expounding the benefits of his old love— tax. Had he stopped to reflect, however, the "newevangel" must surely have realised that his choice of audience for an advocacy of his revolutionary ideas on land reform was singularly unfortunate, for New Plymouth is essentially a farming town. As it was,he hurled column after column of figures at his auditors, and concluded with a smiling request for questions, which was not received with great enthusiasm. The chairman alone, after waiting in painful suspense, tendered on© forlorn query. In order to give point to his contentions, Mr. Fowlds said that only that day an estate had been sold at Hawera in subdivisions of about 50 acres. The prices ranged variously from £67, £67 10s, £68, and £69 per acre. He added that clearly the men who bought at those figures had placed a pretty considerable load round their necks for the rest of then- lives. The State should havo had a "cut in" to at least the extent of Id in the £. This would not increase the price to the purchaser, /or it was all the world, over a recognised fact that a tax on land values could not survive a change of ownership. The only hope of the buyers he bad mentioned was to resell at a higher price, or at the same figure to some bigger fool* than themselves. During the last 19 years th© unimproved value of laud in the Dominion had increased by £126,625,000, and the increase had gone into the hands of a comparative few in the shape of 22,000 families. The last Government return showed that three-quarters of the people owned laud from £500 downwards, and the remaining quarter from £500 upwards. Mr. Fowlds endeavoured to convince bis audience that by paying lis 3d by means of a tax of Id in the £ a small farming family would receive remission in Customs duties on the necessaries of life to the amount of £4 13s 9d. , . Th© visitor's references to the subject on which he was advertised to speak were interesting. "I am not hero to disparage the great work done in the past by the Liberal party,'" he said. " To-day we are able to organise a new democracy. We can't afford to remain stationary. In some respects the Government was retrogressive as well as stationary, rather than progressive. It was that which caused me to separate from them. I had no idea that changes were so near." In describing the Labour party s platform he remarked: "It is the most perfect piece of mechanism I have ever seen for political and industrial protection." Later on he stated: " I cannot help thinking that a good deal of the Labour legislation and administration in this country has been pin-pricking legislation, which has produced a maximum of annoyance to employers, with a minimum of benefit to employees.", . - '.