The Evening Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURISTS. SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 855, 11 January 1879, Page 2

The Evening Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURISTS. SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 1879.

Tick papers supposed to he tttte*! up under f.fu- the Land Tax are a perfect study. They may W the very essence of stsnplieiiy i to- those who compiled theni, but they ace delightfully mysterious to others. They have apparently been itrawn up muter the the idea that people know all about the " Land Tax Act. 137«." or that. if they «t» not. they wttl be nMe t» procure * copy pE *t and atu *l v il: - IJut i there i* no time for hunting after a copy Of the Act. especially in the ease of . residents in the country, as the sheet is to be titled up with marvellous rapidity. Those we received on the 10th of this month art- t*> be fitted up on the sth of '. this month, and we are just puzzling ottr ■bruin.* a* U> hots* it is t<> i>e done. But. even if the Act were- procurable by evcryi body, and would answer as a key to the mysterious sheets—and we think that it ■would not—there is. n*> law in New Zealand to compel people to purchase a . copy, and, therefore, if the correct filling in of the pilfers depend* upon the light : shed by the Act as to how it should be :4t»ne r the paper* will either remain blank. t*» considerably foggy, «' r an Act will harc ; to W passed next session intituled "An I Act to. Compel Taxpayers tmcler "The Land Tax Act, 1878/ t» Purchase Copies 'of that Act." Immediately at the head ;of the tabular matter there is a line, "ftettrro in accordance with the above by (blank), owner or occttpter, (Want) district." We were sonic time in mg 4i the above;" at last we coi-hided that it referred tt> the line " Tltt- Land 'Tax Act, 1878," (sections 21 and 22). thi* tt appears, that the- owner : t rr occupier k to Ml «f» the form, and, as in JK» case* out of 100, he will ' nf ,t be afforded aw opportunity of seeing » «»py " f the Aet ' nni! is not a . wva . of the nature of sections 21 and 22, W( . reprint them :~(2I.) "Any vnluer may enter at any time during the day upon land or premises, for .the purpose of rating the same, and may put t» the iareupUT or owner thereof any • i ue»ti»ns i he thinks St touching any of the particulars* hj« i* required to furnish in the valuation Hit." (22.) " If any person obstructs * vslcer in the performance of his duty herein, *>*" refuse* or wilfully neglects to answer »t>T »«<* question, or gives any false or evasive answer, he shall be liabte fc> a penalty not exceeding L.W." These are weightv wet!*"*- and it is well that taxpayer* rfwuM h* made aware of their existence, lest in ignorance they should put their heads into a noose. On glancing &>m the form we encounter items that we aw sure will porde the majority of people : but our mind « relieved by a lin« -"ft* Land Tax Act, 1878, section* 6, S, aad 7," for we have the Act before us. But now will the thousands of others, that are expected to (ill in their forms oppo*

site these items get over the difficulty, i which was apparently anticipated by the ' compiler of the form? They will not i have access to the Act, and yet they are ; supposed to fill in and return their forms ' to the valuer. The difficulty can only be overcome by the valuer exer- I rising the powers vested in- him by sections 21 and 22 of the Act. : which we have already given. " Locality : of landed estate "is the next poser. We : have already filled in opposite " County/' "Road District," "Township," and "Borough," and we have exhausted all our stock of information as to locality, unless particulars of latitude and longitude are what are required, in which case we should have to provide ourselves with the instruments necessary for ascertaining such particulars, and learn how to use them. At the foot of the first column nre arc asked to " state variety and quality of lands opposite the preceding words ■' Freehold," "Leasehold,"and "License." [t would not be troublesome, if a little :ime were afforded to read up in agricultural chemistry, to g> vc tne necessary information under this head ; and we would ecommend that some Professor should ie retained by the Government to lecture ipon the subject with the idea of impartnjj the knowledge necessary to enable xjople to fill up this portion of the form, .therwisc the valuer must be left to do it. >Ve are in a difficulty again over what to nsert opposite "Square or plan of district.' ■Vhat square and what plan of district' fliis also, we think, should be left with he valuer. Now we come to the jortion over which there will be niich wrangling. The occupier, the andlord, and the valuer are asked to jive their ideas of the value of a property, [lie result is that the Commissioner under he Act, who lives in Wellington, is sup>lied with say L7OO, LSOO, and LCOO as he values set upon the property by the >ccupier (who may not have given his un>iasscd judgment), the owner, and the rattier. He is in a dilemma because it is mpossible that he can possess himself of t, knowledge of even the probable value of ■very property in the Colony. He thereore strikes an average, and, in doing so, t is nr.t unlikely that he will act unfairly owards the owner by being LIOO or so ride of the mark, thus bringing property vorth only LSOO under the operation of he Act. It would have been very much -.otter had competent valuers been appointed for each district, to fix the values >u eacli property preparatory to levying he tax, and it will be seen, after a great vaste of time, that this is the only way in vhteh the value of property can be arrived ] X with anything like certainty. Of course, is is the case with Road Board, Countv ,'ouncil.and 3lunicipal valuations,lists will >e open for inspection at public places ; ■ml. if we are not greatly mistaken, they viit be worth perusing. There will also ie a time and place appointed at vhich to hear objections to valuations ,et upon property ; but, as the notice ronceniing this is only to be inserted in he Government Gazette, it is not likely hat many taxpayers will know anything ihout it. and, therefore, they will not, j ifter having spent a week or so in master- j 1114 the meaning of the forms given them ■» till up. be tempted to expend a similar leriod in raising objections to valuations. It is plain that settlers in out districts, at til event J, will not fill up the forms as required by the Act, and it will therefore re necessary that valuers should visit litem, and till them up for them. The \tt may be admirable in the main, but it sill W rendered inoperative, or almost so, i.v the complications that have been in■■•»diuvd into the tax sheets, and through .•x pee ting them to be filled up as required ►y the Act by tho.-te upon whom the tax s bein.ir levied. The plan of fixing ,-atiie* that obtains in the case of County L'ouiiril*. Road Hoards, and Municipalise-*, should have been introduced into he Land Tax Act. No man should be required" to assess the value of his own property, and certainly a tenant should tot be called upon to value his landlord's ;»ropt-rty. There are other absurdities in he compilation of the form supplied by he valuers, such as that portion the itting up of which is supposed to give he correct value of a property, but >ver which the most intelligent house and ami agent and the country settler will dike blunder.