LAND AND LABOUR.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14452, 26 May 1911, Page 2

LAND AND LABOUR.

To the Editor of the "Timaru Herald." Sir,- —In Id's otherwise admirable summary o.f my aTTuress last night, your reporter made one or two slightslips, wJiicli, with your kind permission, I would l lik-e to put riglit. in the first place, 1 said that oil raw. material (not "or most of it ,; ) comes from the land. This is necessarily the case, since in political economy tlie term "laud" means the whole planet. Then, I quoted Mr lleir Hardic, not because 1 approve in any way o£ the State ownership and control of the land, but- to show that Mr Iveir Hardie recognises that, m less the land question if first deal with, the landolrds will simply rais3 the.r rents and so absorb all the benefits of nationalisation and suchlike. Again, 1 d.d not say that "tho middleman was profiting by the tariff,''' but that the wholesalers and the 1 retailers must charge their usual profits on the amounts paid in Customs duties or go out of business. And I showed that, allowing "onl}* 40 per -cent, for such profits, our Customs Tariffs amount to a;n income tax of at Jeast 3s 6d in the £ on the average workingman, small farmer, and small tradesman getting £l2O a year. Further, X showed that the total burden of our present rates and taxes cn the average small farmer, small tradesman, and working man amounts tu from £3O to £35 a year; whereas, under the heaviest possible land value tax, namely 5 per cent., they would only pay £2 on an unimproved value of £SO, £5 (£100), £lO (£200) £ls (£300), £2O (£400). £25 (£500).. And to replace all our present rates and taxes would only require a land value tax of 3* per cent., so that the small farmers, small tradesmen, and the workers generally have nothing to fear. As an old journalist I well know the difficulty of summarising a .speech so crammed with facts and figures and so rapid in delivery as mine ■was; and I must compliment your representative on his generally excellent- report.—l am etc., ARTHUR WITHY. Ashburton, May 24.