A NATIONAL QUEBTION.

Waikato Times, Volume 113, Issue 18946, 16 May 1933, Page 7

A NATIONAL QUEBTION.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —Recently, when on the hustings, a number of councillors supported the late Mayor’s programme, proclaiming that no matter who rwas returned a reduction in rates was imperative. It would have pleased many ratepayers if these gentlemen had gone a step further and pledged themselves to an alteration in the system of rating operating in the borough, known as rating on unimproved land values. The present crisis is a sure indi’ation that so long as the valuation of a municipality remains at the whim and caprice of the Sta,te Valuation Department, and may be delayed any number of years, so long will the system prove an abject failure. Under the other system —that of rating on the annual rental value —the municipality appoints its own valuer, who makes annual valuations. • It is safe to say that land values in the borough since the valuation made in 1929 have depreciated by half; in some cases vacant sections can be bought at one-third, or even onequarter, of the then Government valuation. Where then is the justice of Cr. Caro’s proposed Intention to give the unemployed an extra week’s work a month at the expense of the bonder of the vacant section? The altruistic spirit prompting Cr. Caro is not challenged, but it is contended that the logical conclusion of such a procedure will lend to further depreciate land values in the borough. The unimproved value of Hamilton land has been pledged for over £BOO,000 worth of loans, much of which was spent in establishing the trading concerns (gas, electricity, water, .n----surance schemes, etc.), but because these business concerns are now working at a profit is not, in the waiter's mind, sufficient reason far councillors to usurp the prerogative of the State and go the length of subsidising the State fund by a further 25 per cent. When the ratepayer pledged his land for the security of the borough’s loans he imagined (or was told to expect) that any reasonable profits in the trading accounts was a legitimate asset wherewith to case the general rat's, and thereby give him compensation for the risk he took in giving the security. Tliis induced many ratepayers to support these loans. For spine years the profits from the trading departments have eased the load; otherwise many holders, particularly of vacant sections, would have been shipwrecked. The present is certainly not the time to dispense with the assistance. It must also be borne in mind that the Unemployment Act is most unjust in Its operation, inasmuch as many ratepayers are not eligible for relief work because, though out of work, they have a few pounds in the bank or are very precariously existing as the “nominal owners of property," or are living by some other slender means. Then, again, there are that multitude who have not been able to pay their rates, and in consequence have been mulcted in 10 per cent, penalty. To further add to these unfortunate people's woes is not just or fair. The owner of buildings has been compelled to reduce his rent by 20 per cent., and in many cases by a good deal more. By the same line of reasoning, legislation has also caused a reduction of some £BOOO annually to be made in the interest payable on borough loans. As a sequence, when the late Mayor made the happy pronouncement that a reduction in rates was the inevitable result many householders uttered the exclamation “that the reduction, though long wished for, was all the more welcome now it was in sight.” To the writer’s mind, if the borough must arrogate to itself the duly which rightly belongs to the Stale —for no 1 productive works seem to he sug-gested—-the better course would ho to I raise the charge for electricity by a half-penny per unit, and earmark the ! proceeds in order to allow any ratci payer making application (whether ion relief works or otherwise) to pay his rates by employment in the borough. The more one is confronted with the complex question of. unemployment the more evident it becomes

that we are in the evening of stupendous changes. It would appear that everything in the world worth while is a free gift from the Creator, and our hands and mentality are all that are required to turn these free gifts into wealth. A national dividend, Christian Socialism, or whatever you like to term it, so long as it is in conformity with the Sermon on the Mount, will require soon to take the place of our present jungle system. Compromising one injustice with another is no solution. —I am, etc., JAS. E. TIDD. Hamilton, May 15, 1933.