Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1916. FARMERS OR SPECULATORS? LATORS?

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3558, 19 September 1916, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1916. FARMERS OR SPECULATORS? LATORS?

One'phase of the operations of the excess profits tax is causing' considerable resentment amongst members of the Auckland branch of the Farmers' Union. Incidentally, the discussion on the subject, at a recent meeting of the union, has treated some interest in the qu stion as to the right of certain men to class themselves as farmers. The sale and exchange of land has in most portions of the Dominion become, not a business, but an art. A prominent business man in Auckland was reported some time ago to have stated that hundreds of forms in the Auckland Province liacl,.changed hands three or four times a year during the past six or seven years, and in every case the selling value, had been increased. The art of creating the unearned increment'of land is not as fully developed in the South Island as it is in the North, but still-there is plenty of evidence here that permanency of tenure is not regarded as conducive to prosperity. Because of this tendency to adopt the business man's motto of "small profits | and quick returns," there has [arisen a, class of/farmers " who i feel the pinch of the Government's excess profits tax. All land transactions are subject to this tax,. which is levied on the differatice between the original cost, plus all expenses and interest at,7J per cent., and the price at which it was sold. There is no fixed' rule defining what is a speculation and what is a genuine purchase for farming purposes. Most landowners would probably sell if -they were, offered what they considered a fair price, and so the' Government.makes no distinction. One member of the Farmers' Union expressed the opinion that the tax would put a stop to the subdivision of land, which he declared '.'would be a bad thing 1. "■ As a matter of fact, however, it is not* the legitimate subdivision of land that will be affected, but the constant change ot ownership of small farms. If the tax checks this practice it will be most advantageous to the productiveness of the land. Uiider the present system of speculation, many farms are not Being worked to their fullest capacity, and others are hardly being exploited at all. The man who is first a speculator and only in a miiior degree a farmer is fair game for the tax-gatherer, for not only is he a non-producer himself, but he stands in the way of the man who is genuinely anxious to make two blades of grass grow where only one, or possibly none, grew previously. One of the speakers at the meeting referred to stated that "some farmers do not know now whether, they are farmers or speculators." The) operation of the tax should remove any doubts they may have, though it is possible that in vsome instances it will prejudicially affect the purchasers who really intend to use the land for farming purposes. The real evil of the frequent sale of the same "properties is the creation of fictitious values. The effect of this, in some cases,-is. to make the langi too dear to farm successfully; and if that is the case at • the' present time, when the value of farm produce is,so high, there is bound to be trouble when that value recedes, as it must inevitably do a few months after the end of the war.