LAND NATIONALISATION.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 587, 16 August 1909, Page 2

LAND NATIONALISATION.

-SOME FALLACIES ABOUT LAND AND LAND. NATIONALISATION. 111. . (By James AsncnoFT.) I have hitherto mainly confined my com* ments to agricultural I.iikl, but thoro are problems of a somewhat different character affecting city and suburban lands. It is to the larger cities that tho workers mainly.: and increasingly, gravitate, except such as , ■ are Eteadily and constantly employed all tho year round in farming pursuits. It io thorcforo of importance to tnpm to obtain dencos at reasonable rentals, and this is especially needful for married men. And hero wo come faco to faco with tho cry of our Socialist friends: "The monopolists, tho capitalists, aro crowding .us out, 'and , wo have to puy rents higher than wo can ■ afford for very poor unnrtcre." Though wo may differ from tho conclusions they draw from, theso promises, ye can hardly deny that there is 3omo cogency in their coui> plaints. Wo know that in tho .large, citiej in the Old Country tho thing has become a scandal, all tho mole so that the -efforts ot the municipalities to supply the need are in part blocked by tho. impossibility of obtaining suburban sites''for workmen's cuttage3 at a rensonable cost. They have dono something, but not nearly' enough to meet tlm morn urgent needs, and. sweep away the insanitary slums." Now, in' ti young country like this, there ought not to be, nay, wo muy say there must not bo, such a state of things as this. Every workman should be able to get a deoent home at a rental ■proportioned to his wages, and some should havo,. in tho suburbs, an. acre or two to grow vegetables and garden stuff. I would go .so' far as to say that overyono who makes a'.largo profit out of his holdings of land should feel himself morally bound to help his poorer neighbour to obtain a decent homo, and- every municipality representing tho creat body uf such landowners' should; put in - the, forefront of their schemes 'of - improvement workmen's cottages. But -whatsis , 'the position with regard to land in cities and suburbs. Unquestionably tho selling prico— I won't say tho value—of land has gone; up enormously. Let us take Wellington.for ex-: ample. The official returns for the unimproved values of land in the city proper, not including Mclroso and subsequent additions, are as follow:—r . ••: : l ( J02-3 ... £4,441,246 1908-9 ... ... ... £8,370,952. - ■■•; Thus, in six years, there has been an increase' of £3,935,700, or 'JO per cent ncarJy. Is this justified .by the increase ot' commerce and. population in six years, or is it not largely speculative anticipation of what is to pome in the. near or distant future? We know that in at least oue case £500 per foot baa been paid for a-sito in the principal business centre, or £15,000 for a 30ft. froutage A similar prico has been paid in Queen Street, Auckland, and more demanded.' Is this a real sign of prosperity? It is certainly in-' creasing the burdens of retailers in tho way of:rentals' where they are not protected by long-standing leases. Thoro Wave.been at least three bankruptcies in the last year or two mainly arising from excessive rentals in tho main centres. It is true that buildings of four to live stories have which hus increased the letablo areas in proportion, and so to some extent divided the. rentals, but still they must bo very, high to* pay the owner who lias given so extreme a prico for th 6 bare land; Similarly with suburban lands. We have seen as much as £700 to £1000 an aero given for land which a fow years ago'was not saleable for a tenth of such values. Much of this increase must be speculative, and we seo almost every day : notices of sales by the mortgagees through tlie registrar, showing that the unfortunate holders are unable to bear their burdens. It may. bo said that the evil is bound to cure itself in time, , but I am afraid not .until a' great many people suffor severely. The sales have been all quite legal, and .it must be supposed * that people buy in 'the h 6pen.'''iiiarlrot 'with' their eyes opon. Perhaps tho"press ..could do something bv sounding now and then a nbto of caution. Can the State do nothing? Tho.Honjp Goy. ernmeiit'liavo at length' taken Up"tho" muchdebated policy of: taxing heavily' tho.un-. earned increment. I do not know tbat/thia would stop, thouch.it might" check, speculation. But it : does hot' seem to"' trio tmreasbnablo that thoso who mako -largo sums, out of town and suburban lands by reason of increase in population and means'of communication should set .aside part of thcii unearned profits to improve tho condition of tho workers. If municipalities' had the power of requiring that a certain area out of each block of suburban land should b<s obtainable at a moderate advance on original cost for workers' dwellings, , and if the fortunate owners of city, land, 'which yields them large profits for doing nothing, save hold on For a few yearn till they obtained high prices, were compelled to.pay, say, 10 or 20 por cent., of these unearned profits to the municipalities for investment in workers cottages letable at o or 0 pcr : cent, rental, on cost, a groat' evil would bo ■ checked. Suppose that'two-thirds of tho increase in values in Wellington City, shown above are qlassablo .under this category as unearned, then 10 net- cent, on £2,600,000 would produce in the six years £260,000, ft sum that , ouMit to'decently house 800 workpeople,;if. it Is not too late to obtain tho necessary land. However, I admit all the difficulties, and can now only urge ■ that..tho.,subject is of sufficient importance to engage tho earnest attention' of our Ministers, of 1 arlianicnt, and of city councillors: Cannot wo show to our Socialist friends-some better way to obtain justice for the worker without adopting their impracticable remedy of State ownership of all land and capital r .