REMITS DISCUSSED.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2208, 22 July 1914, Page 10

REMITS DISCUSSED.

VALUATION OP LAND. .. The first discussion- on tho subjC-ct of Jaud valuation arose out of the iollowing •motion:—"That this' conference protests against like .present system' of land ■ valuation oil'tho folloft'ing .grounds(l) /That tho unimproved value 19 forced;up at th« expense of . iiuproveirients; (2j -that in voli dling improvements; sufficient, allowance is not made for tho costs aiul loss of revenue incurred in preparing'{Ho 'land. for fcflltiyatioii." •.•••' ■ ■ Mr. G. W. Leadley, CAshburton) suggested that the conference should ask tho Government to drop-tho system of'and all reference to unimproved value. . The simplest way was to take the present capital value of tio. land! and to deduct'from that the improvements, and tax tlie rest. Mr. E. Maxwell (Taranaki). expressed tho opinion, that it was an absolute impossibility to arrivo justly at an estimato. of "improved" and ''unimproved." Captain . Colbeck (Auckland) thought that there was a great deal of uniieceseay complaining about taxation. Improvements might be. overtaxed, but' the wholeproperty was undertaxed. Personally, - ho was the roverso of aggrieved that a high yalue was placed upon' his land. Tho motion was cawied. ' , . The following Taranaki remit, which was fully discussed at tho last conference, was 'passed after being briefly introduced liy Taranaki delegates"That the Government amend, the Valuation Act in the direction of having the whole of special'' loans classed the deduction of tho -rcptfra portion only lwing allowed-, and each property owner's share bo ascertained by capitalising tho special rato paid." <-1 - Mr. George Gardner (North Canterbury) moved'.—"That as the present method of

laud valuation is unsatisfactory, the conference consider that a local bcdy should liavo power-to appoint a suitable man to act with"tlio Government.land valuer." ■ Southern .delegates said that there were occasions oh which tho valuers were unablo to cop ( e ; .with all the work, and that ■it was undesirable to leave the way open tor an unsuitable man to be engaged in cases of emergency. It was pointed out while over-rvalues could be appealed agaipst.'it was not in the general interest that some land should be undervalued aiid'tlio holders thus escape without payumj their fair share of taxation. • Additions were made to the motion that tho local bodies sliould appoint and pay tho extra valuers, and tho proposal was i then - unanimously agreed to. •' ; --• Native Lands. A long discussion took place respecting the,matter of.-unpaid rates on Native lauds. Tho motion under consideration was:—"That on and alter March 31 of each year, the Registrar of Native Lands should- be notified of all rates remaining unpaid to each local body, and that the unpaid rates should constitute a legal charge upon the Native land, and that "statutory power should be given to ro- . gistor the amount against tho land." Mr. 12. Campbell (Wanganui) said that ■the whole trouble was that tho Native land was not individualised. The Na-, tives ; were enough to see tho point, and were no,t in a hurry to have the land individualised. . Mr.. E: Maxwell (Taranaki) said that Mri Campbell was riot altogether right. In Egmont. County most of the land- of the Maoris had been individualised for years, but in that-district'the aiut'hority.. had just succeeded in recovering ten per cent.-of the rates «utsta;udin{;. l!he Maori paid, or not, as,he chose. As thero was no power to sell the land, it co-uld not bo seized. There was really no power to recover the rates. The stock, etc., of the Natives (it was always discovered by collectors of outstanding rates) "belonged to someone else." . Mr. G. Gardner (Xoith Canterbury) said that the effect of the proposal would be unjust, to 'Natives who paid their aharo of rates on non-individualised land. The president (Mr. J. G. Wilson) remarked that the question was surrounded with enormous difficulties. ■ After further- discussion,. Mr. E. Maxwell said that he desired, as a matter of justice, to mako it clear that' in Taranaki many Natives paid their rates and did not attempt to evade their responsibility. There were others who would pay if power was given to icgister against the land. Tho motion,was carried.' On the question, of Native leases, it. was further resolved: "That all Native land leased privately from Natives should'come under the same" improvement clause as land let by Native Xiuid Boards."Land Taxation. Several questions of taxation were considered. jThe first, which concerned tho land tax, was brought up by one of the Taranaki delegates (Mr. E. aiaxwell), who moved:— "That this conference cannot see any valid reason why money, invested in,land should be taxed differently to money invested in other industi'ies, but if it is hot taxed in this manner, the tax as indicated in. the remit previously sent to the 'Dominion Conference should be adopted, viz.', .that as the present system of valu<ing land for taxation purposes has proved a complete failure, owing to the 'im-', ■possibility' of accurately separating the improved ; from' the unimproved value, this conference considers a, much fairor and much,simpler way would be,to tax on the annual value, with the same exemptions as capital invested in other industires, the annual value to be a per cent." of .the capital value." Mr. Maxwell said, that Taranaki men had gone very thoroughly into the subject, and had. found that the present tax was a most unjust one. ; Mr.'George Sheat (North Canterbury) said that the proposal seemed to him like an'attempt to shirk responsibility: Revenue was needed, and if the motion was given, effect; to. bp the Government, how would .the lost revenue be obtained? Captain Colbecl: (Auckland) said that the Government could put a halfpenny on sugar and a penny on tea, Mr. Sheat': ,That would ciise a howl from the working classes. Mr. Maxwell said that it.was a matter, of adjustment; it was'not suggested that less 'tevenue should be obtained. •' • The motion, was carried by* 13 votes to 7. ' • ■ The Southland delegate, Mr. W. Eorde, then moved: "That as the graduated tax is beginning, to press, unduly upon tho small farmer, this conference requests the .Government ;to raiso the amount from •£SOOO to' .£IO,OOO of the unimproved value at which,,graduations commence." , To ■ this, Mr. H. D. Vavasour (Marlborough) moved the following amendment: '"That, a reduction should be made in .flip amount of the. graduated tax in proportion,to the number of the taxpayers "family,'„bn the following Kiev That an exemption should.be allowed after the first ,£10,00.0.. unimproved value of .£SOOO for each child after and that-an exemption; of tho supertax of £10,000 should be made for each child after the first," provided that the exemption should automatically ceaso on tho death of the child, or on_ his attaining the age of 25 years." : The conference considered .that' Mr Vavasour's'proposal met the case of the man with a large family very well, and they agreed'_to it unanimously. - With reg.u-d to tax, it was" resolved, on the motion of Captain Colbeek (Aivckland), that'this tax should be amended by r 'putting it on the same basis, as the. income tax.- . : - ' ' The Customs Tariff, .The conference ..passed ,on to" remits bearing on -the Customs tariff ( motion of , Captain Colbeek (Auckland), it n-as resolved:—"That' this conference would urge the Dominion Exewatch closely any attempt by interested parties to further Increase the Customs duties." . Tho conference resolved also:—"That tho conference draws the attention of .the Government,to the desirability of enEmptf" I*'^grading1*'^grading reciprocity within the