LAND TAX.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2297, 3 November 1914, Page 6

LAND TAX.

Sir Joseph Ward, speaking at the Tiffin Rooms last evening, said that in addition to tho graduated land tax as a-means of inducing subdivision of large estates he'proposed that tho Land' Purchase Board' should be strengthened so as to ascertain as early as possible all the areas of land in holdings of unimproved value of £20,000 and upwards which are most suitable for close subdivision and which are at present most, accessible- by road and railway. The Board should report upon these lands as to areas, position and suitability ■ for settlement. Contemporaneously with these proceedings steps should be taken to pass, into law a stiff graduated' tax imposing higher- grades than- those-he- proposed, which would come/under the heading of ordinary graduated land tax; This special graduated land tax admittedly would aim at forcing inevitably the subdivision of tho estates on which it was placed. At the end of fourteen days from the commencement of the session the lands referred to in the Land Purchase Board's report-would become, subject to this special' graduated tax, but, the owner ot. the lauds in question would be permitted to escape the special- tax in one of. two ways, either by notifying the Minister of Lands that he would subdivide his lands' in accordance with the Land Act within six months from date of notification or would hand over his land to the Land Purchase Board to be subdivided on the deferred-payment system, th 6 owner in; the meantime to be given State debentures for Government valuation of the land bearing, interest which would enable the owner to.convert liis debentures at par. The Land Purchase Board should then proceed to dispose of the land on the deferred-payment system, and if at the end of the. period fixed under that, system the total purchase money paid ,by settlers exceeded the Government valuation then the surplus should be paid to tho owner along'with the amount of his debentures together with interest at' tho' rates paid by the settlers. Should, however, the proceeds of the sale of the land amount to less than the Government valuation, then the deficiency, shall be deducted from the amount of the de-1 bejitures less interest at the rate fixed by the debentures. Ho justified this special graduated land -tax by the fact that the graduated.land tax.had-to-be .general m'its application upon all areas of the minimum unimproved capital value although no doubt, in some cases these areas were quite . unfit: for, closer settlement either owing to . their-remote- ' ness or the poor quality of .the land, and it .would be unfair to apply to these remote and inferior lands the drastic special graduated land tax to'which he had alluded. Thus the special graduated land tax would only bo applicable to those areas' which .the Land Purchase Board report upon as being accessible and of a quality most eminently fitted for immediate subdivision and settlement. It would not bo necessary to wait until all such 'lands had been reported: upon. As soon as any areas were so, reported upon by the board they would become in the manner he had outlined subject to this' special' graduated land tax. . . I

'He .wanted to make it quite clear that the ordinary graduated land tax—that is, the. tax quite apart from the special tax he had mentioned—would be a marked increase on the existing tax, and would start at £20,000 of unimproved value. The further scheme ho had outlined under the- special oradu'ated land tax was really intended as a means to enable the State to acquire thcße specially suitable areas at the oarliost possible d:\te and in the raoßt effective manner. He' proposed to attack the evil of aggregation by drastic measures, including a vigilant supervision, of all processes of aggregation, Aiid immediate reports thereon by the officers charged with the duty of supervision. Where aggregation was by thesereports proved to exist, ho proposed to attack the evil by forcing on subdivision of the aggregated areas.',-Further'safe-guards. would also be made to prevent ,{ne evili • ,