COST OF LIVING

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2454, 6 May 1915, Page 9

COST OF LIVING

ENGINEERS' RESOLUTION. At a meeting of the Wellington Branch of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, the following resolution was unanimously carried:— "That this meeting of engineers views with alarm the enormous and uncalledfor rise in the cost of living, and calls on the Government to do its duty to the workers of this country, from whom the bulk of the Expeditionary Forces are drawn. Firstly, by the imposition of a tax on unimproved laud values of sixpence in the pound; secondly, by doubling the income tax, the landowners to he exempt from this tax. By this method, Customs could be reduced on ea, cofEee, cocaa, children's foods, etc., the Government to see that the prices are reduced accordingly. The tax on land values (unimproved) would release the land from the grip of the speculator and open it up to cultivation, thus increasing our trade, and enabling us to further assist the Empire iu its hour of need. The workers are doing their duty; let the landowners do theirs. This class (the landowners) do nothing to add to the nation's wealth., therefore to unduly consider this class is to neglect the wealth producers."