RATING ON UNIMPROVED VALUE.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 14 August 1901, Page 4

RATING ON UNIMPROVED VALUE.

Commenting on the result of the poll on the question of rating on unimproved values, the Auckland Star says, editorially. “It is important to enquire what will be ihe effect of Wednesday’s voting Upon the Premier’s Bill. When introducing this measure, Mr. Seddon gave as a reason that the polls already held showed that the country was in favour of it. It is extraordinary that a Government which has at the present moment a Referendum Bill before Parliament, and which professes to trust the people, should desire to take away from the direct control of citizens a right which comes strictly within the sphere of local government. As for the position of the Government, we can only suppose that they will at once intimate their withdrawal of the Bill now under discussion, so far as it affects boroughs. The Rating on Unimproved Values Act, 1886, provides that after a poll has been held, the question cannot again be brought up for • period of three years, and the Government will violate the cardinal principles of self-government if they now attempt t) override the verdict of the Auckland electors by the enactment of a mandatory law.”