RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION AND PROPERTY.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2619, 29 August 1882, Page 3

RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION AND PROPERTY.

The following is the full text of the motions before the committee to which the question of specially taxing property was referred. By Mr J Evans Brown, declaring it to be desirable " That the colony be divided into diatriots, embraoing as nearly as possible railways having a common commerce or interest ; and that a tax be levied on the oapital value of all land to reooup the colony any difference between the net earnings (including maintenance, repairs, and renewal), and the annual interest on the oosfc of construction and equipment of the railways in suoh districts respectively} provided that, until some portion of a railway is open for traffic, no tax Bhall be levied." As an amendment on the foregoing motion, a resolutien, embraced by the resolution of the House, has been moved by Mr Sutton, setting forth : "That, in view of the impossibility of arriving at a fair estimate of the value that haß been given to property by the construction of public works in the past, or anything like a reliable estimate of the increased values that will be given to property by the extension of railways and other public works in the future; all properties which have rcoeived or shall reoeive any additional value by the expenditure of public moneys in the oonstruotion of publio works should contribute, in proportion to the increased value, through the property tax ; that, while country land has been largely increased in value by the oonstruotion of publio works, large additional values have been given to town lands by the expenditure bestowed on such works; that many of the original owners of property having realised, the enhanced value of their lands cannot be reached by any form of taxation upon land only ; and it would be inequitable to compel present owners to pay taxation in respeot of values for which they have paid j that if there is any profit in the working of our railwayg it should belong to the general taxpayers, and BSould not be credited to owners of landed property in the several districts } and that the amount payable as property tax should be increased, and that the amount raised' by direot taxation upon property should increase with the increased , liability of the oolosy for interest upon borrowed money."