The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1877.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 36, 21 February 1877, Page 2

The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1877.

The new valuation seems to have elicited an unusual amount of objection, not only m this district, but throughout the Colony ; and for such wide-spread discontent there must be some special cause. Alleged anomalies, such as are usual m these matters, will not account for the dissatisfaction which exists. In the Manawatu Highways district we certainly seem to have, on the list of objections, some cases that appear at first sight rather striking. One may be cited by way of example. Among the agricultural sections lying between Sandon and Feilding there are two of about 1500 acres each, one of which has been slightly improved but has no house upon it, .while the other has a good homestead and has been considerably improved besides. Yet the former is valued at £400 per year and the latter at only £160. This looks strangely at first, but may possibly admit of a satisfactory explanation ; though, as may readily be supposed, it is not our intention to discuss- at present the merits of this or anyother cases on the list of objections. To do so would be analogous to prejudicing a case which is about to be brought before a Court of law, by investigating it beforehand m the pubb'c press. For though the Assessment Court is not exactly a law Court, it is none the -less important that its decisions should . be characterised by judicial impartiality, and, consequently, that no attempt should be made to influence the mind of the judge before the facts come under his notice officially. Our only reason for alluding to this particular case is that, being a striking one, it goes some way towards accounting for the dissatisfaction which prevails m that district especially with regard to the valuation. But specialities, such as this, cannot explain the prevalent discontent m other districts, and for that there must be some other explanation. Now, we lean to the supposition that such explanation is to be found m a prejudice against the double-rating system, which arises from the rating power being shared between the County Councils and the Road Boards. People are alarmed at the prospect of having the local taxation doubled,

because, as generally happens m the matter of taxes, it is not the amount paid, so much as the manner of paying it, that renders a tax unpopular. Direct taxation m any shape is disliked by the majority of Englishmen. An income tax is an utter abomination to them, and the assessed taxes under the new County system are only a modification of the income tax. It would be useless to remind the ratepayers that, if the money necessary for County purposes be not raised by direct local taxation, it must come out of the Consolidated Fund, which will have to be replenished by them ; or that if their property be valued at £200 a year instead of £100, the result will be a sixpenny rate m the former case and a shilling rate m the latter; All this is undeniably true, but it is worse than useless to argue against a prejudice. "We must only trust to time to mitigate that prejudice ; and .m the present instance we shall doubtless not have to wait m vain. The possibility of a two-shilling rate being struck is unpleasant — very unpleasant to the ratepayers, and this unpleasantness is increased by the borrowing powers — limited though they are — which have been conferred upon the County Councils. These facts we believe to be at the bottom of the unusual amount of discontent excited by the new valuation rolls ; but m time the ratepayers will learn to reconcile themselves to the new state of things. In the meantime the Assessment Courts have a difficult task to perform, though, after all, its difficulties may prove not so great as they appear. To give satisfaction will, as a rule, be wn impossibility, at which, we should imagine, the Courts will not aim ; and by leaving that out of the question and proceeding Avithout fear or favour; as we feel assured they will do, they will, no doubt, find the difficulties of the situation more apparent than real.