GOVERNMENT VALUES TOO HIGH.

North Otago Times, Volume CVII, Issue 17748, 12 March 1927, Page 4

GOVERNMENT VALUES TOO HIGH.

THe failur.e of tEe Government Land Valuation Department to recogmse tbat rural lands, and more particularly farming lands, have fallen materially in value, and are actually "back to pre-war level, and in many ,cases much below that value," (as Mr tT. R. Lees pointed out to a Palmerston North audience the other day) sneans that the fariner is fcalled upon to pay considerably mbre in taxation, arid local rating, than is at all proportionate to his interest in the land. "There are, said Mr Lees, "hundreds of thous/ands "of acres of good land open for purchase at ! 1914 values, which properly farmed will return good interest at these figures." In 1914 unimproved values in the counties, as distinguished froin the bqroughs and independent town districts, stood at £159,846,169. On Ihe 31st MarcE of last year the corresponding values were placed at £230,614,399. .These county figures may be accepted as giving the Government values of rural lands which, for the twelve years they cover, show an average annual mcrease of close upon seven and threequarter millions. The 1926 figures, however, show a decrease in such values of a little over one million as compared with those f°r 1925, and it is possible other reductions will follow this year. But it may be accepted as a fact, as the "Mapawatu Standard" points out, that any such writing down of unimproved values do.es not come within 50 per cent of the reatictions that should take place to bring values back to the 1914 level. That additional £80,868,230 adds alike to the land tax payable by the farmer and to .the rates he also has to meet, which are in many cases even heavier than the land tax, as there are rio deductions made as in the case of the latter. Reduction of the valuations means, of course, a certain amount of loss in taxation, and possibly also iri local body rating, but it is manifestly unfair to assess taxation on values that are at least 50 per cent higher than they are actually worth. That is the first, and one of the most serious of the farmer's handicaps, for if he needs money, as most farmers do, to develop or enlarge his operations, he finds, even when he is fortunate enough to be able to command the necessary credit' that, under the most favourable circumslances, he cannot obtain an advance on anythin^ like the valuation placed upon his property ,by the Crown, and. the money he does get is not the "reasonably cheap money" which he needs for ordinary farm operations. This state of things is responsible, to a very large extent, for the deterioration in land which is taking place in various parts of, the Dominion to--day. Mr T. R. Lees only voices a truth, well-known to the Minister of Lands and the officers of his department, when he says that, had the capital poured into the country districts by banks, lending institutions and private lenders "been spent upon the farms, instead of being used in the wild speculation and gambling in land which forced prices up to such ridiculous heights, New Zealand would have seen a true prosperity without parallel in

the history of the world. Last year mr Lees claims to have travelled several thousand miles ^through back country of g'razing and farming districts and, wherever he went, gocd land and poor land was crying out for labour, for manure and cultivation. It is quite true, as he says further, that "this country has only been-seratched," and that eventually it "can take on the land and give prosperity to many hundreds of thousands of people of the right sort — those who are prepared to give up the hand to mouth existence in town for the healthy and natural life of a producer in the country." But that is not likely to happen until land can be acquired on reasonably payable terms, with -the miniraura of loading for taxation and rating purposes,- and labour is available on terms that will pay the producer to cmploy it. "With such conditions prevailing and cheap money arranged to finance the farmer's operations, there is no reason wliy farming should not be made to pay as handsomely as it has done during Ihe years of the Dominion's greatest prosperity. But the handicaps which hamper and hinder the farmer's success must be removed, and his operations must be freed from all unnecessary restrictions, if that much desired end is to be obtained. ■ III ■ J» II II u»