UNEARNED INCREMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 158, 29 July 1909, Page 4

UNEARNED INCREMENT.

To tlio Editor. Sir, —A certain writer stated the other day tliat if a block of land at Waitotaru had been ollered fur sal' private enterprise would eagerly have laken it up and set about improving it. L will not dispute this fact. -But what about the after part -of this transaction, if the'block fell into the hands of private enterprise'( Now, take the landowner. Jie- buys a piece oi laud aid rents it to a number of people. In time are madt! through it, railways are built, people conic and settle near, tramways are laid, and, generally, public money is spent right and lett. His land increases enormously in value—not tnrough his exertion or genius or enterprise, but through the energy and intelligenee of those who made Me trade and industry *)f the town. The landowner sits idle while the hdisons, the Stephensons, and thousands of skilled workers transform a sleepy village into a thriving town; but when the town is built and trade is nourishing lie steps In to reap tlnj harvest —lie raises the rent. l\>pulation grows; private enterprise flourishes; more public money is spent. Again the landlord takes a hand—he raises the rent; so that the harder thy townsfolk work and the more the town prospers the greater is tip price lie charges lor the use of the land. This extortionate rent is really a

fine inflicted by idleness on industry. It is simply plunder, and is known by the technical name of "unearned increment." There is no argument in favor of ausulutc private ownership of land wnieh would not alst> hold good in favor of absolute private ownership of the air, tile rivers, the sea, and would only allow the people to use them by paying rent for them. The idea could not be entertained for a minute. Jf this '.l D,OOO acres of land is cut up into 250-acri-blocks J2O families could be settled upon It. Land obtained from the Government at a fair rental, with some assistance ! in the direction of. building and cheap . moncv, is, in Ihe eyes of all who want . to sec this fair land equally divided, the [ best course to pursue. To use a ScripI ture illustration, it maj' he truly said: , "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert 1 shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.''— - I am, etc., 1 SEMPER AVAIIUS EGET.