The Daily News. THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 1919. THE BATING QUESTION.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 March 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 1919. THE BATING QUESTION.

"Why should we improve our properties for the benefit of the speculator holding out for big prices for his sections V Wc are taxed for every improvement w« make; the speculator escapes taxation all the time. Let's tax him so that the burden he has to carry will make him unload quickly at a reasonable price." This is.the stock argument of the advocates of taxation on unimproved values, and, it must be admitted, is a strong one, from one point of view, There are other considerations, however, which it is well to bear in mind in their relation to a place situated like New Plymouth. No system of taxation is altogether fair; injustice is done in particular cases whatever the system adopted. The desideratum is to have a system that is the most equitable in its incidence, or, perhaps, a system that causes the least injustice. Let's take the point of taxing industry. Is that not done now everywhere? Thrift and enterprise are always taxed, for the simple reason that municipalities and the State can tax only those who have property or wealth. If a man has an income of £3OO he is lightly taxedj but every additional hundred he earns he must pay an increasingly heavier tax. go with jnogertjf, pg&wagioa involve*

obligations, outside of rates. In short, the man who hath is taxed; obviously he who hath not cannot be. Present taxation is framed with the idea of placing the burden upon the shoulders of those best able to bear it. That is the case with rating on capital value obtaining in New Plymouth at present. Supposing a change were made in New Plymouth, the big blocks in town and the freezing works at Moturoa would largely escape. Now, who is better able to bear the rates—the owners of these valuable blocks or the owners of unimproved land out in the suburbs? There can be only one answer. There are several new buildings of considerable size projected. The owners have taken into consideration the amount of rates payable, and made provision accordingly. As the town is rebuilt —and no town needs rebuilding more—Devon street will be carrying a bigger and bigger proportion of the rates, affording corresponding relief to the outside districts. Rating on unimproved values tends to reduce the size of building sections. We have the doctors' authority for the statement that the reason for the virulence of the recent disease in Wellington was the congestion of buildings and overcrowding. What is required is not smaller areas, but larger ones, where parents and children can breathe the fresh air and live like human beings as the Creator intended them to, and not as animals. But, says your rater on unimproved values, we can introduce by-lawa preventing congestion. Bylaws, however, are not permanent; they are subject to change. We have in mind one town that formerly limited the frontage of a building section to 50 feet. Unimproved values rating came in; the frontage was lowered to 40 feet and then to 33 feet, with the result that to-day the houses are huddled together in a most disgraceful and unhealthy fashion. The argument is advanced that unimproved values brings down the price of sections. The experience in the town just alluded to is interesting. Before the rating system was changed the land could be bought at £3 per foot. It rose in a little time to £6 and £7 a foot. We don't say that would occur in New Plymouth, but what we do say is that the land will be loaded with the extra rates and the purchaser, instead of getting the land cheaper, will find it dearer than ever. There is another point that does not seem to occur to advocates of the change. It is that if rating on unimproved values comes about, the settlers in the suburbs holding large areas of land, who came into the borough a few years ago to enable the town to instal the tramways, will be obliged to petition out 'and go back to the county, a retrogressive step that should be avoided at all costs. And the man in town will then not get the relief he anticipated. We want to extend the trams to these suburbs, to open them up, and settle the workers on bigger sections. That is the hope of the workers, and most prove an advantage to the tramways and the borough generally. Cheaper land and more of it is necessary, not dear land and little of it. But, our opponents will say, this is all very fine, but what about the man who has substantial areas in and near the town. Shouldn't he be "hit up?" Certainly, but take care you do not do it at the expense of the general community. We would deal with it by, giving municipalities the same powers respecting the resumption of such areas as are possessed by the State in respect of rural lands needed for settlement. A property owner should no more be allowed to keep back a town than the holder of a large estate should retard settlement, and if he is not prepared to sell the land at a reasonable price the municipalities should take it at valuation, cut it up, and build houses as the State has spasmodically built them. There are other points in connection with the proposal the discussion of which we must hold over for the present, but we wish to emphasise the importance of ratepayers carefully pondering the matter and not accepting the plausible statements of the advocates for the change without closely examining those statements.

been considerable reference of late to a new party that is to infuse vitality into progressive principles. So far, this party lias not materialised, but there has been evolved a "New Zealand Welfare League" avowedly a political organisation, its aim being to unite the supporters of a sound, progressive and constructive policy in opposition to the revolutionary doctrines that appear to be making headway. This league recognises that the problems awaiting solution after the war require ability, sincerity and responsibility in the elected representatives of the people, and the main obejct of the league is to influence the selection of suitable and responsible candidates for Parliament, and endeavor to raise the personal standard of the people's representatives in Parliament. Such a platform should meet with general acceptance in the Dominion. The pressing need is for a worthy and able leader who has the requisite forcefulness, personality and statesmanship. It is high time that the pressing needs of the country were tackled with determination on sane and progressive lines. The people are anxiously awaiting the advent of men of action, for the lessons of the war have inculcated impatience with taihoa methods, and the development, as well as the prosperity, of the Dominion is being injuriously affected by inaction and incompetency. A live party with a resourceful leader would be welcomed and supported. Meantime the public will await with interest more information regarding the platform and general purposes of the new organisation.