An American Visitor.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume II, Issue 106, 8 February 1900, Page 3

An American Visitor.

Mr J. W. Uucklin, a member of tbe Colorado Senate; is at prosent on h "\ i-.it to New Zealand, for tbo purpose of studying th 3 colon} '. 3 land laws, with a view to reporting to his Government, and yesterday lie, under the guidance of Mr J. !<]. March, Superintendent for Vilbge Settlements, inspected several of tlio village settlements in the vicinity of Cbristchurch. In a conversation last evening with a representative of the Lyttelton Times, Mr Buclrlin. expressed himself at* being very favourably impressed with experiments in bottling the working classes on small areas. Ho found the settlors contented and happy, and, as far as he could judge, tliey seemed to bopiospering. To his mind, one of the chief benefits of the system was that there was no lieee&sity for working men to advance any amount of. capital in order to secure homes. They were able to secure a sufficient area of land, and were enabled to hold it on a perpetual lease, which virtually gave them a home for all time. Throughout America, generally, workmen had to purchase homos on the time - payment system. The New Zealand system of taxation took the unimproved value of the land, and did not tax the improvements, and thus the unearned increment of the land, as advocated by Sir George -Grey in ,1878, was reached. Although he believed that the imposition of the land tax benefited the poorer classes, he thought that the results of the increase of the tax might be gained in a much simpler manner by taxing the land to a point where it took all the unearned increment to pay the rates ; then working classes would be able to get the laud" from the proprietors without taking it on perpetual lease, as was the case at present. The New Zealand land laws, he »said, liad attracted considerable attention in America. In the State he represented, a Special Commission had been set up to inquire iuto the working of the land laws of th.c whole of Australasia, and he had been appointed by his Parliament to investigate them and make a specia,l report, which lie would present on his retuun. The working men of America generally had been considerably influenced by the writings of Henry George and others, and were now making a a thorough study ol taxation. In this they were materially assisted by several rich men who had risen from the ranks. Some of the Australian had passed such legislation as he had. referred to through the Lower Houses, but the Upper Houses had rejected it, and the other Australian colonies had passed the legislation through committees, but had been tfnable to make it law. So far, he had found that the system of taxation

in this colony was peculiar to i(, 1 and lie thought it might be called "the New Zealand land value tax," but he felt sure that it would soon be copied in other plcie-f . In Australasia there was no di'vei tax on personal property, bur the land and income tax was the general system. During his •\isitto these colonies he found all the people well-to-do, and ther" \v,i-i ah absence of the v.-xnvijic pov«uLy noticeable in ol(Km' counting, and even in "olokhim. hi p-issiug thionqh I lie touthem p.ution of New Zealand, ho was particularly struck by the wondori ul feitiliiy of The soil, lor h» h»d seen crops of grain which fairly surprised hitu. It was quite refreshing to /.'id hoy; prodperous the people oL Kew Zealand seemed to be, and when he returned to Colorado he -would speak ->f rhis colony as one oi" the bri&hlesr spots he hadever v\oited. Ir warfhib intention lo loavo tor Y/eringtoii ihat evening, and during his otay there the Premier had arranged that Mr E. Tregear, head of ihe Department of Labour, should give him all necessary information übout the labour legislation oi the colony.