THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1900.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 64, 27 October 1900, Page 2

THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1900.

After Mr Douglas' elaborate and lucid statement on the question .of Biting on Unimproved Value, at the- meeting of County Ratepayers on Saturday last, it may seQin superfluous to call further attentiou to the matter just at present There was, however, one es:pres3ion in Mr Douglas' statement which, while perfectly clear to all who have studied this question, is, nevertheless, being improperly taken advantage of by ' the opponents of: the proposal. Mr Douglas said, " It, is provided by the * Rating on Unimproved Value Act' of 1896 . that in any county whei-e the rating of unimproved value is adopted the rate could be proportionately increased ao as to produce a revenue equal to that produced by a rate of ]£.l in the £ on capUal value." So it ia being said, by the astute to the unwary, on the strength of Mr Douglas' statement, that though under ] rating on capital value no more \ than l|d rate can be levied, if rating on unimproved value is adopted i he rate can be made twice as much. We recommend all ratepayers whose improvements are more than nominal to carefully read Mr Douglas' statement, published in our issue of Tuesday last.. Backing up the " argument " we have referred to these astute persons say, " If you remove the rates from improvements on small areas with large improvements, such -as bkeksmiths' and carpenters' shops, stores in country townships, and laboßrers' cottages on quarteracre sections, who's to pay the difference ? Why, the poor farmer, of course." All this is mere claptrap, and the only ** of course " about putting the question in this way is that it is mare ■clever than honest. There is no farmer in New Zealand who takes a pride in keeping his holding in good order and surrounding himself with all necessary buildings, who has not complained of the hardship of Jaaving his industry taxed ; and the carrying of the present proposal will remove this anomaly. Instead of the farmer who goes in for improvements paying more than his proper quota of county rates, everyone will pay, as he should, according to the value of the land he holds. In previous articles, we have shown how unfairly rating on improvement bears on the progressive and industrious settler, but to emphasise this we ask our readers' attention to an illustrative case, parallels to which may easily be found among the settlers in Waimate County.: — A and B each take up 100 acres on the Waikakajbi Estate. The land is valued at £18 per acre, there are improvements amounting to £1 per acre, and each man is required to improve his holding to the extent of £1 per acre more. The total value of the property held by each is now £2000, and the county general rate of each will be £5 Ua 7d. At the start, A had cash, £300, and B £500. Ais a single mail and works his land by contract labour and so does not

keep horses, and the improvements he has made are sufficient for his requirements. He. has £203 of hia cash still in the Bank. B, on the other hand, is married, works hia land with his own team and sometimes earns a few pounds ploughing, etc., for hia neighbour, \.. He builds a hou3e, I stable, sheds, etc., and, as the years go by, plants an orchard and surrounds the bonreetead "with a belt <of trees. In doing so, he - uses tip the r straining £400 of his cash,-, besides labour to the value of £200 more. B'n holding will then be valued at £2600 and his rates will have gradually risen to £7 9s a year, A's rates remai u at £5 14s 7xl, and he is, besides, drawing interest on the money he has not spent in improving hia • holding. During this time, too, many other settlers have been adding to the capital value of the • county by, say, £240,000* A rate of fiva-eighths of a penny in the£ will then produce a revenue equal ' to what is now raised by elevensixteenths of a penny, and a reduction of one-sixteenth of a < peuny accordingly takes place, What is the effect on the pofeitions of A and B respectively ? A will then pay., as rates, £5 4s 2d,- white, - B will pay U 15s sd. That is to say, the improvements effect id by < £$ has raised his own ratea bjr over £1 per annum and reduced his neighbour's by 10s per aunmn. But B, and others like him, think, this is not fair and ask for the introduction of Rating on Unim« - proved Value, If this is obtained^ - then A will pay the same rates as I B, the unimproved value of each I man's holding b«ing equal. What ■ we wish to impress on the rate- I payers is that the introduction of I the new system will not penalise I a man who does not improve his ■ holding* It will only make him ■ pay his fair share of the county, I expenses, arid removes the penalty ■ imposed by the present system ou m the man who does improve. ■ Tee expected has happened ia H Waitnute, and all the burgesses I are on the gui vtve to see wh t rt j H will happen in consequence. In H other words. thB five councillors'™ who withdrew from the Council .H meeting on Monday night have ■ handed in their resignations, H They could scarcely do lessi'M although they must be sorely B disappointed that the meeting M did not lapse for want of a^W quorum, or that the remaining™ Councillors would be unable to transact the borough business. -»< Asamatttr of. fact it ,was dontSj more expeditiously, tho moeting '^p being over before half past tea.'^R Taken altogether, it was a foolish- » piece of business, and we ate Mu surprised that men of such ffi-B^ porience in municipal matters Kg; took the course they did. Tbe/M| have crossed the * Rubicon ' « n £'M| burned their "boats behind tbqfyflp for did not their spokesman al^M| leader declare that he declined t<«| sit longer under such a naao His Worship. $hat being bo, fb»S| 1 five cannot with honour -seek election. If they did, we do JlO^H think ' the burgesses would doing themselves justice in re '^B§ electing them. They left in a ti( Mf of pique because they were anaMfMj to compass their own eads,aiwM| to waste money 'over a ie '^^ » election and put the old mem's» I ™| 1 in again would be a pitiful * ar<:^Ms , They would then be no6 "2M| advanced f unless they in **!^B| , the ratepayers "to censure tb^Ej j Mayor, in order to force bi m resign. To do this they have to appear at a public mees|^B| ] to prove him. in the wnw^H| 1 and ndne know better than 1 seceding fiV« what a diffi< |Bg ' matter this would be. Nay,^g tables would be turned [ pletely and " five good me ?^^H * true," as we have* seen it 1 would possess less of the P^i^H ! confidence than they, do r is clearly a- c^iso of havingj^^Hj : fresh members, arid burg«^^Hj

should take interest enough in the contest to see that thoroughly capable men are elected. We do not i'or a moment cast any slur , o n the retiring members. They 3 re cill capable men, bat they have allowed themselves to be led •astray in the present instance, and ] have voluntarily taken up a position they cannot with credit T etire from. A masterly inaction' js about their wisest course. Not' from any desire to commence "©ritual recriminations, but from, a desire ta correct- an impression ■jo which^our silence might give consent, we turn to the article ■ which appeared on the subjee" jii the Waitnate Times orThursday. This paper reallj m^lros uh tired. With tho mosi elementary knowledge of its subject, or shall we Bay with v. j lUiidiced judgment, this journal Bets out a weAry waste -of words, purporting to prove that the fivo •'good men and true " are-eligible anil deserve re-election. We have sevor.il times proved that the councillors were wrong in the stand they took up and do not intend to go over the same ground again. No one who has read our explanation of " Taifaire " is at all likely to be "led away by the Ti'llB3. Wli.it puzzles ua ia how the editor can, with smug coixrpliicency, iterate and reiterate statements- which the veriest glimmer of intelligence would .prove faUje. But hold. He may bo in a similar case .to the hero of a story we heard the other day. An old Scotch maii had just been elected as a member of the Kirk Session. A friend met him next dty and remonstrated tbusly : **• Saan-iy, Saaudy, mon, what for did yo tak siccan a poseetion. Ye're no' "fit for V " Ay, Jock," replied tho worthy elder, " Ah'm uae gnid, a' ken, but nion, ah can objec'."