SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29,1900.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 90, 29 December 1900, Page 2

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1900.

As an argument against the adoption of rating on unirnpioved Value in Waimate'Borough, attention is beiug called to the fact that a recent atttmapt to secure therefoim' for Timaru was defeated by a large majority, in opposition to this, maybe placed the more important fact that more recently > still the reform was adopted in the County of Waimate. It is well, of course, •fo keep one's eyeß.open and learn from others' mistakes. The pro- ■ poßal was lost in Timaru simply because the mass of the ratepayeis who would, have bene fitted -we re not well grounded in the ' principles on which the ■ demand for the reform is based, neither were they well-informed as to how It would work out in practice. And just because the reverse-waa the case in Waimate -■County, the proposal was carried there. The opponents of the reform in Waim<ite Borough are the owners of \ large areas of uniulprovecb-laml \ in the Borough who fe» a its • adoption because they woyml \m^ called upon to pay their fair share of Borough rates. A state- " mentwhich is half lie,- half truth is the* worst 'kind -of lie, and da the moie apt to deceive heedless people. Such a statement, used with- great effect in - Timaru, <is being made use of as an argument against the adoption of rating on unimproved value in Waimate It is to this effect : \Here aie two adjacent sections of equal value. On one is a fourroomed house and on the other- a ten-roomed house. If this proposal is adopted, then the penman with the four-roomed house wi'l have to pay as much as the man with the ten roomed house. And so the owner of the foweroomed house -is induced to believe that his rates will' be raised under the new system of taxation. Now., it is ; quite true that if the sections are of the came unimproved value, the rates will be the same on the one as on the other. But it is not true that the owner of the four- rooruod house will have his rates raised. In Timaru the ratepayers had no means of testing such a statement, but in Waimate Borough we have the means of testing it. In an important part of the town are two adjacent quarter-acre sections valued at £40 each. ■ On one is a cottage, on the -other- a", place- of business. The annual value of the -one is £12 and the rate 12s. The annual -value* of the other-is £60 and the rate £3. Now, as wo have -said, the unimproved value in each case' is £40. According to the roll prepared by -Mr "Baxter each section 'wouldpay lOsa^yeairates if* rating in the Borough were made on the basis of unim. proved value. Though the saving in the meantime would ' be bUC two shillings a year -in "'the one case, there is this 1 important fac} to. be noted — there can be' no increase in the rates for improvements which may be made in the future. As -we showed in these columns recently, the new.systeto of taxation will remove-an injustice suffered by a larga majority of the resident * ratepayers. Any ratepayer-who has a doubt as to how he willbe effected or is being told itis possible to put himself in a' worse position by voting for -fehis - reform should examine the roll at ' the Town Clerk's office.

War and rumours' of war have filled " the ' year - which closes on Monday,- and the birth, of a new year and century presages-- little rest from the prevailing turmoil. When our attention was* centred on the great struggle taking place in South Africa,- the Ashantis rose and gave , considerable trouble, while the " sick-man «"o£

t East became convalescent |O flgh to try and eject bis' tender id solicitous nurses. With him <r e will still be trouble, and D re trouble. But it is to South frier, we more readily turn, for p passing year saw the main iforts of our infant colony to aid , the battles of the great Mother ii 9 all. Over this familiar round there is no need for more jvelling, and we will leave it ith the hope that early in the 0 Year we uriy hear that ! $t of the troubled waters ,ye been set at rest. It is id much to hope for uninteripfetl peactf, for South Africa's oable will be with the black iui <is well as with the white, iJ between these eviJs there is j choice — we must take both. Jan war there is little else to Jronicle, bat that little is of iticli importance. Australia h.13 jcoine uuited in one nation, and ,preparin<? to take her place in ne wilh other nations of tho urkl. New Zealand, although 1 present hoi ling aloof from is looking round for je oppoitunity to extend her. )iniiiio ( iia. Trade all oter the toti'iJOiles is in a flnurisliin^ onJition and still seems on the acre.ise. The United Spates have [ecled. their "king," and ours iem& to be yet Hrm on his thione, assessing the confidence of rhe tople. Under, such beuefiylent upices, the Now Year cannot fail )be as prosperous as the old. bliuwiug our usual custom we ill not issue the ADVEfITLSjSI? 11 New Year's Day, and now take blast opportunity we will have ife year of wishing our readers A Happy New Year.