HIGH LOCAL RATING.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2426, 28 January 1888, Page 2

HIGH LOCAL RATING.

TO THE EDITOH. Sm, —The remarks made by Councillor Kuox at the Hamilton Borough Council meeting on the 16th inst., re the excessive valuation of property within the Borough, will tiud sympathy among propertyowners, not. only in Waikato but thiuugiiout fha aolony, and were it possible to remove t!io fictitious and place the real value of coloniiil property, both town and rural, before the public, tho New Zealand taxpayer would be afforded a. somewhat startiingr glimpse of what he is really paying; am), in addition to this gross imposition, the ni'irle of ;i'..|jnrMoTiing the load of taxation is (particiiUriy a-< ivir.iHs agricultural land) iiio.-t unjiisc, and in the opinion of many, it constitutes one of the greatest barriers to liie progress of the colony. I will quote my own case as an instance ; fourteen, years ago, I bought the land I occupy for £i per acre, and that was its valuation for farming purposes, the result of my labour sinco then, has been to raise the valuation to £5, while similar land, separated from mine by a chain road, and upon which not a penny Ins b u fiu spent, still remains at the old valuation ; could there be a greater bar placed ng.iinst capital and labour being spent upon the land, or a greater incentive to s|vcii]iitors to buy and hold property, while struggling settlers upon adjacent lands increased its value. That such *an unjust tax levied, as it is, upon the energy and muscle of working colonists, should roinaiii in force so long is a doep reflection upon tin) ability of our public men ; aud we hope that Mr Knox and otliorx who oocupy public places will never rest until property is valued for taxing purposes at what it fa worth, and the incidence of taxation is so adjusted that, whilo raising the necessary amount of revenue, it will encourage all surplus capital and labour, whether foreign or local, to bo devoted to thn cultivation and improvement of the soil.—l am, yours respectfully,