THE SINGLE TAX.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2751, 1 March 1890, Page 3

THE SINGLE TAX.

IO XHK KIUJ'UH. fl Sib,—ln a former letter in reference to the 2 visit of the Railway Commissioners, I i endeavoured to point out that our picsent 1 system of Government is not producing c those results necessary for bringing pros- { parity and contentment to th» many. Such g being thu case, doe?* it not become imperiitive that a radical change .-houlJ take , place ? It is not that we need a change of men ao much aa a change of idi'hs. The -j old order when not working satisfactorily 1 should ho willing to make. place for a new one. I think nearly every unofficial person in New Zealand is not satisfied with our present systems. B<mie advocate drastic j retrenchment in every department, think- j iug this would relieve our great financial j strain. Would it not be better to pet rid , of many departments altogether ? This is quite feasible if we would adopt a simpler J and more just system of raising our revenue, ' for the present' one is cumbrous and de- I moralising, because it has a tendency to i make even our leading citizens and rner- I chants dishonest, the Government having | found it necessary to appoint a Customs expert or detective at a high salary to pre- | vent them from being defrauded. Already several cases have cropped up of goods having been seized by this detective and sold, and there must be a multitude of cases of smuggling which are never brought to light; but all the same, the demoralising process goes on, liven in the Property-tax the amount of deception practised must be , enormous. Surely to any reflective persons it must seem that our present system of Government could not be better formed than it is for making a nation of frauds. There are always a few men who superior to their surroundings, who cannot bo contaminated by these vicious system*, if it were not so we should become a veritable slough of despond. These noble minded ones are always fighting and struggling to purify, purge, and lift up on a higher plane, their fellow men, and for this they receive nothing but contumely; but nothing can daunt them, they are impelled by some secret farce to forgo their way through every obstacle and difficulty, made not only by the enemies of progress, but oven by those whom they are trying to serve. These high minded men seek no reward for themselves, their only ambition is to see the cause of justice and humanity growing and spreading, and from the signs of the times, I feel sure that they are well satisfied with their labours, The days of their accomplishment appear to ba drawing nigh, for there is a great upheaval of the sons of toil all over the civilised world, they are now beginning to learn the grandeur of their position, and to demand a just share of that wealth which they are incessantly producing. In the world of the near future there will not be any room for the idle and leisured classes, all will be required to render s.nne useful work to the state. Seeing that the Property-tux and customs duties are causing great dissatisfaction, and as these cannot be abolished until something else is substituted in their place, and as all wealth comes from the land, and all taxes must be paid either directly or indirectly from that source. We all know that it is ranch more economical to collect a direct tax than an indirect one. There can be no question as to this statement, because the collection of the Property-tax cannot cost a tithe of the collection of the Custom duties no special officers being appointed for that purpose, aa it it done through the postoffices. Such being the case shall we not be wise in adopting Henry George's single tax on land values only. This is simple and just, land values increase not by the amount of labour and improvements put upon it, but by the increase of the people, for wherever a large number of people congregate, there land becomes of great values without any effort on the part of those who hold possession of the same. Such is not the case with agricultual land. This must be fenced, drained, tilled and sown, and it is now coming to this that farmers find it extremely difficult to make a living, no matter how much they may produce, for the prices they receive are below the actual cost of production. One small block of land in a large city is worth thousands of acres in the country. Why, should not this increased value go to the pWVple that create it ? It is quite impossible that labour can receive a just remuneration for its exertion as long as these anomalies are allowed to exist. The sooner this fact is recognised the better it will be for the nation. Neither the Railway Commissioners nor any other commissioners can change our present position without «ur first changing our system of Government altogether, it is not a modification that will do it: it must be an absolute and complete change of systems, and the single tax on land values only is the corner stone of the edifice.—Youth truly, Waikato.