Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-18

To readers who follow closely the progress
of the campaign IN Great Britain and de-
sire a deeper insight into the conditions
which produced the rebellion Of the House
of Lords against the taxing provisions Of
Lloyd Georges budget, the epoch-marking
work OF President Lowell of Harvard uni
versity on the government OF England af-
fords a flood of light and instruction. His
statement Of the conditions surrounding
the ownership and taxation of land in Eng
land clearly explains the bitterness Of the
aristocracy in rejecting the liberal finance
measure. In the chapter in which he deals
with the powers and resources of the
botoughs of England, he says: English
local taxation, by whatever authority II Is
levied, Is exclusively in the form of a rate
assessed upon the occupier of the land.
They the rates. are assessed to the
occupier, not the owner, unless he happens
to occupy his own land; and they are
based upon the net annual value of the land
in its existing condition. The net annual
value Is obtained by estimating the gross
rent at which the property is let, or might
reasonably expected to be let. and de-
Quoting therefrom the probable annual cost
of repairs. Insurance and other expenses of
Keeping II I'm order, an amount that appears
to be fixed in different towns from one
fifth to one-tenth Of the gross rent.
s&e
TT viii be observed that unoccupled land
or buildings are not assessed at all; and
that in the case of occupied land the valua-
ton is based not upon its capital or salable
value, but upon its rental in its existing
condition, so that a garden in the heart of
a city is taxed only at It's. rental value as
a garden. In fact, under the public health
acts it is assessed in the general district
rate for sanitary purposes at one-quarter
of it's ratable value as a garden; and under
the agricultural rates act at one-half of
that value for all other purposes. In this
way the tax laws encourage the holding of
land unbuilt in the cities or their suburbs,
and there is an inversion of the doctrine
of taxing heavily the unearned increment.
So farla as taxation is concerned, a man who
owns a tract of open ground, needed for
building, can afford TO keep it vacant,
either with a view 10 Specializing upon an
increase of value with the growth of the
town, or because he enjoys the luxury of
a garden about his house. 70 that fact.
coupled to the slow progress made until
very recent years in methods of rapid
urban transit. is no doubt largely due the
congestion of the towns. The sudden
change, indeed, from solid blocks of houses
to open fields, which although less marked
than it was formerly, still characterizes
most English cities, contrasts strongly with
the. penumbra of detached residences that
stretch, more or less sparsely, far into the
country in America
as#
-One-fifth of the total area of the United
Kingdom, amounting to 16, Al, 9S6 acres, is
owned nv british npprG The lords whose
votes defeated the budget own 1O,O7S,97 q
acres, an acreage double the area of Massa-
chusetts. In the matter of Individual hold
ings the average ducal domain Is 142, 564
acres, an area almost equalling that Of
Chicago and St. Louis combined. Marquises
own an average Of 1850 acres, eaTls 30.2l7,
viscounts Is, 324 and barons ID, 1852. Land in
England is a sacred heirloom" continues
DIR. Lowell, that is rarely offered for sale.
Few men, either In town or country, own
the freehold of the house in which they
live. Great tracts of urban land belongs
to peers or other rich men, who let them
on long ground leases, but would never
think of selling a single house lot outright
a condition especially marked in the own
hat have grown up in modern times. Hence
an Englishman thinks and speaks habitu-
ally not of the capital value, but OF the
rental value OF land, and this is deemed an
easy thing to estimate. Land can hardly
be said to have a market value; and the
suggestion that it should be taxed as CAPT
tai is met by the answer that it is more
fair to tax It upon the, actual revenue it
produces than on some problematical price
that it might bring if sold"
A ground floor view of monarchial social
ism in Germany, given by Elmer Roberts
in the January Scrlbner, supplies food for
thought on the subject of government
ownership. The government Of Prussia,
which dominates the empire, is steadily
extending it's control of various enterprises.
The state controls the railways, telcgraphs,
telephones, mines and the public domain
Last year the state income from public
properties was more than the total income
from taxation and borrowings. Railways
were the largest sources of income, net
ting $l49, 755, 600, or about s per cent on the
total investment Of the state since it began
buying railways in 1883. From its crown
forests, leased farms, iron, coal, potash,
salt and other mines. from porcelain fac
tories, banking and a variety of less i'm
portant industries, Prussia received S29,
600, coo. Mr.. Roberts shows that German
manufacturing and mining are more com
pletely under the control Of combinations
than is the industry Of any other country
notwithstanding government competition
The marked success of the government
enterprises. the writer points out, is di-
rectly due to a civil service system which
Is the pAide of and a power for the Hohen-
zollern family. Integrity and efficiency
are promoted by p~crmanencv of tenure and
a code of laws and courts to enforce then
which effectually eliminates graft or the
use Of official position to promote a private
interest. Control Of the transportation
system enables the government to influence
the whole machinery Of trade, and This
power. Mr.. Roberts remarks. must be
taken into account when other people think
of competing with Germany in the far east
or in South America
The United States, Russia and Japan
are the only powers in the world which
profess to be on speaking terms with econ,
omy Just now. Necessity is largely re-
sponsibIe for the Filtration. All other
powers worth while remain in the spending
class, which run beyond the limit of avail
able resources. Both Turkey and Persia.
having reformed somewhat hurriedly, arc
becoming chummy with money lenders
seeking. TO place a few notes for millions
with which to carry on state projects Italy
is following the example Of Great Britain
Ia forning "a ministerial crisis IN tho ot1ss.