The Morning examiner. [volume] (Ogden, Utah) 1904-1910, 1910-07-17

| LONDON. July 16.-Half OF all the
land in England is owned by two
thousand persons and more than half
of all the flfty-six million acres OF
! England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland
Is owned by five thousand persons.
Two-thirds OF all the land In the en-
tire kingdom is owned by fewer than
ten thousand persons. OF the popu-
lation of firty-fve million people only
| sixty-ope thousand farmers cultivate
| land which they own Twenty-seven
dukes own more than FIVE million
acres the duke of Sutherland alone
| possessing 1,S50.000 acres. The dukes
| own approximately one-tenth OF all
| the land In Great Britain. The farm
crs who own their own land are few
| indeed; and of that SiXtyone thou
sand. fewer than fifteen thousand own
more than fifty acres, the great ma
| jority possessing holdings of less than
! five acres In extent. AnG, according
to British government statistics one
third of the people of Great Britain are
constantly on the verge of starvation.
The landlords own the country, and
until now they have ruled the coun-
try with no one to dispute their will.
They have never paid any taxes on
their land The land laws and the
revenue laws have been framed al
ways by the landlords in the interest
of the landlords. Every political and
social agency for centuries has been
operating to Increase the size of indi-
vidual holdings OF land and to make
it more and more difficult for land to
be sold or for estates to be divided.
10 4 1Du1 n nd hA
first political attempt to interfere Sc
riously With the privileges of the land
lords, and its provision would be re-
garded in any other country as being
mild almost to the point of futility
But the astonished landlords rose en-
masse and declared that Lloyd-George
was a Socialist, that his budget was
confiscatory, and that its operations
would destroy the British empire and
send its old nobility to the demnition
bow-wows. That the owner of land
should be forced to pay tax upon ir
was notion so novel. proposition
so preposterous, a crime so con-
scienceless, that IL seemed to be alto
gether impossible But the bucget
passed the commons. was rejected by
the lords, was made the chief issue in
a general election. was approved at
the polls and now is the law of Eng
land
In the United States. where direct
tax on the value of land is generally
accepted and approved method of
raising taxes by and for the several
states, 1t Is difficult to understand the
British quarrel between landlords and
people. In the first place England
never has taxed land values. The rev
enue derived from real estate, known
as "the rates." Is calculated at so
much per cent on the annual rent
produced by the land Practically all
land Is occupied by tenants, but In
the few instances where the proprie~
tor occupies his own land, he pays
rates upon fictitious annual rent,
generally representing an inf1nitesi-
NAL fraction of the true rent value.
In the case of the Cardff tailor shop,
made famous in recent campaign 1t
was shown that a tailor, occupying
eight hundred square yards OF land.
paid rates on a rental valuation of
$9,435, while the Marquis of Butte, who
occupied Cardiff castle, in the imme-
date neighborhood, paid for five hun
dred thousand square yards on q rem
tai valuation OF s4.065 Because Lloyd
George called attention to this enor.
nous discrepancy, he was accused by
the Conservative press of "calumny"
and of slandering the noble marquis of
Butte. His effontery In referring TO
this tailor shop was denounced all
over the country as proving his utter
unfitness for his high position as the
chancellor of the exchequer.
In every instance where land is
rented, the tenant or lessee must pay
the rates. The owner of the land
never pays taxes on his own property.
This system was arranged by tho
peers. who are the principal land own
ers, over two hundred years ago.
when they exchange to King vii.