New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-10-11
LAND REFORM
The Lord ldvoGate-A Popular
Issue.


=. :. .t-les landholders and Tory
so,lires Is Mr. Alexander IRE be - .--s
apostle Of land reform. VINO COW
The Chancellor Of the kxchequei en-
became responsible for the ne" que
-sxes on land values Lampooneo' oe-
;so5 .,5 denounced as the ally or the
-,-ols+a-,a+ and the enemy OF private
$1,000 he has earned the rancorous
hatred OF land owners and has also sue
ceeaed in arousing the enthusiasm u
advanced Radicals. He speaks with the
.o-,-o- Of conviction. and when on pup
a, r,ls+forn7 and in close touch with the
masses he is an orator Land taNalioli
s. his hobby. and he rides Il haro anu
fast
Probably the Lord Advocate Is Iohs
way in advance OF his fellow mlhlsle' -
who ind il impossible 10 argue Win mn
and 10 control him. Nothing couio &c
more Inconcillatory than ms
speach al DOLLS Hill. in Whlcn ne
clsred that the valuation OF Iano no" -
,-or-ess was not an end in ltseil' pI'
on1v 6 means toward q general reNo'u-
-, a. -sxs+ion. The hands Of The CLOCK
seemed 10 have been turned oaCA' az
Henry George was again IN Ehs10
voice CRYING in the wilderness
The land owners have formed d union
@o- the avowed object OF carrying On
determined agitation for the repe4' u
.be land taxes. Mr.. IRE, rising on up
toes and speaking in his shrillesI Fe"Ie.
warns them that they VIII iali' LOT 'li1
land taxes will never be repealed "heh
-ba country has found a vast reserve OF
,-as1-b which can be dedicated TO the
-7aass Of the masses. When the Nalua-
-'or has been made by skilled anu III
--1Jigert experts the budget taxes oai
he collected. but that viii be only
email matter. The principle VII DC
-r-,5alv extended when the valuation mas
beer obtained. and in time all rating ana
-.v+v- viii be removed from buildings
er6 improvements and placed upon lIie
land itself The result viii be thaI me
--a- r-,oropoIv Of ownership VIII Dc
broken down. the land will be free' anu
NE, will be encouraged to make pro1ll-
sbIs rise Of II and 10 spend money upon
= in labor and material so as 10 nnuil'-
ply the resources Of the Wnole COLI
nunity.
The Radical advocates sortie IN the
direction of single tax on land Is re-
scented by Tory sqUires as a premecl-
-s-ad and vanton attack on private
--ore-+v. II place Of tapping 4 new
source # revenue ministers are re
--osched for nroclaining coniscation by
taxation
~ Ire las attempted 70 popularize
his ideas Of land taxation by practical
illustrations. He has referred 70 an
estate Of rinetv-tvo acres. with CAPT
-Rlfzed value Of 5000. which was re-
Gently in market. The owner who mad
been having rates on an agricultural
rental Of e1ol. refused an offer OF To-
oaa and declared that he would not con-
slider any purchase price under tfo.oNo-
Having stated his case. M IRE brings
N the principles Of the budget with tell
ing effect. L the new taxes had been
one-sring and the estate officially valued
n the rate books ct =. 200. the profit on
,rz sale for $4,000 would have been
shared between the owner and the State
,-o+ less -han $4,000 Of the "unearned
Increment would have dropped into the
national treasury
That was an interesting bit Of arith-
-r=-fr 70 put before 2 popular audience;
End how strong q side light did II throw
,-Do- the hubh1lh raised over current
PROCESSES of valuation, differentiation
If an estate for the purpose Of avoiding
taxation inevitably exposes the owner 10
serious risks whenever there may be an
sdvenra reous sale. # there be q hand
some rise in values a considerable pro
7,o--ior IF the Increment must be sur
rendered To the state As for the dec
remeut Il one occurs. II Will he oorne
bv the owner alone. The owner VIII re-
tain a monopoly Of losses.
The land owners indeed are between
tro fires when they are filling out their
forms for the new horde Of officials. If
they overvalue their properties they rem
de- themselves liable to onerous levles Of
taxation. and these are likely to be in
creased when the new system Of taxa
ton is adopted as the basis Of local
rating. on the other hand. If they
1-nderrate their landed possessions the
PENALTY VIII be paid when sales are sub
secueutlv effected and the State becomes
COMPULSORY partner anu Ll4t be1-oALee
sheet disCloses a profit. so beWildered
are they tia. many are following the
example Of Lord Onslow and Nj Walter
Long and preparing to auction of their
estates 70 their tenants or TO the highest
bidders They assert that l. is impos-
sfble for land holders who 90 not have
large sources Of income outside their
estates to meet the new government
charges without discharging work Peo-
pie. reducing their expenses, withdra W
ing local subscriptions and relinqulshing
Their. resources Of local patronage
Mr.. Ire and his Radical followers are
not silenced h. evidence that the land
owners have been hard hit and are
thinking Of disposing Of their estates
The breaking up Of the big, unmanage-
able estates is what il wanted they
exclaim joyfully. The budget Is dong
fts work scientifically and the people are
n the way Of getting land on easy
terms"
Radicals Ike Mr.. IRE are likely to
overstate their case, but they have the
popular side Of q question in which
audiences are deeply interested.
The system OF rating. or local taxa
ton. has virtually remained unchanged