Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1910-05-06
The Lords Pass the Budget.

1t was conceded by the Lords that they
would make no further opposition to the
LlOyd-George budget though it was their
throwing out of this budget that caused
the termination Of the last Parliament
and the Liberal party's appeal TO the
people" Very dubious was the victory
which the Liberals secured. They hold
their present power only by reason of aid
from Redmond's Irish Nationalist, and
Redmond is at the present moment
more influential to dictate than is Prime
Minister Asquith. But however slight
the fabric Of their influence, the Liberals
are the embodiment of what is the best
approach to "A reliable parliamentary ma
jority that can be marshaled at the mo-
ment. They have put through the Lloyd
George budget, and the Lords have fol-
lowed them in passing it. If the Union
list forces gain sufficient encourag cement
from the people at any future election
they viii be sure TO revise the budget as
one Of their first contributions to prac-
teal governmental duties.
The land tax Of the new budget is GER
tainl an innovation, for it places tax
on land and provides for revaluation as
Il basis Of future taxation. There has
not been valuation of land in England
since the reign Of William and Mary,
more than two hundred years ago. I'm
der William and Mary small tax, based
land, but not long thereafter the govern
ment needed ready money for war ex-
penSeS. and landowners were given the
privilege of forever freeing their land
from taxation by making a single money
payment equaling the amount Of several
years of tax. Practically all the land
was thus freed from taxation.
What land has paid for the support
Of government in England has been
enormous, but it is paid not in the form
of taxes. but of ''rates," and the in
cidence Of the burden is not upon the
owner of the land but upon the tenant,
for it is the tenant who pays the rates"
Explaining the nature of rates" in the
current issue of the Saturday Evening
Post, Robert ShackeltOn says that in the
last fiscal year in England and Wales
alone rates" were collected to the total
amount of three hundred million dollars.
He adds:
If land stands idle, producing no income.
there no rates. If it is occupied by all
owner he himself pays OH constructive rem
tai value. Small propretors find an tax
very severe. while large prOprietOrS find that
at all, for sums astonishingly light.
1t was the desire to make the great land
owners begin to pay share of national
penSe that led to the introduction in the
Budget of what is called the ''uuearned in
crement'' clause, under which land -ovners
were to pay a tax. on land leased or
sold, twenty per cent of its increased value
over what it was set down as being worth
under the valuation system provided for
by the Budget
The Lords have done a shrewd thing
ia bowling before the tempest and permit
ting the Budget to pass. Another issue.
which has grown out Of their rejection of
the Budget when first presented, will
give rise to a fierce contest before the
electorate. 1t will decide whether the
Lords shall preserve or lose the veto
power which they at present possess.
Strange though it may seem. the Eng
lsh electorate may not be ready to give
up the bi-eaneral system Of legislation.
Ine House of Lords has its virtues as
Well as its defects.