Omaha daily bee., 1910-01-24
Some Things You Want to Know
The English ElectiOns-The LlOyd-GeOrge Budget

This Revolutionary election campaign,
involving the fate Of the House
OF Lords and the character Of the
British constitution, is the result of sew
eral radical innovations in the methods
Of taxation in Great Britain as provided
for in the budget introduced IN the House
Of Commons on April q. last. 1t is com
monty known as the Lloyd -George budget,
taking the name Of the chancellor Of the
exchequer who prepared and submitted It.
In the campaign the tories called It the
'socialistic budget" and the radicals
boasted of IL as "the peoples budget" II
contained many new and progressive fea-
lures, such as a bureau of employment. a
housing and town-plannng measure and
other provisions for social reform. But
the chief feature, and the one which caused
It's rejection by the House Of Lords, was
the proposition to put a tax on land. That
was denounced as socialism and robbery,
and II caused the lords and the landlords
to preciptate this great political battle.
In the United States, where the tax on
land is n generally accepted and never
questioned method of obtaining revenues
by and for tho several states, this issue is
difficult to understand. In the first place.
England has never taxed land The
revenue derived from real estate is known
as the rates" and is calculated ct so
much per cent on the rent produced by
leasing the land. If the land is not rented,
no taxes are paid In every case the lessee
or tenant and never the owner, pays the
rates. This system was arranged by the
peers, who are the principal land owners.
2ls years ago when they exchanged to King
William this money revenue to be paid
by their tenants, in lieu of all service,
tenures and levies of soldiers due to the
crown from the peers under the remaining
rules Of the feudal system
Now comes Mr. Lloyd-George with a
scheme for the taxation of land values. II
is complicated affair which at first could
produce but little revenue, but it was
looked upon as an entering wedge The
principal proposals of the budget with re-
spect to land values are 'three-fold: The
Increment duty, the reversion duty and the
undeveloped land duty. The first provides
that, in the future, the increase in the
value Of land due to the efforts of society
as whole. and in nowise to the industry
or ingenuity of the owner, shall be re-
garded as unearned increment and that 20
per cent, or one-fifth, of such Increase
snail De PAID TO the treasury.
Exceptions to this rule omit all purely
agricultural land, all land worth less than
$3.50 an acre, all property occupied by the
owner as a home and many other detailed
exemptions. The first 10 per cent increment
is also exempted. The amount of the un-
earned increment is to be determined by
commissioners, who will take the total
value of the land at the general assess
1nf1f IN hC g,
and from that they will deduct the value
of ALE improvements added by the owner
or lessee, the value added by advertising
or by other effort of the owner, and the
10 per cent exemption OF the remainder.
one-fifth would be the tax due This tax
is to be paid when the land is sold, or
when it changes hands by reason Of the
death of the owner In case it is owned
BY corporation not liable to death duties
then the tax is to be paid in 1914 and in
each seventh year thereafter
The second feature, the reversion duty
is tax of 10 per cent upon the value of
tho benefit accruing to land owners at the
expiration of leases of longer than twenty
one years duration from improvements
made by the lessees. In England, where
nearly all improvements are made upon
upon leased land, it is not unusual for
landlord, by the expiration of lease, to
become possessed OF valuable buildings and
other improvements for which he was In
no way responsible. The government wants
10 per cent of the increase in the values
of his property thus created.
The third feature is the tax on unde-
veloped land-a direct tax of a half-penny
ON the pound, trifle over per cent
payable annually; the land to be re-as-
se5sed every five years. This attacks those
owners who keep land idle waiting for the
community to increase its value and
horror of horrors, it proposes a tax on the
game preserves!
Important as are these Innovations to
the English people, they pale into insig-
nificance when contrasted with the ma
chinery provided for the purpose of en-
forcing them. The land owners and the
lords were MT SO much frightened at
these taxes, for they are very light, as
they We're by the provision for the assess
ment and valuation of the land Of the
Kingdom,
The last land assessment in England was
made by William the Conqueror immedl-
ately after his conquest of England In
1866. The records were then compiled in
the Doomsday book and that has stood for
si4 years as the only land survey in Eng
land, In the United States, where land