The Whitefish pilot. [volume] (Whitefish, Mont.) 1904-current, 1911-08-31
TAXATION OF IDLE LAND.
.(By q. W. Ayervy,

AASAA48
j (By @. w. Avery.)
Every numbering town from the
summit Of the Rocky mountains te
i the coast y surrounded by large and
fertile tracts Of logged-over lands
These lands are held principally BY
the lumber companies and the North
ern Pacific railway. who either re.
fuse to sell at any price or hold
them so high that the actual settler
cannot buy them and clear and i'm
prove them without serious loss tc
the purchaser. The great economic
movement back to the farm"here
comes sQuarely against the prob.
lem Of millions Of acres OF fertile
land from which they are excluded
A few years ago the now pros
porous province Of New Zealand
came up to the same stumbling block
in their pathway. Vast tracts OF
land were held by few individuals
and much Of it was lying idle; and
the owners as q rule were not even
residents Of the province.
The working and producing class
es Joined hands with the business
interests and secured control Of the
provincial legislature. Their first
work was to amend the land tax
laws Of the province.
LIST. They exempted from taxation
all improvements on real estate up
to reasonable limit.
End. They deducted from the
assessed value OF the land any
debts the actual farmer owed on
his land.
3rd. They taxed mortgages the
same as an equivalent of farm land,
and taxed them to the man who
owned them, not to the man who
owed them.
4th. They exempted from taxa
ton valuation of $500 on land act
ually farmed and cultivated
9Th. They levied step .'ate tax
on large holdings Of lane held by an
individual or company. A normal
tax on the first tract or subdivision,
a larger tax on the next one, a
step higher tax on the third one,and
so on.
Then the government loaned mon
ey to settlers with which to pur-
chase land. giving them very favor
able terms and low interest. In
actual practice this law placed the
heaviest burden Of taxation on the
idle land.
II me actual farmer owned clear
Of incumbrance, a farm worth $3.50
he would be entitled to $500 exemp-
ton. and would have to pay taxes On
$1,000. If he owed $500 on his
land he would pay taxes on $500,
and If he owed $1,000 he would pay
no taxes at all. This method of
taxing idle land is the key to the
marvellous prosperity of New Zeal
and. It made the holding OF idle
land Improbable and compelled the
owners to put it on the market. The
result was to change New Zealand
from a land Of the homeless to a
contented and happy people.
Vancouver. B. c.. has adopted a
modified form Of the New Zealand
system. There they exempt all i'm
provements on land from taxation
and levy much heavier tax on idle
than on occupied land. To illus
trate: A man living in Vancouver
owns some lots. all lying together
and Of equal value; on half Of his
holdings he has built and owns a
six-story hotel. the other half of
his holdings is vacant. He has to
pay much heavier tax on the idle
portion Of his lots than he pays on
the part with six-story building on
it.. This policy IS causing heavy
influx of settlers to move. that way
and settle upon the logged-over
lands in that vicinity. Seattle has
been looking on and growing tired
OF seeing her people move up to
Vancouver whilst her own city lots
and stump land were lying idle, is
preparing to vote ON a modified
form Of the Vancouver system.
In this connection it might be
well to state that none of the Eng
lish provinces has a written consti-
tuition. They are at liberty to regu-
late taxation and almost any other
question as they wish.
The constitution of Montana would
have to be amended before any
tax system of this nature could be
.5s5s.33..3. !. .3..SS-33..33..3..SS..s..33.33.
|T TYPEWRITER +