The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1917-11-03
IMPROVEMENTS
ARE NOT TAXED
Western Canada Does Not Tax
Stock or Improvements but
Collects an Additional Tax
From Land Spectators.

Owners of uncultivated lanos III
Western Canada are loud in thelr pho
tests against an extra tax on tieii
lands because they are not uhoef eui
tivation. Western Canada, through It's
provincial governments, Is enoeaVor-
ing to force the speculative land OWNER
to either sell his land to settler Vi "
cultivate It himself At present sur
tax of few cents an acre Is le'ieo
against all wild land, so that the own
er Of land held in its natural state
without improvements, Is contrlputins
more taxes to the government than lhe
owner Of q farm that is cultivated anu
even improved with buildings ana
stock to the value Of thousands OF doi-
lars. In order to encourage the 1arlh-
er to improve and to go into stock rals-
ing, he is not charged one cent OF taxes
on any of his Improvements, lmple-
ments or stock Of any kind.
As result of this surtax on I'M
cultivated or Speculatively held Ianus'
the owners are now trying to sell them
to actual settlers, and, in nearly every
instance, have been offering on very
easy terms of payment, usually quar-
ter down, and the balance extending
over a term Of years at prices much
Tower than their productive value
would warrant.
A worldwide shortage In farm stu1fs
has given q new value to oil agrlcui-
tural products and the margin OF pront
today is greater than ever In the past
1t is true labor and implements nave
increased in price, but 1t Is now pos
sible to secure 500 profit in farming
and higher. Possibly not on the $lOO
to 5000 an acre farm lands but on land
that can now, under existing condl-
tons, be purchased at from $15 to S3o
Der acre. Western Canadian farm
lands are as productive as any in the
world and can be as economically
farmed. Wheat yields Of from 30 to
so bushels per acre have been common
in Western Canada during the past
few years, and the farmers have been
too busy farming all they can so as to
sell as much wheat as possible at SOU
a bushel, that they have not had time
to do any talking or writing. 1t IL
doubtful IL there ever was Such an
opportunity to make big profits IL
farming. The value of each years
crop has been in hundreds of cases
more than the market value Of the
land it was grown ON. 1t Is un
reasonable to suppose such con
tlition will last long, as the land nov
being forced onto the market by sur
tax on speculative owners will soor
become absorbed by those who have
learned of these highly profitable
wheat lands. The news is spreading
gradually throughout the high priced
land districts in the United States
where there is q renewed awakening
to the realization that the maximum
profit in farming is not being obtained
when 1t is possible to secure from
forty to seventy per cent return on the
Investment In Western Canada. Many
who have been planning to visit West
ern Canada for the purpose Of person
ally investigating conditions are leav-
Ing this month, when the good weather
can be enjoyed. AS threshing opera
lions and marketing of grain is under
way, no better time could be selected
to secure first hand and reliable infor-
nation from the farmers themselves.
The winter months afford ample time
for completing moving arrangements,
to allow the settler to take up resi-
dence in early spring, so as to get
something done next year and to make
start on the big and profitable farm.
Ing operations in Western Canada
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