| Show THE LAND QUESTION I 1 was much interested in the letter of your correspondent walter bryant in last Satur saturdays dayn NEWS the land question is certainly au an important I 1 one we must of course have money of ft sufficient volume to do the business of the country and of a stable value we should havo have such control of the railroads as will insure refair fair a aad equit able abie rates but those these reforms will Os b of little value if we permit the land ahe to raw material irom from which all wealth to Is created to be appropriated for aleca i dative purposes whatever checks easy access to land hampers production and lessens the opportunity for labor to t find and employment there may be plenty ft capital ready for investment in production and plenty of labor anxious for employment but it if land without which production to Is Im impose ble is held at such snob a figure as to make investment in productive enter prison unprofitable capital will not dog in vest our present system of taxation duk con cou rages production and puts a premium on speculation the tax on ceraos personal property and improvements is virtually a fine on production while the of such improvements RO go almost en to the owners owner of real estate while the owners of this thin real estate pay but a small email proportion of these benefits in the form of af taxation I 1 contend that the values created by the individual should belong solely to the individual and that the taxes used for the benefit of the community should come from those values created solely by the community i 1 e land values to put such a system of taxation into operation requires radical no change in our present system As an the airet step towards securing such a re form I 1 would suggest that a provision be incorporated in our proposed state constitution ution requiring a separate return by the assessors of real estate irn im prove ments and personal property and permitting each municipality or county to decide what proportion ot of taxes shall ahan be raised from each species peales of property the municipality may theu then uboldo to raise say sixty per cent ot of the tax zee on the real estate and forty per pa cent on OD improvements and personal property the next you year bej may levy 70 per cent op real sets detate and aa 80 on improvements and so no shot alter the U proportions until at the end of six als or eight years the entire tax to la aalt raised led broox real estate e this la Is no untried experiment the legislative assembly of the northwest territories of canada some time ago passed the following ordinance for the purpose of assessment real property shall include lands buildings and improvements thereon but the value of the land only shall be assessed all buildings and improvements on real estate stocks of merchandise machinery mechanics tools and all ali personal property shall be exempted from taxation this ordinance is made optional by the following chaute the adoption of this ordinance by any municipality shall hall be option optional als which must be decided by a two thirds majority of the members of the council or upon receipt of a petition signed by one half of the resident rate payers of the municipality ci the county shall adopt and sorry carry into effect the provisions provision of this ordinance under this provision there is no danger clanger of a system of taxation being adopted chion is repugnant to a majority bority of the taxpayers tax payers the city of regina has boa adap ed this system with very good results A bill adopted in manitoba in 1890 to is as follows all lands in rural municipal counties improved for farming or gia gardening purposes shall be assessed at the same ame value as such lands would be assessed it if unimproved I this encourages the fhe actual farmer while it ii discourages the speculator in lands it is the actual farmer who should be lightened of the burdens of taxation and the speculator who abound be made to pay a larger proper the effect of such a system of flix taxation edon to is to discourage land speculation end and encourage the making of improve mento ments the production of wealth and the employment of labor suppose every front foot of main beet from first to second south were taxed at the asma rate independent of what kind ot of building was on it would it not tend to encourage the erection of better buildings since ble tax would not be increased it if a flue fine block was put on the land would not the owner of a one story shack deside decide that it was more f profitable profitable table to put if a better building in n this way ibe be man am who Is holding lots lota in idleness waiting for his bis neighbors to put up buildings and increase inci ease the value of 1318 hl liadi would not be able to reap the reward of other mens toll toil he would we me his land or air dispose of it to someone w who ho won would id apply the same argument to coal and other mineral I 1 lands ends to agricultural and forest lands and imagine it if you can what an immense stimulus tumulus it would give to prodUCt production iOD bow it would open up new opportunities for capital and labor how bow it would bh check the unproductive investment of capital in land for speculative purposed pur seal it would be like the opening up of a now new continent we have unused resources in this country that would easily support a population of but ao long as so much Is held in idleness for speculative purposes so ao long as capital and labor cannot use thai except on OD payment of a tribute that CUM makes their use unprofitable or only odly a small email margin of profit thousands of laborers will near bearch e ahin in vain for work and capital will re remain m ain idle the reform Is easy of application will work no injustice to anyone and a growing number of people are looking to it as aa the most moat promising solution of the labor question N B DRESSER september Sept embar 18 1894 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