Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 189, 8 May 1891 — FINANCIAL REFORM. [ARTICLE]

FINANCIAL REFORM.

All inodern s6cieties are founded on the princip]e that every :vian h-is to oontribute hi& just share towards the ruaintenance cf Governnient, and nowell-balance mind will be found objocting to pay a fair proporiion of a just and honest t*ixatioiv. But the differnoese of iheir opinion and soquenco of disputes begin,s on thr pmr<t« as to what is f;iir, j'»st and-.hoHest in t ix:ition; -Their ib no djubt that tho (inaneial system of tnis King-dr-ni is sorf,]y in noed of a ■thoroujrh overluuilir.g nn«l romodeli:ig. on a good niany points, but espo< lallv on the two.cardinal ones of -v - 'i :t-■ an<l 'Ā'rr!inn. (,ur svstem of asse«sment is, om the whole, absurd and unjust, making the poorest citizen pay proportion;:tely as mueli as the richest, and lnying the bulk of taxation on nocessities of hfe or on the produce and revenue of hard exertionS and work, instead ofbeing laid principa]iy on the foundation of all empires, ihat is to say on land. The true dernocratie principle of assessnients is to tax lan<l according to its real worth for ,cultivaLĪ:)g purposes, and other values according to the revenue accruing from them. The extrao: dinary wealih of France, proportion to its size, is ihainly due to the facts: 1. That real estate there is divided and owned by the masses, cfteain ridiculously small parcels, so that nearly every man in the country is a land-owner. 2, That tKe taxation of all land is levied, not aecording to the casual crops grown on it at the whim of the owner, feut according t@ wimt its natural fertility would allow it to grow if it were properly eultivated, and this is an incentive forevery man to cultivate his property incessantly, eo as to make ii yield ' o theutoaost, in order to be able to stand the taxation thyeon.

Here, tbe system of estimating and asseBsin.g the best lawds a mere trifle, if they are not cu]tivatedaud then taxing crops without reference to the nature of the soīl uii whieh they are grown and the eost of tbeir production, is ejitireJy nnfair. Our lands oug'nt to be c!assified by our Survey Department, agreeable to a general public■.«tandard, iu ciasses accerding to natural fertility or (!apacity for culture; in France lands are divided for fiscal purposes, into 5 eias«e», from' the poorest and lowest good only for wood aod pasturage, up to the m©st fertile eapahle of the m©st exhaus"tive ortips. The immediate resuits of such a division be, an ineentive for extaiidir.g the -cultivated area, and sccond, a large inereabe in puhlie weailh and publicTev«uue. ' At present, many of the most fertile soil?, in lumpe of thousands of acres, are owned or grabbed in long leases, for specu!ation by neh men ©r corpcrations, who al■low them to lay idle, or keep them for the useless and selfish purposer «f runrang a few heads of pet cat-

tle. <»r in<>r< 4 ly to provpnt: othor I»oop:c fivnn p?ttiu.g- hold of them, and oonseq uont]y, such fands, oftcn fir«t cljiss siißar or rice lnifls, aro ass«'880(l» a inoro tri(le of vrh'at thcy ought to pay. If they were taxe<l accor<ling to real fertility, rich land would no longer be allowod t<> be wnsto<l a? pasturage or kept idlo. ur would anyhow have to pay thoir equitable share »f taxation as if they wore duly cultivated; and if oenaln the present ownors were unwilling or unable to pav the proper i;vxation on thpir unusod lands, they would have to aliow oth(. r ptfople to take them in hand and tum them to account for the uitiaiate benefit of all. Tlns aloiio wou!d l>e a very important rosult in a countr.v like this, where lands have been s® e:irelessiv alientod hy former govornniontS and so shainefully grabbed. bv ■■private parties, tliat it is i)pxt to inipossil)!e for poor peopie to got evon a modest lioinestoad, and nuu'h less to go into small fanning, whioli is the only thing for rapi(l'y bi;ilding up the wealth and po\vc*r of a nation. | The seoon<l poini is the rotten svsteni of collectin£ the taxes.