IMPERIAL POLITICS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2577, 11 August 1909, Page 5

IMPERIAL POLITICS.

LORD LANSDOWNE’S CRITICISM

A DENUNCIATION OF LAND NATIONALISATION. •United Press Association—Copyright LONDON, August 9.

Lord Lansdowne, in the course of his ißowood Park speech, after criticising the Budget as creating insecurity and instability of trade, declared that the •outcome of evidence obtained by the Poor Law Commissioners and all other • enquiries was that what working people suffer from is the absence of steady employment, compelling them to resort to casual labor. Surely the remedy was the promotion steady employment and confidence, and the investment of capital in well-assured enterprises of all kinds. That was why the working classes were in favor of tariff, reform, as he believed they ail were. Referring to the land question, he said be was convinced the workers realised that if nationalisation occurred they would find themselves face to face not with a landlord, not with anything like real ownership, hut ownership of land by a Government department, commissioners, inspectors, and others. The people desired that the transfer of land should be cheap and easy; that it should he as widely distributed as possible, and that tho buyers of a hit of land should hold it, not as tenants from the nation, but as their own property. That was the ideal of the Unionist party. The “Spectator,” commenting on the Limehouse speech, describes Mr LloydGeorge, Chancellor of the Exchequer, as a second-class “Jack Cade.” If his. promises were accepted to excise proprietary rights regarding land, it would he nothing short of robbery, and landowners, whether great or. small, would all be parasites and blackmailers of the British Government.

[Jack Cade was the leader of a popular insurrection in Kent in the Fifteenth Century.]

THE UNDEVELOPED LAND TAX. THE STATE TO DO THE VALUATIONS. (Received August 10, 10.10 p.m.) LONDON, August 10. The closure was frequently applied in the House of Commons in connection with" the amendments to the Undeveloped Land Tax clauses of the Finance Bill. In the course of a spirited discussion, Mr. Lloyd-George disclosed the Government's intention that the State should undertake the work of raluation.

Mr. Balfour contrasted the small yield of) some of the land taxes with the cost of valuation, which he estimated at ten millions sterling.

THE TAX ON UNDEVELOPED LAND. A CONSERVATIVE amendment NEGATIVED. (Received August 11, 12.20 a.m.) In the House of Commons an amendment by Mr. Joynson Hicks, Conservative member for North-West Manchester, to omit the word “undeveloped” before the word “land,” with the view of inserting the words “which is unreasonably withheld from development,” was negatived by 17-5 to 83. He argued that the Ministerialists had heretofore defended the tax on the plea that landowners were deliberately holding back land. Mr. Lloyd-George replied that if an owner did his best to sell and obtained offers, the highest bid would be the best evidence that he could submit to the taxation commissioners.

THE HOUSE OF LORDS. POWER TO AMEND—AND RIGHT OF VETO. The point raised by Mr. Samuel— the power of the Lords to amend or interfere with the details of” a financial Bill—i s quite distinct from the point on which certain Liberal newspapers appear to be divided—-whether the Lords can force a dissolution? The Lords might possibly force a dissolution by the veto—i.e., by rejecting the# whole of a financial Bill, not amending

At this stage, when the financial powers of the Lords are so much m question, it may be well to recall some statements made recently in a Home paper, to the following effect :■ By constitutional practice the House of Lords never amends financial Dills. Their power to veto such Bills has even been questioned, and in recent years has never been exercised The Jast occasion upon which the House of herd rejected a financial Bill was in 1860, when it threw out the repeal of th paper duties by a majority of 89. the powers of the Upper House as understood under the Constitution have been thus defined by Sir Courtenay Übert, Clerk of the House of Commons: 1. The Lords ought not to initiate any legislative proposal, embodied m a public Bill, and imposing a charge on the people, whether, by way of rates, taxes, or otherwise, or regulating the administration or application. of money raised by such a charge. 2. The Lords ought not to amend any such legislative'proposal. c 3. The Lords may reject the whole m a Bill embodying any such legislative proposal, or may reject the whole of a set of provisions embodying any such legislative proposal, and forming part of a'Bill which they are otherwise to amend w’hen the set of provisions so rejected form ’a distinct band separate object. In 1861 the repeal of the paper duties was embodied not in a separate Bn , hut in the Budget and was sent up to the House of Lords, which thereupon passed the Budget en bloc. The refection of . the Budget would mean that the business of the country would be brought to a standstill, as thero would be no authority to Levy taxes and no source from wlnefi to •make payments.

CABLE NEWS.

THE NEW TAXES. The new taxes imposed by Mr. LloydGeorge in his Budget arc:— Increased tax on motor-cars,, according to horse-power. Tax of 3d a gallon on petrol for motor-cars.

Increased tax of 2d on incomes over £3OOO, with, super-tax of 6d after £SOOO on. the amount above £3OOO. Abatement of £lO per child under sixteen on incomes under £SOO. Increased estate and legacy duties. Increased stamp duties. Increased license duties. Tax of. 3d in the £ on liquor sold in clubs. . New scale of increased duties on brewers and distillers.

Tax of 20 per cent, (not restrospective) of the future unearned increment of land (i.e., the increase in value owing to the growth of a city or to public enterprise).. Valuation to be taken at once. Tax of in the £ on mineral royalties. Tax of id in the £ on capital value of undeveloped land and ungotten minerals. Ten per cent, reversion duty on benefit accuring from lessor’s.termination of a lease. Increase of 3s 9d a gallon on spirits, about a bottle, or id a small glass. Increase of 8d a lb. on unmanufactured tobacco, or id an oz., with corresponding increase on cigars and cigarettes.

THE CLOSURE AND THE GUILLOTINE. The closure and the “closure by compartments” (or guillotine) are two different methods. The closure, first used in the House of Commons in 1881 as a means of dealing with obstruction, is brought into operation by a member riisng in his place and claiming to move, “That the ouestion be now put,” although other members wish to speak. The motion, if it appears to the Chair to be fair, is put, and if it is carried, the motion before the House is decided at once without further debate. Not less than 100 members must vote in the majority in support of the closure. “Closure by compartments” is a drastic- form of closure that is adopted when the Government have a large Bill they wish to push through. In a “closure by compartments” resolution so many days are given to each of the remaining stages of the Bll; and on a day and hour mentioned in the resolution, the debate on each of the remaining stages of the Bill comes- automatically to an end, and any outstanding amendments have to be voted upon without debate. The sentiment of Liberal or Unionist towards the lise of the guillotine depends on which party is in office to apply it.