XCVIII

H.—lB.

(c.) We believe that some of the advocates of this form of taxation propose to make further demands, and that these demands are calculated to place pioneer settlers in the position that any increased land-values may be claimed by the State, while any fall in values would have to be borne by the individual. (d.) We also believe that agriculture is already bearing more than its fair share of public taxation, and the ever-increasing demands on the industry are prejudicial to the entire community, tending as they do to deter the pioneers from bringing the backblocks into cultivation, and thus to retard the increase of our exports. (c.) When a settler tests virgin soils and demonstrates that some are extremely fertile he enhances not only the value of his own lands, but also the value of the adjoining Crown lands, and he is therefore fairly entitled to all the increased land-values that may accrue from his expenditure of capital and labour. (/.) The goodwill of an hotel and city trader's business also includes a community-created value, and is dependent on presence of population. Geo. W. Leadley. A. Fairbairn. Edwin Hall. Reservation No. 6, by Mr. Robertson and Mr. Veitch, on Recommendation No. 8. While we recognize the advantages of increasing the useful population of New Zealand, and by means of systematic immigration if necessary, we feel that under existing conditions it would be unwise to further increase the already large volume of immigration, as evidenced by the heavy bookings by every Home steamer arriving in our ports. Judging also by the large number of departures, we do not appear to be offering sufficiently good prospects to our own population to induce them to remain here. In our opinion a land policy is urgently required which will enable our own population to have easy access to land for occupation and use. This would tend to relieve any congestion in the labour-market, and make more openings, with better prospects, in the manufacturing and distributing industries for which the large majority of our immigrants are best suited. J. Robertson. W. A. Veitch.