178 OUR ENGLISH LAND MUDDLE. 



The maintenance of education and of the poor 

 (for examples) are rightly matters for the nation, 

 not for a locality. 



With a clear definition of local and national 

 matters some great injustices could be removed 

 — for example, that of one locality being handi- 

 capped by a high poor rate, or of another being 

 called upon to pay for the education of children 

 who then emigrate to other places. 



After local services had been strictly defined, 

 the local governments could be left to derive 

 their revenues from rates (representing fees for 

 services, such as water supply, paving, lighting, 

 drainage), and from grants in aid from the 

 national Treasury, which could fairly be graded 

 by consideration of the comparative density of 

 population on local government areas. The local 

 government bodies would in effect be left no 

 right of " taxation," only of rating for definite 

 services rendered ; and their one possible source 

 of revenue apart from that would be grants from 

 the Treasury. 



Land taxation would thus be left as purely 

 a national matter, and a clear way would be 

 opened up for a decision as to what proportion 



