SOME OTHER REMEDIES 225 



8. Rating and Taxation of Land Values 



A new remedy for rural evils has lately 

 been pushed to the front. The rating and 

 taxation of land values has descended like 

 some deus ex machina to dispel the mists which 

 have so long settled on rural prosperity. One 

 gathers from the speeches of its exponents 

 that the rating of land on its unimproved 

 value is to benefit the labourer, the small 

 holder, the farmer, and even the landlord 

 simultaneously ! It is, one fears, too good 

 to be true, unless indeed it be taken for 

 granted that in some vague and benevolent 

 fashion the hypothetical millions to be raised 

 from urban land values are to be partly applied 

 to the relief of rural burdens. Such a doctrine 

 might be rendered popular in the country 

 districts, but the British farmer, who enjoys 

 the unique privilege of having half his rates 

 paid for him, must indeed be an optimist if he 

 believes that the town populations will consent 

 to furnish any further help on these lines. 



When you ask our " land-taxers " about the 

 precise benefits which will accrue to a rural 

 parish from their financial proposals, you are 

 usually met with such phrases as " land will 

 be forced into the market," " land at present 

 neglected in the interests of sport or pleasure 



