TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION F 475 
tive errors or omissions, and to the absence of a proper classification of land, 
with separation of pastoral and agricultural interests. 
The perpetuation of the large estate once accumulated is assisted by family 
sentiment and the innate conservatism of the average landowner. 
The national desire that land should be used for its best purpose is kept 
alive by the agitation of men who desire to obtain land for agricultural purposes, 
but are prevented by the existing pastoral occupation. There is also a con- 
stantly increasing antagonism in the popular mind against those who misuse 
or neglect the opportunities afforded by the ownership of land. 
The experiments on hybridisation of wheat which resulted in the inventior 
of varieties capable of withstanding some degree of drought have brought 
immense additional rust-proof areas of land into the agricultural domain, and 
incidentally brought the owners of these lands within the scope of the attack 
directed against land monopolists and those who do not use their lands to the 
best advantage. 
The general policy of taxing land was analysed with special reference to the 
paramount need of encouraging land settlement, and the possible contingency 
that cumulative imposts of this nature may tend to create the impression that 
such enterprises are unremunerative. 
The independent action of Commonwealth, State, and Municipal agencies in 
this connection accentuates the danger, as each pursues its taxing scheme with 
a view to its own financial needs, and possibly without paying any regard to 
the gravity of the tax imposed by other agencies. The possibility of substituting 
one taxing and valuing agency for the existing agencies is discussed, and a 
scheme suggested which should minimise cost and secure greater consistency and 
efficiency. 
The Federal scheme of taxation was described with special reference to the 
policy of exemption from tax in certain cases; the graduation of tax; the 
taxation of secondary interests, such as land represented by company shares ; 
and the taxation of absentees on the higher scale. 
The relation of the taxing scheme to certain forms of land tenure was con- 
sidered. The differentiation in treatment in favour of landholders in different 
States holding under almost similar titles was shortly described. 
The general effects of the several land tax systems in the direction of 
stimulating settlement and bringing about a more effective treatment and 
greater productiveness of land was illustrated by reference to available statistics. 
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19. 
The following Papers were read :— 
1. On Cerlain Characteristics of Manufacturing Industry in Australia. 
By G. H. Knisss, C.M.G., F.S.S. 
In this paper characteristics of manufacturing industry in Australia are 
quantitatively analysed from the data covering all such industries in that 
country. The basic principle of the analysis was to form such groups as would 
disclose the relationship of the elements compared, the groups being large 
enough to minimise merely accidental influences. In doing this the arbitrary 
magnitudes of individual businesses and the absolute cost of the material used 
were eliminated from the problem by restricting the analysis to capital invested 
per employé, the added value per employé, horse power per employé, and so on. 
It is shown a priori that certain characteristics of the relations, for example, 
of ‘added value’ and wages, both per employé, to capital invested per employé 
are likely to obtain. These may be expressed by an equation of the form 
y= Ae-™ 2. 
The personal and local factors mark this in small groupings, and even in 
groupings for individual industries. Certain large groupings seem to show 
that these a priori deductions do characterise industry in the aggregate. In the 
endeavour to secure from industry the highest wages possible ‘added value’ 
