[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "Srtcrwroo. - ] Sin,—Unfortunately, through pressure of
business, I have not had the advantage of following the correspondence on this sub- ject in your columns, but as the owner of between two hundred and three hundred country cottages, the bulk of which yield a net annual return of about £1 per cottage, perhaps you will allow me to make two suggestions on the subject. (1) It is a rule of economics that if you want to have a thing produced you must not tax its production, therefore remit Death Duties on all tenements under £10 annual value and on all funds earmarked for cottage building. (2) The allowance of one- sixth for repairs, &c., is entirely inadequate for rural cottages. Justice demands that it should be one-third, both for rating and for Schedule A. Could these reforms be carried out I would willingly contract to devote £1,000 a year for the next ten years to cottage-building, and I have no doubt that many other owners of land would do the same.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Previous page
