TOWARDS SOCIAL PEACE
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Sit,—Take your stand on the roof of any high building, in one of our crowded cities, and consider the vacant sites, advertised in the streets below " For Sale " ; especially the great numbers littered with brickbats and other rubbish in suburbs that are being " developed." Obviously each of these small plots represents a dormant income at its owners' disposal. An income the amount of which depends on the public services paid for by rates and taxes levied on the occupation of property.
Ask yourself is there any reason why this land continues lying waste, year after year, save only, that the owners refuse to accept the highest offers obtainable for their unas- sessed freehold property, presumably, in the hope of ultimately selling it at an enhanced price.
Is not the more equitable taxation of all values belonging to land in itself, both practicable and just ? Would not such a change of our fiscal laws tend to reduce the excessive taxation now levied on the occupation of property, thus opening an important outlet for the profitable employment of capital and labour ?—I am, Sir, &c.,
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