In the House of Commons on Thursday the vote for
the Land Valuation Office gave the Opposition an opportunity to challenge the methods of valuation under the 1910 Budget. In his defensive speech Mr. Lloyd George announced that a committee of experts was to be appointed to inquire into the work of valuation, and to report whether any modifications of the machinery for carrying it out were necessary. Mr. Pretyma,n declared that there had been trickery, for which, however, the valuers were not responsible. Instructions had been issued under which the profits of builders were to be taxed. This was a violation of the understanding that incre- ment value duty was to be levied only on the augmented site value of the land on which a building stood. Mr. Austen Chamberlain declared that agricultural land was over-valued and urban land under-valued. In the end the Opposition amendment was negatived by a majority of 79 (194.115).
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