A Memorial from the Auctioneers' Institute of the United Kingdom
protesting against the Finance Bill has been for- warded to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The memorialists contend that many of the provisions will cause grievous loss and injury to freeholders, lessees, mortgagees, or trustees ; will increase unemployment, especially in the building trade ; and discourage investment in land. The Increment, Reversion, and Undeveloped Land Duties in their opinion not only involve a violation of existing contracts, but will depreciabe the value of land, penalise the owner, and destroy the element of security which is essential for invest- ment purposes. They also state that the development of estates has in some cases been arrested as the direct conse- quence of the Government's proposals. The ruling market- prices indicate that investors will not acquire interest in real estate in the future except at prices showing a much higher rate of interest upon their invested capital than had heretofore obtained. "Logically the inevitable result would be the cessation of building enterprise or an increase in rents."
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