A very striking letter from Lord Eversley on the taxation
of land values appeared in Thursday's Times. It will be remembered that Lord Eversley has all his life been a Liberal in politics and, as Mr. Shaw-Lefevre, sat in Liberal Cabinets. In his letter to the Times Lord Eversley produces a number of extremely cogent arguments against the land scheme of Mr. Wedgwood, Mr. Outhwaite, and Mr. Hemmerde. He shows, among other points, that the apparently modest pro- posal of a tax of 2d. in the pound on the capital value of land really amounts to far more than this. For, on the assumption that the capital value is twenty-five years' purchase of the rent, the amount of the tax must be multiplied by twenty-five; and the charge on the income of land values will thus amount to 4e. 2d. in the pound. In certain cases the tax will have an even heavier weight. Lord Eversley ends by saying that "it seems to be impossible to adopt such a scheme without the gravest injustice to large classes of the community."
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