Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 edition. Excerpt: ...In 1896-1897 there were 501 holdings of 10,000 acres and over, containing 54 per cent of the total acreage, and in 1905-1906 there were 502 of such holdings, containing 47 per cent of the total acreage. In 1896-1897 there were 112 holdings of 50,000 acres and over, comprising 30 per cent of the total acreage, while in 1905-1906 there were 90 holdings of this class, comprising 24 per cent of the total acreage. For a number of years the policy of the government has been directed toward the breaking up of the great estates. In the year 1892 the Cheviot estate of 84,755 acres was bought for 260,220, under "The Land and Income Assessment Act," and presently sold or leased to a large number of small holders. In the same year was passed the first of a series of Land for Settlements Acts, under which 938,173 acres have been bought by the government and leased in perpetuity to small holders. Many of these small holders have made large profits upon the land thus acquired, while the country has gained much from closer settlement and more intensive farming. During the session of 1906 the government brought in a bill to limit the holdings in rural land of any individual or corporation to an unimproved value of 50,000. The bill met with strong opposition and was dropped, but in the present session another bill has been introduced, providing for a considerable increase in the progressive tax on lands of which the unimproved value is 40,000 and over. Before the year 1896 there was no uniformity in the system of valuing land. The Land Tax Department periodically employed a small army of temporary valuers and each local authority had its own method of making up its roll for the levying of rates. But on October 17, 1896, was..."
