be given up and to become unsaleable, not so much because the present burden is intolerable but because it is merely the thin end of the wedge. They point to the programme of the Labour Party in which it is stated that the duty should be taken off certain articles of ordinary consumption, the deficiency (which, according to an official estimate, would be L310,000 a year) to be made up by increasing the tax on land values, and argue that as the Labour Party hold the {19} Government under their thumb, they will be able to enforce compliance with their wishes. It is difficult for a stranger to judge to what extent possessors of capital have actually been deterred from investing it in land, especially as several important factors have led concurrently to a depreciation in its value, such as the fall in the prices of wheat and wool, the failure of banks which were interested, directly or indirectly, in large tracts of country, and bad legislation, passed some ten years ago, under which the runs were cut up into blocks too small for the successful prosecution of the pastoral industry. The Government can point to Pastoral Acts which are admitted to be steps in the right direction, and challenge their opponents to show in what way they could have raised the L20,000 yielded by the additional Land Tax with less burden to the community. The Absentee Tax lacks similar justification, as it only brings in L3,600 a year. It is defended by the Premier on the ground that the absentee, as regards his property, has the full protection of the administration of the laws, and should contribute to the expenditure necessary for the maintenance of the State; and that he does not do so to the extent of those who live in South Australia and contribute daily to the revenue by means of the Customs in all they eat and drink and practically all they put on. On the other hand it is contended that it is of supreme importance to attract capital to the Colony and that this principle is recognised {20} in the case of public loans and Treasury bonds, on which no income tax is charged, and should also be taken into consideration with reference to private investments in land. Succession Duty is levied upon a graduated scale, ranging from 1-1/2 per cent. for L500 to 10 per cent. for L200,000 and upwards in the case of a widow, widower, ancestor or descendant of the deceased, and from 1 per cent. for any amount under L200 to 10 per cent. for L20,000 and upwards where the property is inherited by a person in any degree of collateral consanguinity. If the heir is a stranger in blood he pays 10 per cent. whatever be the value of the property. In order to promote the diffusion of wealth the rate of the tax is based upon the amount inherited, not upon the total value of the estate.