"Finally, … New Zealand has adopted a system of old-age pensions. A pension of seven shillings a week is to be given to every person above the age of sixty-five years, provided he or she has lived in the colony for twenty-five years, and is able to pass a certain test in regard to sobriety and general good conduct. … In South Australia direct taxation takes two forms. There is an income tax at the rate of four and a half pence in the pound up to £800, and of six-pence in the pound above £800 of taxable amount resulting from personal exertions, and at the rate of ninepence and one shilling in the pound respectively on incomes from property. Incomes between £125 and £425 enjoy exemption on £125 of the amount. Again, there is a tax on the unimproved value of land of one half-penny in the pound up to, and one penny above, the capital value of £5000. … "Similar taxation is to be found in New Zealand, and includes both a progressive income tax and a tax on land values which is more highly graduated than that of South Australia. … All improvements are excluded from the assessment of the taxable amount. … If the owner of the property is dissatisfied with the assessment of the government, he can call upon them to buy it of him at their own valuation. In only one case has such an extreme step been taken; and it is pleasant to find that it has resulted in an annual profit of nearly five per cent upon the outlay, and that the land which formerly gave employment to a few shepherds is now occupied by a large number of thriving settlers. {29} I may add that when the government deem that an estate is not being developed as it should be by its owners, they are authorized by statute to purchase it—by negotiation if possible, otherwise at a price paid by an impartial tribunal—with a view to its subdivision into small holdings suitable to the requirements of the community. This system of taxation, it will be said with some truth, is based upon the teachings of Henry George. He travelled in Australia and New Zealand, and was listened to with attention; but, while he looked to the ultimate absorption of the whole unearned increment, his hearers in the antipodes dissociated themselves from his conclusions, though they appreciated the value of his premises. Consequently, while accepting his principles, they did not hesitate to exempt small properties from the tax, and to increase its rate progressively in relation to the amount of the unimproved value. …