Dec. 6.
'The Shanghai Municipal Counci! has dealt courteously, firmly and it fs to be hoped acceptably with the Chinese Ratepayers' Asrociation's misapprehensions regarding the rating policy applied to the International Settlement. The Associa tion was apparently under the delusion that the Council, in some way or another, had instituted a mew system of rate-assessment which was in fact the outcome of an attempt to enhance the rate by Jadministrative interpretation. The Council has emphatically and eaten gorically assured the Association—ind the public at large—that its! rating policy is unchanged. The is of assessment of the Municipal Rate is the same now as it has been for 05 years. The basis of that policy is equality of taxation. In assessing rental values for the' purpose of rate-collection, the Council acts—and has always acted—on the principle that the rent is "prima facie evidence of the rateable value." Conditions sometimes vitiate that principle and. 'Court decisions, from 1867 onwards, have established the Council' authority to make the proper adjustment in the interests of fair taxation by making assessments in such cases without regard to the actual rental. Let it at once be noted that the number of such variations from the fundamental rule is relatively small. The Coun-'s statement, published in another column to-day, lucidly explains its position. There has been so much {loose table on this subject—not only among Chinese ratepayers—that the statement acquires special signific~ ance and is thoroughly worth attention.
As a method of securing an equitable system of taxation. assessment on the basis of the premises occupied by the citizen admittedly well-tested, in many parts of the world. It fulfils the essential requirement that the con tribution' demanded shall be in proportion to the means of the contributor. No system can be free from error In this respect, but the rental value of a residence affords 1 far better means of arriving at the financial resources of the res-dent than most other criteria. AS the Council points out the universal use of this method justifies acceptance of its soundness. The question fs really not the rent actually paid by the tenant but the rental value of his residence. Generally the rent receipt is a true indication Jot this value, but circumstances arise to demand supplementary evidence. The comparison of the rental value of a building with others either of the same or of
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.