A man who valued himself unfairly low would not be bought out at once
and dispossessed by Government, unless it happened that during that
year his land was taken up by Government or by a railway company for
some public purpose. The regular course of business would be as
follows:--An owner A would put his house and curtilage in the Rate
Book at L1200. The sycophant B would come to the magistrate, offer
L1600 for the property, and lodge the L1600 with the magistrate. The
magistrate then, without divulging the name of the sycophant, would
write to A either to rate his house at L1600 (paying a fine for so
doing), or to take L1600 for it. If he took the L1600, B would get
the property, and Government the increased rate. If A preferred
raising his rateable value to L1600, B would get the fine, Government
would get the increased rate.

_The utmost pressure put upon any owner under this system would be
that, if he would not pay rates on x pounds for his property, he
would lie obliged to take x pounds for the property._

The 33-1/3 per cent for compulsory purchase is illusory, and I have
only put it in the statement of the scheme to meet an objection which
I know to be common (and equally illusory). It is clear that if I know
I am going to get 33-1/3 per cent for compulsory purchase, whether
from Government or a secret sycophant, I shall proportionately
undervalue my property. Thus if I estimate the real value of my house
and curtilage at L1200, and feel that I do not care if I sell at that
price, I shall put it down in the Rate Book at L900. This applies to
all owners, so that the allowance for compulsory sale would only
artificially depreciate by one-fourth all the rateable values put down
in the magistrate's book.