The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1871-07-29


promote, not the abolition Of landed prop
erty, but its reform. and the vindication OF
those rights of the entire community which
need not be, and never ought 10 have been.
waived in favor Of the landlords. One Of
these is the right Of laying peculiar taxation
on land. Landed property enjoys a special
advantage over other property. and for
that special advantage it ought to pay. This
Is the purpose Of the fourth article of the
programme.
There are some things which, if allowed
to be articles of commerce at all, cannot be
prevented from being monopolized articles.
On all such the State has an acknowledged
right to fiRit the profits Railways, for
instance. are inevitably q monopoly, and
the State, accordingly, sets legal limit to
the amount Of railway fares. Now, land
IS one of these natural monopolies. The
demand for il, in every prosperous country,
is constantly rising. while the land itself IL
susceptible Of but little increase. All such
articles. when indispensable to human ex-
iStence, tend irresistibly TO raise in price,
with the progress Of wealth and population.
The rise of the value of land, and of the
incomes Of landowners, during the present
century, has been enormous. Part of it.
undoubtedly, has been due to agricultural
products, and for building land, and would
have taken place even though no money
had been laid out in increasing the produe.
tive powers of the soil. Such outlay,
moreover, as there has been, was made, in
great proportion of cases, not by the land
lord, but by The tenant, who may or may
not have been indemniied BY temporary
enjoyment Of the profits; but, sooner or
later, the increased ieturn produced by
the tenants capital has become an un-
earned addition to the income Of the land
lord
The society are of opinion that in allow
ing the land to become private property,
the State ought to have reserved TO itself
this accession of income, and that lapse of
time does not extinguish this right, what
ever claim to compensation it ray establish
in favor of the landowners. The land is
the original inheritance of all mankind
The usual, and by far the best argument
for its appropriation by individuals is, that
private ownership gives the strongest mo
tive for making the soil yield the greatest
possible produce. But this argument is
only valid for leaving to the owner the full
enjoyment of whatever value be adds to
the land by his own exertions and expen-
dIture. There is no similar reason for al
lowing him to appropriate an increase Of
value to which be has contributed nothing,
but which accrues to him from the general
growth Of society, that is to say, not from
his own labor or expenditure, but from
that Of other people-of the community at
large.
The society do not propose to disturb the
landowners in their past acquisitions. But
they assert the right of the State to all such
accessions Of income in the future. What
ever value the land may have acquired at
the time when the principle they contend
for shall obtain the assent Of parliament,
they do not propose TO interfere with. If,
rather than submit to be specially taxed on
the future increase Of bis rent, landowner
prefers to relinquish his land to the State,
the society are willing that the State should
pay for it 1t its selling value. By this
provision, all his lust claims will be fully
satisfied, while the bargain will still be
highly advantageous to the nation, since an
individual never gives, in present money,
for remote profit, anything like what that
profit is worth to the State, which il i'm
mortal. In this manner, that increase Of
wealth which now flows into the Golfers Of
private persons from the mere progress of
society, and not from their own merits or
sacrifices, will be gradually, and in an in
creasing proportion, diverted from them to
The nation a. a whole, from whose collective
exertIons and sacrlticss it really proceeds.
| The State will receive the entire rent Of
The lands voluntarily sold to it by their
possessors, together with tax OH the future
increase Of rent on those properties whose
owners have sufficient confidence in the
justice and moderation Of the State to pre-
ter retaining them. These owners should
be allowed at any future period to alter
their minds, and give up their lands for the
price first offered or more, if they can
snow that they have made, during the in
tervening period, substantial Improvement
at their own cost. The option thus allowed
would be a permanent security to the land
owners against any unjust or excessive
exercise Of the right Of taxation by the
State.
Objections have been made to the taxa
ton OF a prospective increase Of rent, on
the ground Of difficulties of execution I; but
those difficulties, fairly encountered, would
not, it is conceived, be very serious. IL is
not necessary to enforce the law Of Ihe State
to the utmost farthing. A large margin
should be allowed Tor possible miscalcula
ton. A valuation Of all the land in the
country would be made in the first instance,
and registration established Of subsequent
improvements made by the landlord. Tax
alton would not have commenced until there
had been time for an increase Of value to
accrue, and s5ould then be kept carefully
within the amount Of increase due to gen.
eral causes. If landowner could prove
that, owing to special circumstances, his
estate had not shared in the general rise Of
value, be would be exempt from the tax
and at all events, if the just limit was ex.
ceeded, the power Of surrendering the land
at its original valuation, augmented by q
just compensation for subsequent improve.
ments, would be a sufficient protection 10
the pecuniary interests Of the landlords.
This reassertiou of the right of the State
to lay special taxation, within the limits
now specified, on the rent Of land, is the
extent Of the claim made by the society,
in behalf Of the nation, upon the lands
which have been permitted to become the
Patrimony Of private families. But there
IS another large portion of the lands Of the
country which are not yet private property,
and to these the society demands that the
right Of the nation be benceforth maintained.
As much Of the original right Of the whole
people to the land as the nation has already
parted With to individuals, the programme
Of the association leaves to those who have
it. But they decidedly object to parting