St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-01-17

ldCeS Wnlle the OGQer mas nothing, we
come down and demand OF the indus
trious and thrifty man because of his
industry and thrift. We say that is not
and we say further, and it is perfectly
clear to any one who will look at the
system of our taxation, that it is essen
TALLY unjust" "a.
The disposition of the wealth of the
country was next touched upon. There
were in the United States to-day no less
than 100 citizens whose incomes were
$1,000 900 per year, while according to
the figures of the census the average
earnings of the agricultural laborers
were not more than $500 per year, and
the average earnings of the great mass
OF the population did not amount to $500
per year. "fhe great mass of our peo-
pie find it hard to live. They toll from
years end to years end, and at the end
of the year are very fortunate indeed II
they can have few dollars laid by.
But the great mass of our people are
working from year to year, merely
maintaining their families, and that I'M
way that is unworthy of an American
citizen at the close of the ninteenth CEN
fury. They are not half-clOthed.
they are not housed, they get but the
scantest portion of all the advantages
and IuXuries which an advancing civil
iZation brings, and they merely manage
to live" The impression prevailed,
largely among farmers, that to concen-
trate taxes on land values would be to
put taxes on the farmer and let the cap
italistS escape. 1t would be the reverse.
Farming was only one of the uses OF
land; man could not live without using
land. By putting taxes on land values
thnrn ri lxy q
taxation off the agricultural districts,
off the outskirts, and a concentration OF
taxation upon the cerlters of industry.
That was as it should be. The value of
land of great city did not come en-
tirely from the population of that city;
it came in degree from the agricult
ural population OF which it was
the center. st. Paul and Min
neapolis could not exist if there
were no one in the district
of which they were the center. Taxes
on personal property and Improvements
bore with most weight upon the farmer
and the mechanic, and allowed the rich
man to escape. For instance, by the
auditors report of Minnesota, in Mime
apoliS and st. Paul, where, unquestion-
and the largest amounts of personal
property-where personal property con-
centrated-the value of personal prop
erty and structures amounted to only 50
per cent of the land values: whereas, in
the state at large, outside of Minneapolis
and ST. Paul, personal property and inn
proyements exceeded the land value by
100 per cent. There was over the United
States. and especially the new sections,
one general scramble for land, not for
use. but simply to hold, that the men
who some day must use it will be COM
PEELED to pay high price. That is
the reason why our people are crowded
too closely together in our principal
cities, while all through the country
they are too widely scattered. 1.-The
tax upon land valueS-to concentrate
everything upon the single tax-would,
in the first place, do away with this tax
ing the poor man so much more heavily
than the rich man; would do away with
those forms of taxation that make the
farmers pay far greater proportion of
their income and their gain than do the
rich men of the cities; would do away
with all those taxes that fine men for
cultivating and improving; would give
to every one who wished to add to the
wealth of the state the assurance what
ever his labor or eXertion produced he
might enjoy; and it would, by making
the value of the taxes on land more
heavy, crush out speculation and enable
the user to get land when he wanted to
use it without paying blackmail price
to the man who did not want to use it,"
Senate Chaplain Lathrop asked the
question: "What amount of taxation
would railroad stakeholder pay under
the single tax system"'
Mr. George should like to ask the
gentleman. if he will permit me, ques-
ton in reply to question: "Does that
man pay his fair share of the burdens
now?"
Chaplain Lathrop-I presume he does
not; but under your theory, as it occurs
to me, he would not pay anything at all.
Applause.
Mr.. George-He would pay far more
than he does now Railroads would
have the value of their lands taxed, and
would necessarily have to pay a much
larger as essment than they do now.
This would affect the stockholders. Mr..
George stated that he favored state con-
troll of railroads and telegraphs.
Hearty applause greeted Mr.. George
at the conclusion of his address.