The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1890-03-14
The Farm.
LETTING IN LIGHT.
THE SINGLE TAX MEN OF PHILADEL-
PHIA HAVE A TILT WITH AN OF.
FICIAL COMMITTEE ON
TAXATION.

FICIAL COMMITTEE ON
TAXATION.
Philadelphia, March 1.-Single tax
men made hit in the hearing this
week before the state commission ap-
pointed to investigate the question OF
taxation. A. II. Stephenson and j. l.
Shoemaker represented the Henry
George club. and the latter distributed
to the members OF the commission and
others present copies of proposed law
providing for separate assessment Of
land and Improvements, and empower
ing local taxing bodies to exempt from
taxation all building, structures, liv
ing trees, developments of mines,
personal property and all products
of labor, all salaries, posts Of
profits, professions, trades and occupa
tions, money at interest, stocks, bonds
and loans.
Mr.. Stephenson then had a hearing
before the commission He presented
sound single tax arguments against
various other taxes; declared that in
Philadelphia workingmen's houses were
assessed at 10 to 80 per cent of their
value. and the real estate Of large hold
ers at much lower percentage.
sk"Would it be SO under your systen?"
asked Chairman McCamant.
"No. Two men own lots equal in
size, side by side, on Broad street. The
man who has a 1000 house on his
is to be taxed on the land value alone
and the same amount as the ether man,
who has nothing on his lot. Their lots
are necessarily approximately equal in
value, and neither can be Disseminated
against without his finding it OUT
aren't the present inequalities due
to the bad judgment of assessors?' was
asked.
"They are universal, and yet there
must be some good assessors was the
reply.
"Of course, gentlemen, this single
tax principle is going to utterly destroy
land speculation
Eyes"
You'll destroy ownership?' was sug
gested.
yes, speculative ownership. Pos
session will be more secure than ever.
One tax would make taxation equal
Now a man can buy lot. go to Europe
for ten years, return and fud his lot
doubled in value. We destroy his
ownership of that unearned increment.
We propose to tax only those values
which the city, the presence of the peo-
pie creates, and let man improve his
place as rapidly as possible without
fning him for it. We propose to take
tho unearned increment for the use OF
the people who create it,
Suppose mans property falls in
value" suggested Mr.. Wright.
"Then we tax him less.'
"Shouldn't We give the unearned in
crement back to him!'
Yes, we do. We tax him less. Big
taxes will fall upon the big values and
low taxes on the low land values. The
city will pay more. The farmer will
pay less. The value of land is mainly
due to the improvements on it, and
when We exempt his Improvements
there will be less to tax the farmer on"
doesn't the building give the value
to the land?" asked Mr.. McCamant.
GLOW could you separate the value Of
the building of the Girard trust from
that of the land it stands oD?'
Before reply could be made Rep
resentative Taggart hastily added to it
the supposition that if the houses were
cleared off from Broad street to the
Delaware, what would the land be
WORTH"
"Without the people?' retorted Mr..
Stephenson.
"The people wouldn't be there with
out the houses,'' snapped Mr.. Taggart.
1.-The houses wouldn't be there with
out the people," replied Mr.. Stephen
SOD, and he enlarged upon the doctrine
that the presence of the people was
what created the land value, and that
the only thing that made Chestnut
street houses more valuable than those
of Poplar street was the 'crop OF peo-
Pile" that we're passing along.
Editor George 4. Mapes, specu
lator, asked if the single tax system
would not drive wealth into bonds and
other forms of property, so that the tax
would be uncollectable.
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