The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1890-04-04
The Farm.
Single Tax,

LA III fOIOCs Anl Oulllu uIGS
leaving farm and $4,000 in money.
His son James takes the farm and his
son William the 5000. this being
considered an equal distribution. Will
liam goes to the city, and having no
taxes to pay increases his $4,000 to
100000. James stays at home and
works the farm, by the strictest econ
omy supporting a government for the
benefit of William as we'll as himself,
and for which William pays nothing
James's house becomes dilapidated and
he selects rocky piece of ground to
build new one. When he is about to
build, William, with whom he is not on
the best Of terms, goes to the govern
ment and says: "James Smith has a
piece of ground he is paying but sl.0O
and acre for in taxes. l want it and
will pay $500 per acre for i" The
government accordingly notifies james
he must pay $500 or let his brother
have it. 1t is impossible for James to
pay this amount, so William gets the
land and James is turned out Where
does the justice of such plan come in?
Do you suppose you would ever in
duce farmer to add to the beauty of
his place, or improve it in any way,
when you got the single tax? A rail-
road may pass though farm any day,
bringing with it a lot of rich men who
want country residences and do not
mind paying more tax than the farmers
JAMES B. COUNCILMAN.
You assume that James pays taxes,
How can we know that he pays taxes
unless you tell us whether his land
irrespective Of improvements, is worth
anything?
If land wore taxes to its full value.
as you assume, the land of that farm
would have no selling value; and if the
division between the two sons were
fair, as you assume, the improvements
must have been worth $4,000. Then
what hardship would it be upon James,
or what inequality would there be be-
tween him and his brother, il he paid
annually in taxes the value of the land
on which the farm was? Each would
have $4,000 free of taxes. II he paid
no taxes he would have an advantantage
over William, since while William got
only $4,000, James would get $1,000
besides the value of the land.
You also assume that James makes
fortune in the city. How? By his own
honest labor2 Why should he be tax
ed for that? By speculation? How
could he make fortune by speculation
when the basis of all industrial specu-
lation was destroyed by the abolition of
speculation in land values?
You misapprehend the practical
operation of the single tax. And the
reason you do is because you try to i'm
agine an entirely new system of taxa
tion instead of considering a very sim
pie modification of the present system.
Taxes are now levied on land values
and other things. We propose to abol.
ish so much Of present taxation as falls
upon other thing, leaving SO much as
falls upon land values to rise to meet
the deficiency.
Under the present system. if Viii
liam wanted James's farm, he would
not 60 to the government and say
"James Smith has farm on which he
is paying only dollar year taxes,
and | am willing to pay two dollars
year, and therefore l want the farm"
He would go to James aud say: GLOW
much will you take for your farm?' If
they came to terms, he would buy the
farm; if they failed to agree he could
not buy it. While this transaction was
taking place between James and Will
liam. similar transactions as to farms
and other things would be taking place
there and thereabout between other
persons, and as a result of all these
transactions people would come to know
about how much land, and farm i'm
provements, and other things were
worth; and when the assessor made his
rounds he would say to james: "You
own SO much land which is worth SO
much, and so mnch farm Improvements
which are worth so much, and so much
personal property which is worth so
much; and upon all these values you
must pay the same rate of taxes that
other people pay
That is the way it isnow, and it is the
way it would be under the single tax.
If, under the single tax, William
wanted to drive James off the land,
whether for profit or spite. he could
not go to the government and propose
to pay higher tax. All land, except
the poorest in use, would have value
which would be known in the COM
xnun;tu Is H. &c., . II Il