The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1890-10-03
NO. 3.

state. Such Il la would be simply just to
all the people of the state. 1t would re-
quire the owners of land in the cities and
towns to pay for the value of the services
they receive, instead of permitting them
to receive this great value without paying
for it, while the people in the counties pay
all the cost and only get part of the
value of the product of their taxes
EBut even just system of taxation in
cities and counties would fail of it's ulti-
mate purpose if the great railroads are per-
mitted to absorb the value of the thousands
of feeders" without paying one dollar for
their construction. Therefore the plan
should include state railroad commission
with powers similar to those in our western
states, whose Office would be, not to man.
age the roads, but to examine their books
and decide what maximum rate may be
charged per mile for freight and passengers
within the state. With good common
roads, maintained by an honest system of
taxation, and cheap railroad transporta-
tion, our Maryland farmers could defy the
competition of the west.
The constitution very properly says,
Every person shall pay taxes" and it is
persons, not things, that are taxed to sup
port government.
This fact should be distinctly empha
sized. The only reason why our taxes are
laid according to PERSONS worth in such
and such things is because it is sought
thereby to tax each person justly, and not
because there is any purpose in taxing the
things at all, except in the case of tariffs
laid to reduce competition in the man
ufacture and sale of certain articles, or in
special license fees to reduce the traffic of
pprtain artinlaS. Int Of
tions is an extraordinary use of the taxing
power of government.
Whatever may be said in favor of en-
couraging home industries by taxing the
goods of foreign competitors, with greater
force proves the fallacy of taxing the goods
of home industries for local government.
And If experience has proven the efficacy
OF high license as means to reduce the
sale of liquor and to injure that traffic,
then with greater force is proven the fall
lacy of using the same weapon against
business which we want to encourage. If
we choose to use the function of taxation
as weapon to destroy those things we do
not want, let us not foolishly use it upon
those things we do want. A license on
dogs has greatly reduced the dog nuisance;
but is honest trade to suffer along with
worthless ours?
The very fact that taxes on stocks of
merchandise restrict the sale of them by
enhancing the price, proves that there is
no relationship between the cost of the
services of government returned to per-
son and the amount of business he may do.
The anomaly of attempting to raise reve-
nue. by a system that tends to reduce the
very basis of wealth from which taxes are
drawn, is presented in Baltimore and all
our cities where the problem of the day is
to find new sources of re evenue," the old
system having proven to be inadequate.
The phenomenon is presented of an in
creasing tax rate and higher assessment of
property, notwithstanding the growth of
population.
It is explained by the method of taxa
tion. Instead of expressing the economy
of government and the individual profit in
n compact which simply requires that each
person shall pay for value received, it rude
lly enters what is fondly styled his castle,
impudently peers into his personal affairs,
arrogantly demands of him to confess if he
has anything that it cannot see, and, hav-
ing duly sized him up, it scornfully ignores
his claim to self government, and charges
him rate based not on what the govern
ment has done for him, but on what he
has done for himself. Such a system is
only consistent with an idea of government
that regards the man as nothing. and the
vague, irresponsible government as every
thing.
1t is self evident that if the value of land
alone reflects the value of the services of
government, then any tax on the value of
improvements and chattels must operate
as direct oppression to the owner of inn
provements and chattels, who is then forced
to pay taxes for nothing. And it will be
direct donation to the owner of unimproved
land, who thus receives the value of the
services OF government without paying for
them. This evil works badly in two ways
it checks the production of wealth by
taxing 1t in the hands of the owner, and at
the same time places a premium upon va
cant land, and thus encourages the hold
ing of land out of use. AS land is the
source of all wealth, the predicament of the
industrious producer is plain to be seen.
In the first place, he must pay large
price to the speculating land owner, who
is reluctant to sell a thing that increases
In value at greater rate than the small
tax upon it; and even when he does buy or
lease some land he is doubly fined if he
dares to improve it for productive pur-
poses. So between the high price of land
on the one hand, and the fine on his i'm
provements on the other, both of which
are only limited by his ability to pay, the
small chance of business success, COM
puted by Bradstreet to be about out of
100, is not very strange after all.
The adoption of the single tax upon land
values would reverse this alarming tend
ency
Besides it's justice, in addition to its
grand expression of the high purpose of
republican government, its sound policy
as an agent to enormously increase the well
fare OF the people, can be demonstrated
1t would encourage all branches of indus
try by at once relieving them of all taxes
and license fees. At the same time it would
effectually check land speculation, and
thus open to use the valuable opportuni-
ties that are today wasting the great priv
ileges afforded them by the services of gov
ernment. The fact that land lies out of
doors is impossible of concealment or eva
sion is proof of its unique fitness as a
basis of taxation; for its value, besides ex-
pressing the exact proportion that the
owner should pay for the privilege of using
the services of government, is ascertana-
BILE without infringing upon his private
rights in the least
The fact that all persons use land, and
would thus contribute to the support of
government, either as direct owners or as
or tenants, who would pay
their taxes in their rents, makes it a strictly
democratic tax, for every citizen would be
Il conscious taxpayer. 1t would be ade-
quate. The fact that the tax would be
used in public services that are simple
economies of labor would prove that the
very profit of association guarantees the
value received 10 be greater than the cost.
The rental value of the land does and will
always exceed the annual expense of hon
est government. In Baltimore an average
tax of s. per front foot of lots averaging
100 feet in depth would raise s., 900 900 on
the frontage of the old city, exclusive of
the new wards. This is more than the
present taxes for state and city government
The average rental value is about $6 per
ANU.ts kl,,N