Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-04-03
FARMERS AND THE SINGLE TAX.
Ey THOMAS G. SHEARMAN.
Taper read before the Joint Committee On
Taxation of Ohio Legislature, Jan. 8. 1881

W ny. inen. S0OuIu not Luh " uOle dt-
tempt to tax personal property, directly,
be abandoned, and the simple. prac-
ticable method of concentrating all
taxes upon the value of land, be adopted
in its place? It has been shown that
such a system would not work injustice
to farmers or the rural districts generally.
because it would not increase. but would
rather diminish, their present share of
taxation. Nevertheless, each individual
farmer will probably say that he does
not own as much personal property, in
proportion to the value of his land, as is
owned by capitalists in the large cities.
1t is certain, however, that vast
majority of the farmers are, at any rate,
assessed for more personal property in
proportion to their land than are city
residents: and, therefore, it is equally
certain that farmers, if they carefully
compare the assessments upon them
selves with the assessments on wealthy
men in cities. would find that very few
of the latter are or ever could be as
sessed for as much personal property In
proportion to their land as farmers are.
Whatever is true of all farmers, taken
together as class, must be true OF the
great majority of them, taken as in
dividuals.
TAX ON LAND MOST EQUAL METHOD OF
TAXING PERSONAL PROPERTY.
But would personal property really
escape from taxation if land values
alone were taxed? Would not the re-
no 1u tn 10
equally and uniformly over all classes
of personal property? 1t is quite clear
that this would be the result.
What is the value of land? Itconsists
solely in the annual rent which could
be obtained for the privilege of using it.
This rent is ordinarily capitalized: and
in this form, it constitutes what is
called the price of land. This is to say
if a piece of land could be let at a
ground rent of 500 per annum, and the
ordinary rate of interest is five per cent,
it is worth s., 200: because that sum at
five per cent would produce the annual
rent. Accordingly, in some countries,
the price of land is always referred to
rent, and it is quoted as being worth $50
y
years of rent. Rent, or the possibility
of obtaining rent, is the only basis for
a price of land. When land sells, as it
generally does, at some price, notwith-
standing it will not, at the time, rent
for anything, that is because the owner
speculates upon the arrival of a time
when it will bring rent; and the land
then has q speculative price, based upon
it's expected rent. Rent, in one form or
another, is the only basis for any land
values whatever. This is just as true of
land which is occupied by its owner, as
of land which is actually rented. and
Just as true of land which is occupied by
nobody, as of either.
RENT PAID IN PERSONAL PROPERTY.
The rent or price of land must be paid
in personal property of some form,
whether it is the product of that par
ticular piece of land or not. Conse
quently a tax upon land is, in it's turn,
paid out of personal property, which is
received for rent. IS rent will. ~
natural law, absorb due proportion of
all personal property, resting upon land,
so if taxation, if laid proportionately to
rent, will take an equal and just pro-
portion of all personal property. Thus
a uniform tax upon land values amounts
to uniform tax upon personal property
which can be collected with almost alb
solute accuracy without disturbing any
dealings in that property or doing in
Justice to any of its owners.
Is THE TAX ON RENT JUST?
But it is urged, in reply to all these
arguments, that su4A tax is unjust, be-
cause it puts the whole burden of tax
alton upon the owner of land. In order
to consider this objection, we must
divide the owners of land into two
classes: 0) Those who occupy their own
land; and (2) those who rent their land
to others.
NO INCREASED BURDEN ON OCCUPYING
OWNERS.
l. So far as the occupying owners of
land are concerned. it ought to be mani
fest that this form of taxation will not
increase their present burdens in the
smallest degree. Bear in mind that we
are not now dealing with the proposition
to increase taxation 80 as to swallow up
all the rent of land, but are simply con-
the expediency of collecting all
the present taxes from land alone. Tn
der the present system the occupying
owner of land is taxed, first, upon his
land, and again upon his personal prop
erty. The unanimous testimony of all
assessors and other practical men who
have studied this subject is, that the .
value of personal property, that is, of I
property is fully equal to the |
value of land. That which is true of all |
the people collectively must be true of |
the vast majority of them in detail |
When to ordinary movable property we |
add all buildings, fences, crops and |
other improvements attached to the /
land, it is exceedingly improbable that
of the farmers of Ohio. own
ng their own farms, are possessed of a /
greater value in bare land than the
value of their Improvements, furniture,
clothing. farm utensils, crops and say
ngs. Emphatically would this be true
With regard to people, other than
farmers, living in their own houses.
Probably not one in hundred of such
persons occupies piece of land which.
excluding that of which he makes no
Use as an adjunct to his house, is worth
Is much as the house and all the per-
onal property within it.
II this is true. then it is clear rhatthe