Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-05-15
LETTING IN LIGHT.
me Single Tax Men of Philadelphia Have .
Tilt With an Official Committee on Taxa
tinn.

1ne single Tax Men of PHILADELPHIA Have
Tilt With an Official Committee on Taxa
tian.
PHILADELPHIA, March 1.-Single tax
men made a hit in the herring this
week IN the hearing before the State
commission 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 frorr
taxation all buildings, structures, liv-
ing trees developments of mines, per
sonaI property. posts of profits, profess
slons, trades and occupations, 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 workingInen's houses were
assessed at 20 To 20 per cent of their
value, and the real estate of large hold
ers at a much lower percentage.
Would il not be so under youa sys-
tenn" asked Chairman McCamant
No. Two men own lots equal in
size. side by side on Broad street The
man who has a $1,000 900 house on his is
to be taxed on the land vaIIe alone and
the same amount as the other man. who
has aothing 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 asseseors:'' 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.
Yes
You'll destroy owner~hip2~ was sug-
rested.
Yes, speculative ownership. Pos
session viii be more secure than ever.
One tax would make taxation equal.
Now z man can buy q lot. go to Europe
for ten years. return and find his lot
doubled in value. We destroy his own
ership of that unearned increment. We
propose TO tax only those values which
the city, the presence of the people
creates, and let a man improve his place
As high as possible without filming him
for it. We propose TO take the I'M
earned increment for the use Of the
people who created it.
suppose a 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 viii 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 WI be less to tax the farmer on"
Doesn't the building give the value
to the land" asked Mir. McCamant.
How could you separate the value of
the building of the Girard trust from
that of the land it stands on?'
Before reply could be made Repre-
sentative Taggart hastily added to it
the superstition that if the houses We're
clerred off Broad street to the Delaware,
what would the land be worth?
Without the the people?" retorted
Mr.. Stephenson.
The people wouldn't be there with
out the houses" snapped Mr. Taggart-
THE houses wouldn't he there with
out the people" replied Mr.. Stephen
son. and he enlarged upun 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
on Poplar street vas the crop of PEG
pie" that were passing along.
Editor George +. Mapes, a Spectator,
asked if the single tax system would
not drive wealth into bonds and forms
of property. so that the tax would be IN.
collectable.''
We won't drive any wealth out of
the country" responded Mr.. Stephen
son, and bonds only represent improve
ments.'
Suppose there are two FARMS said
Mr.. Whcrry: Ion one the improvements
are seventy-five per cent: on the other
twenty-five per cent. The market
value of one 500 per acre; of the other
SsG per acre How will you get the land
valueS?'
Subtract the value o the improve
ments from the market value" replied
Mr.. Stephenson. The farm of 500 per
acre with seventy-five per cent of i'm
provements would be taxed on land
value of S25. and the fam of $50 per
acre. with twenty-five per cent of i'm
proverrents would be taxed on 4 land
value of 500.
Then" said Mr.. Wherry, there are
many farms in Pennsylvania where
there $4,000 worth of Improvements on
5000 worth of land, say
Then they would pay no lax" said
the witness
Mr. Wherry said that about quarter
of the farms in Pennsylvania would be
found SO.
Then wouldn't your tax mean con-
tiscatlon?" asked Mr. McCamant.
u am not terrified by that word, gen
tlemen." was the smiling reply Il
brye heard it before. If so, there would
he a different confiscator- The confis-
Gator would not be the land speculator.
Would not man be entitled to
b,n,,s for increasing the value of the