Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1890-06-06

and returns its charter The res
olutlons are accompanied by
statement published in the
Nashville American. which begins as
follows; I'm November last the knights
of Labor held convention in Atlanta
and adopted a platform demanding the
virtual confiscation of every mans land.
The language of their demand is that
the taxes on all land shall be equal TO
the whole unearned increment. The
simple meaning OF such a demand is
that every man owning land shall be re-
quired to pay to the government
as rent, under the name of taxes, all
profit accruing to him from such owner
ship. Such a course on the part of the
government would be confiscation, pure
and simple. Shortly after the promul-
CATION OF this platform the National
Union met in st. Louis and Powderly,
the leader OF tho Knights, attended
that meeting and asked for a conference.
To our great surprise and modification
the National Union received with per-
feet ovation this man who had just aid
ed in making this platform OF confisca-
ton. In tho language OF tho Toiler,
the official organ OF our State union,
when Powderly entered the hall 'cheer
after chcer went up from the body"
"Our farmers" members of tho National
Union, fell in love with Powderly."
The president OF the National Union
hold secret conference with him, and
as a result the National Union formed a
confederation with the Knights Of La
Dor and agreed to cooperate with them
in clecting men TO the legislative and
congressional offices and in securing leg.
islation.''
Tho paper goes on at great length,
protesting that the eligibility clause OF
the constitution of the alliance has been
so altered as to permit mechanics TO be-
como members, and suggesting that
negro members of tho Knights of Labor
may be brought into contact with the
farmers. Tho gist OF tho whole COM
plant, however, lies in tho paragraph
quoted, in which the purpose of the
resolution adopted by tho Knights is
clearly stated and bitterly animadverted
upon.
The Una Alliance appears to be some
thing of kid glove organization, and it
will be well for working farmers in the
South to take note Of the fact that these
professors themselves admit that the
course proposed by the Knights will only
take from the land owner tho profits ac-
cruing to him from ownership. This is,
of course, serious matter to men who
hold land that other men work, the own
ers drawing their income from it in the
shape of rent or interest on mortgages.
But If the working farmer will look
closely into the question he will see that
the alliance has in no way threatened
his interests by coalition with tho
knights. Let him find what bare land,
exclusive of improvements, is worth in
his own neighborhood, and then ascer-
tain its value in Nashville, Memphis
and in the mining districts, and figure
out for himself whether his taxes will
be increased or diminished by making
land values the sole basis of State and
local taxation. Having worked out this
problem, lot him next think what the
effect on the working farmer would be if
national taxes wore so distributed as to
fall on land values alone, he paying his
proportion on bare land worth probably
from $40 to $40 an acre, and men in New
York paying it on land that sold at auc-
ton in open market recently for nearly
SIS, 900, 900 an acre. When the working
farmer becomes also the thinking farmer
he will see nothing to alarm him in n
proposal to make the values of bare land
the only basis of taxation. The Stand