Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-06-05
AGRICULTURAL ANARCHIST.
How the Single Tax Will Affect Farm
Property.

Farm and Fireside, printed at Phila-
delphia, is an agricultural paper. which
thinks that the farmers will be particu-
larly burdened by the establishment of
the single tax. 1t declares that under
| such a system one of two things must
result: Either the users of land must
paw al taxes, or the users of the prod
ucts OF land must pay taxes Indirectly
through the increased prices of those
products" Farm and Fireside is right in
it's first proposition. The users of land
must pay all taxes. What our contern-
porary does not understand is that they
pay such taxes now, either in the form
of an annual rental to the landlord orIn
the shape of purchase price, which usu-
ally involves the annual payment of in
terest. The single tax proposal is that
the taxes thus paid to private individu-
ais shall henceforth be directly paid to
the State or community, and that all
other taxes shall be abolished.
Farm and Fireside is mistaken. how
ever, in assuming that the single tax
would increase the prices that consum-
ers pay for agricultural products. Since
the farmers now pay ground rent. either
! VI through PURCHASE price on
land, they will pay no more under Che
new system, and would have no occasion
to increase their price even if such an
increase were practicable. Farm and
Fireside surely knows that the latter is
not the case, since the prices of farm
products are in the main regulated by
the prices received for such products in
the free trade market of the world.
If our contemporary will take the troU-
BILE to really study and understand the
single tax proposition. and will then
bring its own knowledge to bear, it can
not fail to see that the levying of all
taxes on land values will decrease the
farmers share of the total public bur
den. 1t certainly can not fail TO know
that in whatever part of the United
States it circulatcS. the mere land value
OF farms has stood still or decreased,
while the land values in cities and in
mining districts have enormously adj
yanced. 1t must also know that enor-
nous fortunes have been made by spec
ulators through this increase in the
value of city and mining lands, while
the farmers of the country have been
becoming relatively poorer from year tc
y
the owners of city and mining land
to pay taxes in proportion to the
value of natural opportunities they hold,
and only requires farmers to pay for the
less valuable opportunities held by
themselves. eXeapting their buildings,
barns. bitches. drainage and other in-
provemcnts from assessment, must OBJ
viOusly lessen the burden now borne by
the agriculturiSt.
Farm and Preside is fair enough to
copy an article from the Standard be-
fore making its comments, but in an
other issue of the paper it unfortunately
loses its temper, denounces the single
tax proposition as one 10 take the land
away from private owners without com
pcnSatiOn. and declares that when the
land owners understand that, single tax
can not be established in this country
without revolution We suspect tina;
the land owners of America, like all
other citizens, will submit without
fight to the enforcement of any law that
has been duly passed with the consent
of a majority of the people. If any OF
them entertain such an idea as our con.
temporary attributes to them they had
better begin organizing their rebellion
at once, because they are so rapidly
diminishing in numbers that thei,
chances of success Will decrease fror
year to year We repeat, however. that
we do not imagine that they contemplate
rebellion. and we are surprised that an
agricultural paper printed in the Quaker
city should adopt the tone of the Chicar
go anarchists.-N. y. Standard.