Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-09-11
TO BE CONTINUED.
THE SINGLE TAX.

Exemption From Taxation OF Personal
Property, Then of Real Estate Improve
ments.
In commenting on the Single-Tax
Convention last month, the Benton
River Press said that 'the Single-Tax
theory contemplates such complete
revolution of the existing order of
things that the River Press apprehends
| that the world must be remade and the
people reborn before it can be practi-
cally applied" The River Press surely
could not have made very thorough
study of the theory, or it would hardly
have made such an assertion. Under
the proposed system there will be no
change-or at least no sudden change
in the form of taxation. All that would
be done would be the exemption from
taxation, first, of personal property;
then of improvements on real estate;
following these, or perhaps intermedi-
ate, would be the abolishing of licenses
| to do business. The natural result Of
these exemptions would be the heavier
assessment against land values. The
method is very simple one and the
change in the form of taxation would
hardly be noticed. The complete rev.
olution" would only be apparent in the
result, for the immediate effect would
be the abolishing of land speculation
and the consequent throwing open to
the use of labor of large quantities Of
land which are now held out of use.
1t is hard to understand why people
must be remade or reborn to carry into
effect the theory. Last week the editor
Of The Age met in Helena gentleman
prominent in the legal and political
arenas of Montana. The gentleman
asked: what is this single.tax theory
you are advocating?" brief explana-
ton was made, and the gentleman re-
marked: why, that is just what the
people of Kansas did number of years
ago. Spectators got hold of great
deal Of land in Kansas and were hold
ing till the influx of population and the
improvements made by actual settlers
| would increase its value. The Legisla-
ture one year passed laws requiring tho
assessment of the land at the same rate
as improved land and authorizing the ex-
emption of improvements from taxa
ton, and the spectators could not let
go of their land too quick" What the
gentleman stated has been the exper-
the wonder is that such laws have not
always been in force. The reason, per-
haps, is that it is to the immediate and
great interest of the few to secure a
monopoly, while the interest of tho
many in preventing them is not visible
and SO direct, and the majority lose
their rights as they have always lost
their rights-throught neglect and in
ertia.
The River Press makes a mistake in
saying that the lands must be condemn
ed for the public good, because the peo-
| Pile in demanding the rental value of tho
lands, are only asking for the values
which the people themselves create. As
has been repeatedly shown in The Age,
the necessity of government and the
values of land are both the result of pop
| ulation, and the revenue of one should
pay the cost of the other.
| The River Press closed it's article with
the statement that until it can be
shown that the number of the indolent,
the vicious, the improvident and the
| naturally worthless will be materially
lessened, Mr.. Georges theory will
simply be theory for all time to come.
| II the River Press will carefully study
the question, it can see that the opening
of the avenues to labor will give oppor-
tunity to many who are now called in
dolent, and vicious, and improvident,
and worthless simply because they can
not find the opportunity to labor, or II they
do get the opportunity they are obliged
to give large proportion of their earn
ings to monopolists for the privilege OF
labor Certainly under the present sys
tenn the INDECENT, vicious, improyident,
and worthless classes are not growing
| smaller in numbers, which Is pretty
good evidence that the present SYSTEM
| is not the correct one, and any change
which promises Improvement IN thi>
direction merits careful Investigation.
| The Age, BOULDER. Mont