The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1891-01-07
all over the United States taxed higher

| ullaH uHlUipfOfeu lduu VI uuo SssH'o "esa-
| ity, but the taxes which SO largely raise
/ the prices of all the farmer has to buy do
not, and can not, so long as we are ex'
/ porters of agricultural produce. raise tt Q
prices of what the farmer has to- sell.
| And further than tl.is, to put taxation
solely upon land values would SHIFT the
! weight of taxation from tho sparsely
settled agricultural districts to those
populous centers where land has real
and high value. AS it would destroy
the speculative value of land, the result
would be tina. many farmers would have
no taxes at all to pay. for, no matter
what might be the value of his improve-
ments, no farmer would have more taxes
to paw than could be collected from un-
| improved land equal to his in quality
and situation. Manifestly it would be
| very greatly to tho relief of the farmer
to abolish all the taxes which now fall
upon his Improvements and his con-
sumption. and substitute for them tax
upon the value Of bare land, which is
always higher in popuious centsrs than
settled agricultural districts hardly ex-
lists at all. except as the result OF specu-
. lation. And from the effects Upon tho
diffusion of population tho farn,er would
greatly gain. Just rs the city popula-
ton would gain from the destruc-
ton of the system which now bsiIds
tenement houses and vacant lots. so
would the agricultural communities
gain in productive power and in social
enjoyment when settlement should be-
come closer, from the fact that there
would no longer be any inducement for
any one to take up or hold more land
than he could use.
Further than this it must be remem-
bered that, although the selling price OF
land would diminish this, since itwould
affect all land, would not affect the ex-
change value of the homestead lots or
farms. 1t would be, to the man who
wants for himself and his family the Sc
curity of home in which to live, or
land to cultivate, purely nominal and
intangible loss. to Offset which there
would be great and actual gains; and, as
his children grew up, it would be very
much easier for them to get homesteads
or farms of their own.
The only people who would really
lose would be those whose incomes arc
mainly drawn from the rent not of
buildings, but of land, and those who
are holding land in the expectation Of
future profit from the high prices
that in time those who want to
use it will be compelled to pay
them for it. But there are few,
if any, individuals who belong exclu-
sively to this class. In varying degrees
all our large landholders are also CAPT.
talists, and would gain as capitalists
though they might lose as land owners.
And, if in some cases the relative loss
exceeded the relative gain,it would only
be land this, If necessary, might be made
certain by some provision as to widows,
etc) in the case of those who could
readily stand the loss without being
really hurt. In any large view it will
always be found that the true interests
of all individuals coincide with the best
interests of society.
To put all taxes on land values would
be to remove all burdens from capital
and labor; to free industry, and energy,
and thrift from restriction or fine; to
take away the incentives to speculation
in land, and to throw open natural OPP
portunitieS to those who would uso
them, without, as now, compelling them
to pay a heavy premium to some nom
user. From the freedom of operation
which would thus be given to productive
forces would result an enormous in
crease in the production of wealth. The
fund from which all incomes must be
drawn would be vastly augmented. And
at the same time would come great
equalization in distribution; for that
freedom of operation which is essential
to the largest production of wealth is
also essential to it's fairest distribution.
To one who has never thought over
the matter it may seem preposterous to
ottS uhdU Ill u ShoASO III uhO ihSVii-
DDS of taxation lies the fundamental
cure for pauperism and low wages and
all the social difficulties which afflict
modern society. Yet. to all who will
carefully think over it this will appear.
When it is considered what is really in
volved in the simple change, such great
effects do not seem disproportionate to
| the cause For, to remove taxation from
the production and accumulation OF
wealth, and to put it on the appropria-
ton of that element which is the raw
| material of wealth, would be to remove
distractions to the natural play of social
| orces-obstructions which produce in
the social organism just such effects as
bandages and ligatures that impeded
| the circulation of the blood would pro.
duce in the human body. 1t would be
! to conform our most important social
| adjustments to the supreme law of JUS
| tice; for, that the right to land is com.
mon and equal while the right to the
products of labor is individual and ex-
| elusive, are correlative propositions toe
| manifest to need discussion.
Real Names of Indians.
The indians have neat way of fixing
it, This Northumberland, Spotted Tail,