The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1891-03-21
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT.
RELIEVE THE FARMER.

L
der" than it does now. Land, under hi
system will continue to be owned by in
dividuals precisely as it is now. 1t viii
descend to heirs and be devised to lega
tees precisely as it is now. Not sin
gle law relative to land ownership ani
control nov upon our statute books will
be changed IN carrying out his doctrines
to the fullest extent A mans right
under the present system, to enjoy the
exclusive possession of . tract of land Is
conditioned upon the payment of tax
upon its value. And so it will be under
the George system, without the slight.
est change in the machinery now in use
for the assessment and collection of
taxes on real estate.
Henry George simply proposes to re-
form our present absurd and barbarous
system OF levying taxes, a system which
discourages enterprise and thrift and
encourages monopoly and greed.
Take the case of young man here in
Texas, who. We will say, by working ON
shares, has finally saved up little cap
itai, and who now proposes to become
the owner of farm of his own. He is
going to get piece of wild land, break
1T up, grubit fence 1t and cultivate it.
he has wagon, pair of horses, q few
household utensils, wife, plenty of
children and little money. He does
not dream of getting rich; he merely
hopes to secure competency by faith
fui work. He looks around for loca-
tion. He naturally desires to settle near
town, where he will be handy to market,
and where his family can enjoy the So
ciety OF neighbors and the benefits of
church and school privileges He finds
just such town. He finds tens of
thousands of acres of vacant land all
around this town and close to It. just
the kind OF land he is looking for. No
one is using it, and it lies there idle,
waiting for the hand OF industry to be |
applied to it. But he finds that the |
spectators have got there ahead of him.
They are keeping it for an increase in
value. In order to get hold of |
hundred aero tract Of this land /
he must mortgage himself to
some Spectator. He must bind himself
to pay over to speculator all that he
can possibly save in excess Of the barest
possibilities of life for term of years.
de feels that the land is already above
MS means, so he turns away, drives out
twenty miles and buys a hundred acres
'ut OF thousand acre tract held by
another speculator, for which he paws
ZOO and then settles down in the viii
lerness.
HIS children can scarcely get toschool
It all. 1t is miles to any church. He
las to haul his cotton five miles to the
learest gin. He wastes great deal Of ,
line on the poor roads between his I
lome and the town where he does his ,
marketing. hauling his produce over {
thousands and tens of thousands of acres ,
land just as we'll adapted to raising /
as that which he has been compelled =
select so FAR away. He works to far /
reater disadvantage than he would had t
Q been permitted to settle nearer town. a
ence he produces loss, and therefore .
lust buy less.
Now, why have the spectators seized =
Ills vacant land and taken it ont of the i
ZACH OF this Industrious farmer? Do 4
ley propose to use it? Do they propose
do any thing with it by which labor \
IN be employed, and the sum total Of 3
70 worlds wealth increased? Do they 4
oppose to invest dollar in the cultiya- a
on and Improvement Of this land? Bv y
means. They propose that some one |,
SO shall do the work and have the w
orry, and take the chances Of the crops II
ling. Yet they propose, nevertheless. II
get rich out of this land. How? By Il
'lding it in idleness, by driving labor v
from it. and compelling labor TO mass !,
oy and settle on far less eligible b,
q desirable tracts. One of these spec b,
ators paid $1,000 for a piece OF this HI
nd. 1t is now worth IS, 600. Whose 81
Dor has put an additional a,
lue Of $4,000 upon this h.
eco OF vacant land? Not the labor w
the present owner, nor the labor of n,
previous owner, because no one has at
Or done a stroke of work upon the /.
ID 1t has resulted from the increase =,
population. 1t has been put there by to
community. The Spectator sells the 70
ct for SIS, 600 and thus makes 81. 600 ma
has not however, increased the sum
al OF the worlds wealth one iota by "a,
transaction. He has simply drawn 90
himself 81, 900 worth of wealth which mr.
or people have professionally n,
ich labor has been compelled to paw va
r to him for the bare privilege of OF
ess to one Of the gifts of nature. les
Veil, our young farmer. after years an
d work in fencing, breaking the sod. VIII
putting up buildings, has added $500 .mo
tn OF Improvement to that hundred ow
tract OF land. BY the sweat of his A
" he has actually increased the sum ms
Il OF the wealth Of the world to the lat
ent OF $500. What happens now? \
y, the tax-collector comes around tab
lines him for 1t by taxing these i'm for
7ements He has to yield up to the Il \
ernment in taxes on these improve ta =
its portion of the fruits of his indi- TOW
lal industry. He is robbed on &C bry
1T OF taxes on these improvements of not
rtion OF the values produced solely inv
his individual industry. The conn ~