The Colfax chronicle., 1892-01-23

justly belongs TO him;1in one short but
expressive word, il Il sobbery.
1t is unjust and unequal in its opera
tions; it makes the rich richer, and the
poor poorer.
1t enables the wealth of the country
to shift all the burdens of the govern
mcut ON to the shoulders of the farmer
and the laborer
1t pxts fine ON industry. enterprise
and thrift, and premium on idleness,
laziness and shiftlessness.
1t taxes people on what they con-
sumo and not on what they have.
It discourages and retards improve
ments. ~ -
1t limits and restricts the production
of wealth.
It increases the cost of all the neces.
saries and luxuries of life.
It is the parent OF monopoly. and the
fruitful source of the inequality which
produces poverty with all its attendant
evils
Ny friend. in the article before re-
ferred to, says II . man Gowns $40. 000,.
900. and it is necessary to levy Eve
mills, he should pay $50. 900; il he only
owns $500, he should pay $a50" Has
it ever occurred to my good brother
that if man is worth $40. 900. 600 his
wealth must largely consist Of valua-
BILE lands, or other forms OF property
based on land values and that under
the present system Of collecting taxes.
he is able to shift every dollar of his
$50, 600 of taxes onto the producers Of
wealth, who. in addition to paying the
taxes of the ten-millionaire, must also
pay him for the privilege of working?
But by far the greater part of the
taxes collected from the people are
taxes on consumption. and the govern
ment takes in taxes from the mass Of
workers about all they make above .
bare subsistence.
The effect of shifting all taxes to
land values would be cheaper land and
reduced rent II would destroy land
speculation. and lands now idle and
vacant would be cultivated and Inn
proved; instead Of the tillers of the soil
bearing all the burdens of the govern
ment as they do to-day, the bulk Of
the taxes would be paid by the owners
or users of valuable lands in the towns
and cities, and the owners of mining
and timber lands that now pay little OF
no taxes We are not proposing to tax
land in proportion to its area. but ac-
cording to its value; and If those who
raise the cry that s'the single tax will
put all the taxes on the. farmers" will
stop and think moment, they will see
that the ''tillers of the SOIL" about
whom they profess so much solicitude.
do not own the valuable land in this
country, and therefore they could not
be made to bear all the burdens, nor,
indeed, any considerable share.
Under the single tax 1t would be i'm
possible for this to be 'laud of land
lords and tenants" but If the present
methods are allowed to obtain for
few years longer. it is inevitably bound
to become such
Under the single tax, men could not
grow rich by holding land ont of use,
for speculation; neither could they
grow rich by charging other people rent
for the use of land, thereby appropri-
ating their earnings without rendering
an equivalent
Then all land would be put to It's best
use. and every individual would simply
pay to the community the annual rent
al value for so much Of the common
property as he could profitsbly use,
and in this way restore TO the COM
muuitv thosA valuea which ara created