The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1892-04-23


And so all over the world to-day you
will find distress arising from this
cause, says Mr. George. II is for you
to say whether he is right or not He
asks us to come out west and he will
show US place where there are 10000
acres of land, bought from the govern
ment a while ago for little or nothing,
owned by a Boston man. Tie has never
been on the land. For years it remain
ed there, without an improvement of
any kind Villages grew all around ii,
which was what we was waiting for.
Through his influence the railroad
built depot upon the land, so that the
people from all these towns around
there were obliged to cart their produce
over this 40, 200 acres of waste to reach
the depot The consequence is that
tr.at land is worth to-day 500 an acre
1t was bought for 81. IS an acre. What
J made that land worth so much? Why,
every one of those settlers, who have
settled all around that 10000 acres,
and carted their grain through it, by the
mere fact of settling there and of culti-
to the value of every acre. Ought not
they to have some part in that 500 that
they have earned? The owner of the
land did not do thing. never paid q
cent of taxes on it In Brooklyn there
is lot OF land which twenty years ago
was offered, with the buildings upon it,
for $50. 0o0 Five years ago it was sold
aud the buildings upon it were count
ed of no value-for sl35, 900. What
made 1t worth Sl35, 900 instead Of $780,
900? Every man who lives in Brook
lyn, and has come here and increased
the size and Importance of this city by
the fact of his coming here. has helped
to make that value and has not got a
cent for 1t. Land grows in value by
the massing of people in great cities;
and II to-day every man, woman and
child should leave Brooklyn, that lot of
land would be worth about at the rate
of s. an acre, If there were no build
ings on it; but having buildings upon
it, suppose it would be worth nothing.
because no produce could be grown
upon it You see that, according to Mr..
George, there are two forms of common
property. One is property which
God has given to all His chill
dren, and the second is that which
has been made of value by the aggre-
CATION of large numbers of people in
one center. Mr.. George says there is
no way to solve the difficulties in our
day; there is no way to take of these
expressions which rest upon the poor
and which rest upon industry, except
by the commonalty again assuming the
natural property in land. How is it to
be done? What about the vested inter.
ests? Mr.. George replies that the same
arguments applies to vested interests in
Hand as was applied to vested interests
in negro slave property. Did the Amer
ican people respect vested interests in
negroes? The characteristics of Mr..
George as a Christian man are shown
in the method which he proposes in or
der to reach this end without violence.
Here is the novel part of his theory.
Here is that which is purely original
with Mr.. George: The community is
to resume its right by simply gathering
It's public revenue from this natura
value, and from the value which is &C
quired by the aggregation Of people IL
great centers of trade and produc
ton No tax is to be laid upon thu
buildings that are on the land. II 1
man puts up beautiful house
which is an honor to us, and, If
perchance we receive visit from dis
tant friend, and we want to show him
what has been done in our city, we
show him what beautiful house ha
been built Then why should we i'm
mediately go and tax the builder ten o.
q hundred times as much as the mar
who has built miserable howell in the
neighborhood, which we would like Il
be rid of? Mr.. George holds that whel
q man wants a piece OF land exclusive
ly for his own benefit he should pa.
something to the general community
and that is where public revenue should
be derived. And it is easy enough fol
us to see that that is the direction il
which the world is going. In Older
times it was customary to tax incomes
The American people do not like it, be
cause of its inquisitorial nature. w
uScu W tdA PCASohoA PoPSiey. -"
this tax has become in the eyes of tn
American people a miserable, meddlin
thing. tits not q practicable thing t
collect taxes upon personal property t
any great extent The leaders in thi
movement are seeking to change tn
laws of the state SO that in differen
sections they shall have the right I
assess land in this way. That is goo
movement; that is in accordanc
with the current ideas of the tim
verify believe that the movement
here marked out by Mr.. George is to b
movement along which American lif
is to proceed, and along which in som
respects English life has proceeded
even further than we have here. and i
Australia still further, and in PAR