Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-05-12
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT.
Land Values Without Labor.


| twenty-four thousand acres of land. for
| the sum of twcHtyfour dollars. about
onc-.entl1 of cent per acre. The COM
pany did not sell the lam. thus acquired.
but permitted anyone to select such as
he wanted to use. The original MEM
| bers of this community were mostly
traders. requiring for residence or store
but small lots of land, which they Sc
lectcd without regard 20 uniformity
| other than that suggested b. the for.na-
ton of the land itself. It was not till
1856 that there We're any streets or other
| public improvements: yet as early as
1913 a lot thirty by one hundred and ten
feet on what now is Bridge street was
sold by Abram Jacobson Won Steenwycli
to Anthony Jansen Van Fees for twenty
four guilders, equal to nine dollars and
half.
In 1856 a survey of the city of New
Amsterdam was made. and the city laid
down on a map which was confirmed by
law ito remain from this time forward
without alteration" After this time
grants OF land We're made only to actual
settlers on condition that they should
be improved at once: and several per-
sons who were disposed to keep the lots
which had been previously granted
them in their original condition for
speculative purposes, We're ordered
either to build on them or sell. and if
they refused to do so. their lots were
taxed.
Larger tract, Of land in the outskirts
of the town and beyond were granted
to settlers for farming purposes. while
pany for its own use as farms. one of
which. by what is now Fulton and
Chambers streets. and Broadway and
the North river. has since become the
property of Trinity church.
At very early date a piece of land
was set aside as burial ground for the
English, situated north of Bowling
Green and west of Broadway. which in
1856 had become so full of dead mems
bones as to make it desirabl to close it
up and select site for new one: but
it was not till ten years lr+er that this
was done, when the old gra !eyard was
divided into four lots. each twenty-five
by one hundred feet. and sold at auc-
ton. fetching price. although no Ia
Dor had been exerted upon them. The
new site chosen for the English church
was nearly opposite the head of Wall
street. running from Broadway to the
Hudson river. a part of which was set
aside for graveyard. 1t is on this land
that the present Trinity church and
graveyard are located. which together
with other large tracts of land that
have from time to time come into pos
session of the English church. or prac
tically the same organized body. that
now forms the basis of the great wealth
and power of the Trinity church cor
poration. The land between the old
and new graveyards was at the time Oc-
cupied by the gardens and dwellings of
Mr.. Nandegrist and Mr.. Van Dyck.
which, as well as the old graveyard site.
hav. since undoubtedly changed hands
many times. But all the land described,
whether it has changed hands or
not. whether it has had labor expended
upon it or remained a graveyard. has
acquired an enormous value. The first
Trinity church was built in 1896. and
destroyed by fire during the revolution
airy war. but the value of the land was
not destroyed with it. Could this unde-
strOyed value owe it's existence to the
destruction of the labor value of the
church? If the present Trinity church
and all the receptacleS of the dead at
tached to it, and the accumulated re-
mains of the dead that have been bur-
led in them during the past two hundred
years were to be removed from the
land. the value of the land would not
move with them but would be en-
HANGED; and if this land were to be
Mt v=-f,r,1H 1iza
many millions of dollars: and it will
hardy be claimed that these millions
represent the result of the labor that
has been expended upon it. There are
at the present time parts of the island
from which all evidence of individual
labor has disappeared and upon which
little if any, communal labor has been
exerted. that when sold command enor-
NOUS prices One illustration will suf-
fse- In 1894 Eice-PresTdent Morton
bought piece of land in the upper
part of Manhattan Island containing
four hundred city lots. for which he
paid 400. 900. In 1890 he sold these lots
for 81 10000 and during the time they
were in MS possession no labor. either
individual or communal has been ex-
erted upon them. The only labor Mr..
Morton performed in connection with
them has been the payment of the taxes.
which can not have exceeded $50, 900.
It will hardly be claimed that the pay
ment Of such taxes has caused the land
to more th2n double in value III six
wears Three weeks or so later TIE syn
dicatc 1hat mad bought these lots from
Mr.. Merton again sold them for 81 .500,-
900. at no cost to = over and above what
i haei paid to Mr.. Morton except the
expenses of the sale
What has brougfIG this immense value
into existence? Il has been shown that
shortly after the Nest India company
located on the southern extremity Of
Manhattan Island. and before any pub
lie improvements had been made. a GER
tain lot of land upon which 10 labor
lad been exerted. had acquired a value
and was sold for price In common
parl.nce we say the land was sold, but
this IS only apparently true for man
cannot produce land, therefore he can
not rightfully sell it, and as no labor
had been exersed on this land it could
not have been the results of labor that
was sold. What was solde The privi-
iege of using the land What gave
value to this privilege? The presence
of population and the existence of COM
nunal life. What caused the existence
OF the community? Manhattan Island
being fa~orably located for trade and
commerce. il vas a natural opportunity
which men could use to great advan-
tage. Did man create Manhattan
Isl ~ he f.