Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-04-07
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT
Progress in England.

an eIectlOD Oh the utmost importance
to The single tax agitation is now pend
| ing in London. New members of the
London county council are soon to be
| chosen. and the question of taxing
ground values, is the issue.
At a recent conference Lord Monks
well, who took the chair. explained the
situation regarding public improve
ments in the city, substantially as fol-
lows:
The making of public improvements
is not merely a question of policy, it is
also question of money, because, un-
til the county council can get money by
taxation out of the landlords, they will
have to be more niggardly than they
like to be in forwarding London inn
provements These improvements are
all for the benefit of the landlord, who
contributes very little towards them.
The change proposed in the law is in
two directions First the placing Of a
separate tax on the value of land, as
distinguished from the value of build
ings. The first object had the sanction,
he believed. of the entire liberal party,
and was a foremost plank in their plat
form. In the separate taxation of
sible for the landlord to put the screw
on the tenant or to shift the burden on
to him. Landlords would not on that
account be able to raise the rents; the
effect would be to lower them. In con-
clusion, he did not think it lay in the
mouths of the dukes and other ground
landlords of London to talk about a
policy of confiscation.
This conference was held for promot-
ing the objects of an address issued last
autumn by the executive COMMITTEES of
THE United Committee for the Taxa
ton of Ground Values in London" of
which society Lord Monkswell is pres
ldent, and Frederick Verinder is secre-
tary. The address is what in the
United States would be called plat
form. 1t was issued in contemplation
of the approaching county council eiec-
ton. and it declares the principles
upon which the single tax men of Lon
don appeal for increased support Here
is the text:
The prominence now given to the de-
mand for the taxation of land values in
the programme of the liberal and radi-
cal party is at once a testimony to the
value of the work done by the commit
tee in the past and an incentive to in
creased exertions in the future. To Sc
cure the ground which has already
been won, and to give greater definite
ness to the current proposals Of reform.
much educational work, involving a
considerable expenditure, will be nec-
essary.
Moreover, this question is becoming
more important, and more urgent than
ever in connection with almost every
department of local government Re-
cent legislation on the housing of the
people, supplemented by pressure from
the government and from public opin-
ion, is tending to increase the expendi-
lures of local bodies for sanitary pur-
poses. The demands for better schools,
better education, public libraries baths,
wash houses, open spaces and the like,
are increasing the amount and aggra-
waiting the burden of the rates. Mean
while. the increased value which all
these public Improvements confer upon
the land of the towns goes into the
pockets of the landlords, who, as the
landlords, contributes nothing directly
to the rates by whose expenditures
they are SO largely benefited
The London county council has re-
fused to proceed with some of it's more
costly improvement schemes until 1t
shall have the power to rate ground
landlords to their cost Every local
body has to face similar difficulty; and
no doubt many of them, failing reform
of the incidence of local taxation, will
follow the example of the London
county council
Either the most urgent public inn
provements must be neglected.; or the
burden of their cost must be added to
the already unjust burdens of the oc-
cupier; or the reform advocated by this
committee must be adopted by parlia-
ment.
This was signed on behalf OF the ex-
ecutive committee by Lord Monkswell,
J. f. TORI. j. Fletcher Moulton and
Frederick Verinder
A pamphlet recently published by
William Saunders, a member of the
London county council, and lately
mem or of parliament, describes the
agitation which led up to the address
The issue-as he states twas this:
Builders or occupiers Of premises
have to pay rates; the value of land
created by the expenditure of rates
goes to the ground landlord 1t is con-
tended that the ground landlord,
who obtains the value. should contrib
ute to the rates by which the value ie
created" This proposal is called the
taxation of ground values. When the
county council was elected, the aues-
ton of taxing ground values excited
great interest, and while it was admit
ted that the council had no control
over the methods of rating, that author
ity resting in parliament. it was i'm
sisted that when recommending ex-
penditures for city improvements it
was the duty of the council to suggest
methods for raising funds. The agita-
ton began, however, long before
the election of the first county council
1t was caused by the rapid increase in
rents and rates between 1868 and |
1890, and the question was first
raised in the report of the royal
commission on the housing OF the work. |
ing classes This report showed that, |
though the capital value OF available |
building land was very gr.at, it pro- |
duced but a small return until let for |
building and that it was rated for tax
alton not in proportion to it's real value,
which was high, but to the actual in
come which until let for build ng was
very low. That enabled the owners, so
the royal commission reported, to keep |
the land out of market, and thereby to |
abncrmallv raise its price. and mean