Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-02-18
| SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT.
EVER WITH US.
Christian Men Who Would Help the
Poor.
Rev. Charles II. Baker. in the Church of
the Messiah, Again Reinforces the
Single Tax Views of Henry
George-Anothera and q
Vigorous Attack on
MOnopolies.
TcoSr1NUED FROM LAST ISSUE. |


cause, says Mr.. George. It 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 while ago for little or nothing,
owned by Boston man. He has never
been on the land. For years it remain
ed there, without an improvement of
| any kind Villages grew all around it,
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, 600 acres of waste to reach
the depot The consequence is that
that land is worth to-day 500 an acre
1t was bought for 81. 35 an acre. What
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 Guilt
| waiting the land have added almost 500
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 a
cent of taxes on it. In Brooklyn there
is a lot of land which twenty years ago
was offered, with the buildings upon it.
for $50. 900. Five years ago it was sold
and the buildings upon it were count
ed of no value-for S35, 00O What
made it worth S135. 900 instead Of $50, :
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 it. Land grows in value by
the massing of people in great cities;
and if 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 off 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
land as was applied to vested interests
in negro slave property. Did the Amer
lean 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
its public revenue from this natural
value, and from the value which is ac-
quired by the aggregation of people in
great centers of trade and produc-
ton. No tax is to be laid upon the
buildings that are on the land. If a
man puts up beautiful house,
which is an honor to us. and, if,
perChance we receive a visit from a dis
tant friend, and we want to show him
what has been done in our city, we
show him what beautiful house has
been built Then why should we i'm
mediate1y go and tax the builder ten or
hundred times as much as the man
who has built miserable howell in the
neigh borhood, which we would like to
be rid Of? Mr.. George holds that when
man wants piece of land exclusive
L., H. La Oh
something to the general con .sunity,
and that is where public revenue should
be derived. And it is easy enough for
US to see that that is the directic 4 in
which the world is going. In olden
times it was customary to tax incomes.
The American people do not like it, be-
cause of its inquisitorial nature. We
used to tax personal property. But
this tax has become in the eyes of the
American people a miserable, meddling
thing. tbs not a practica BILE thing to
collect taxes upon personal property to
any great extent. The leaders in this
movement are seeking to change the
laws of the state so that in d fferent
sections they shall have the right to
assess land in this way. That is a good
movement; that is in accordance
with the current ideas of the time
/ verify believe that the movement
here marked out by Mr.. George is to be
a movement along which American life
is to proceed, and along which in some
respects English life has proceeded,
even further than we have here. and in
Australia still further and in Paris
they are almost ready for it. Let me
read a law which was recently passed
in New Zealand-which is far more
important place than we are accustom-
ed to think. 1t has about half mill
ion of English speaking people and q
large numbe of the natives are work
ing harmoniously in the government.
This is the law: Every person and
company, being the owner of land.
shall be liable to tax in accordance
with this act. and such tax shall be as
sessed and levied upon the actual value
of such land; but the value of i'm
provements upon all land owned by
any person or company up to E3, 600
THAT is the place where they have
run off the track shall be deducted
from such assessed value. and
mortgage then due or owing upon such
land shall also be deducted from such
value" In bringing the act before the
legislature of that country for adoption,
it was most powerfully supported by
the prime minister of the country, and
in answer to the question which was
put to him whether this would not
cause the cutting up of the large estates
by saying that that was one OF