Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-05-11

The old adage that the destruction
# the poor is their poverty, should be
amended to read-the destruction of
the poor is their ignorance.
knowledge is power in a larger sense
than is commonly supposed, for it not
only enables us to resist attack, but
also points out the way we should go
in order to recover the rights and
liberties which cunning greed has flch-
ed from us
The wise reformers of the present
time propose to relieve all productions
and exchange of wealth from taxation.
In other words, to free mans activity
and its results from taxation, and col
lect the revenue necessary to maintain
local, state and national governments
from land values.
Immediately the farmer. generally a
user and bsolute owner of large areas
of land, arises and in his shortsighted
ignorance denounces his friends as
despoilers. With rising color in his
face, betokening anger Gnstead of
reflection and consideration. he in
quires if you would rob him still
further-that already the burden of
taxation is pressing too heavily upon
him, and in the face of this you propose
to exempt all kinds of prop
erty and employment from taxa
ton and concentrate all taxation on
land value. This, in his indignation,
he generally takes to mean scheme to
tax land alone, and as he sees it, entire
ly relieve the rich landholders and
transfer the burden to the already over
loaded back of the agriculturalist
It will probably ruff his prejudices
to be told little plain truth, but he
had better hear it and heed it. The
demagogue who has been pandering to
him so long has brought him to con-
dition which, with one accord, they all
proclaim damnable: so bad that it
couldn't be worse if the makers of the
plan had intended it to be bad. It is
under the present system of taxation
that large landholders and monopolists
have been developed, and the more we
perfect and enforce it the more will we
accentuate the results. Greater and
fewer landlords and fatter monopolistsl
The farmer is distinctly laborer.
Whatever wealth he possesses has been
produced by him by his labor from the
land, and therefore the exemption of
wealth would relieve him from taxation
on all he owns and the taxation of land
values would only tax the opportunity
afforded him to produce wealth, making
no discrimination between the thrifty
and the idle.
The agriculturist with farm, which
returns him only bare living and does
not produce enough for him to put
something by for old age, is working land
that has no value. The few dollars per
acre qualification which it now has is
due to the fact that others are with
holding land-probably better land
from use, resulting in an anticipated
scarcity of land. But if land values
alone were taxed this better land
would come into the market, increasing
the supply and reducing the purchasing |
and assessa BILE value of all land, with |
out diminishing the crops which labor |
could produce. Consider the benefit |
which would follow the exemption of |
productive exchange and wealth from
taxation. If the tax on wealth be only
two per cent. it must in fifty years con-
sumo the savings which have been set
apart to provide for old age and sick
ness. while the exemption of wealth
and exchange from taxation would
make the farmers product ex-
change for more of the things
he desires Since all taxation of
commodities falls at last upon the con-
sumner, with profit on the tax added
by the trader. and since the farther ex-
changes the most of his product for
what he consumes it follows that he is
paying more than he should for the
support of government
The tax on land values would relieve
The farmer and catch the monopolist
Just in the position where he couldn't
shift the tax, because the landlord gets
Ill he can out of the land-user-tax or
40 tax-now.
The receipts from real estate taxed
n the First ward of New York !
;ity were 5000 greater last
rear than the whole assessed
Talue real and personal of Hamilton j
county. The area of the first is 154 !
lcres. The area OF Hamilton county is ,
), 094, 040 acres, and the rate of taxation
n the city of New York is less than two
Der cent. Who would pay the tax UNI
Ter a system that taxes the value of
and alone? Come, farmers, get out
our pencil, put on your thinking cap,
md figure it out. BENZ. Do3LIN.