Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-07-20

(ThfS department aims to give everybody's
ideas about taxation mo. tariff. Write your
opinions briefly, and they will be published or
discussed IN their turn by the editor or by mem
Der of the Taxation Society. Address, '.Taxa-
ton Society,"" this ONCE or p o. Box q Buff
falo, N. "
Reply to Letter From Member Of
Congress
DEAR SIR:-I can not understand how
you can suppose that the extreme posi-
assume you mean the abolition of every
other, taxi excludes from the public,
compensation for extraordinary privi-
Ieges granted to corporations
Our cordinal principle is, that all
men are endowed with the right of
equality of opportunity. In other
words, that the state has no right to
grant to any individual or set of indi-
viduals rights or privileges denied to
others. Where in the case of railroad
gas, telephone, telegraph, electric
light and surface railroad companies
such exclusive privileges are granted
full compensation must be exacted
from these corporations for the enjoy
ment of such privileges.
A tax upon land values necessarily
includes those peculiarly valuable
strips of land upon which the afore-
said companies operate.
BY this we do not a inn to secure the
reduction of taxation upon individuals,
for they also to the extent to which
they monopolize any valuable privilege
such as city lot, piece of farm land,
a mine, an oil or gas we'll, a water way
or dock privilege, should pay into the
public treasury the full value of the
privileges monopolized.
What l have here stated would have
seemed to me superfluous heretofore,
were it not that part of your letter is
capable Of the construction that you
seem to think that all corpora tions
should be taxed on different basis
from that OF their individual Compel
itors.
Where corporations, such as the Thur
Der, Whyland Co., are not granted any
exclusive privileges, but are simply or
ganized as n matter of convenience so as
to avoid arrangement on account of the
death or disa bility of any of its leading
members, they do not occupy any diff
ferent position from that of their indi-
vidual competitors-so far as the COM
munity is concerned. Consequently, if
taxed on any different basis, mani
fest injustice is done them
Much of the evil of our present social
system is due. not to free competition,
but to the fact that privileges and
favors are granted to a few, thereby
generating an unhealthy, instead of a
natural competition, by giving them
an advantage over their competitors.
AS heretofore stated, we do not aim
at reduction of taxation THAT is, if
you consider payment for the privilege
of exclusive use of valuable land as tax
atom. The essential difference as
understand it, between the single tax
err, limited Qike YOURSELF and the sim
gle taxer, unlimited like those / speak
for is, that you simply desire that those
who monopolize valuable land in any
of it's forms, shall be taxed up to
the full needs of the community;
while we hold that these priv
ileges should be taxed to their full rent
al value, regardless of whether the
present presumed needs of the commu-
nifty are commensurate with the amount
of taxes thus obtained or not.
Under society as now constituted,
with it's very limited expenditures for
street construction, schools art CALLER
les, public parks, and surface transpor-
tation, it is no doubt true that the an
nual rental value of the land would far
exceed it's expenditure. If this should
be found to be SO, it would be fair
presumption that the community had
failed to undertake some function which
properly belonged to it.
We, however, do not anticipate that
such juncture will ever arise, as CO.
incident with the growth of public
sentiment towards the single tax, there
is a manifest tendency to enlarge the
sphere of governmental operations
along the lines indicated above; SO we
may expect that by the time public
sentiment is ripe for the single tax, it
will also be ripe for the carrying on by
the community of many functions
which are now performed by semi-pub-
lie corporations. If the Manhattan
Elevated road was taxed on the i'm
mensely valuable privileges it
enjoys for running cars on
certain streets in the city
of New York and paid the rental value
of such privilege in addition to the tax
on the land it occupies for Sheds repair
shops, offices, etc, it would yield an in
come to this municipality of not
less than s.. 500, 600 instead of $500, 900
they now pay. The talk which their
directors are now indulging in that
S115, 900 is an excessive tax on such
privilege, would be ludicrous did it not
involve SO glaring a deprivation of COM
mon rights.
The single takers, unlimited, certain
ly can not agree with you that any
governmental interference whatever
with the liquor question is desirable.
Mr. Georges article in the Arena, some
two years ago represents the sentiment
of our people on this subject.
We hold that drunkenness is not
primarily a cause of poverty to any
considerable extent but that poverty is
very largely the cause of drunkenness
Remove that fearful pressure under
which the individual members of the
community are now struggling to keep
their heads above the whirlpool OF
poverty and its attendant wretched-
ness and vice, and we believe that
drunkenness would be rare indeed,
and would simply indicate an abnor-
NAL condition.
Instead of three sources OF income as
you suggest, we believe that what is
known as single tax embracing as it
would tax upon all valuable fran
chises) is not merely sufficient to raise
all the expenses of the government,
national, state and local, but, what to
T., 30,