Iron County register., 1893-02-09
Tap the Trunk of a Tree.

"Who Pays Your Taxes?" is . Thoughts
full and highly instructive work on the
subject indicated. The frontispiece of
the book was suggested by an argu-
mentative illustration made in the Troy
Press year or more ago, and the work
itself was reviewed in these columns
sometime since. The Christian Union,
however, takes issue with the points SO
earnestly contended for by this paper
and the book in question, of which it
says:
This volume is issued by authority
of the Tax Reform association, and con-
taips number of able essays The
Tax Reform association is composed of
men more or less in sympathy with
Henry Georges proposition to impose
all taxes on land values. The work be-
fore us demands the repeal of all taxes
upon personal property. Its funda-
mental error is brought out by the pic
ture which serves as its frontispiece. A
farmer and his boys are getting the
&. sap from a tree whose trunk is marked
real estate and whose branches are
marked manufactured business cap
ital,' personal property incomes
wages etc. The boys are boring at
the branches; the old farmer gets his
sap from the trunk of the tree. The
moral is stated thus: When the trunk
is tapped, each branch is drawn upon
for its due proportion of sap This is
very clever, but utterly false. The
farmers in this country have only one
fourth of the wealth, but they have
one-half of the real estate. The tap
ping of the trunk would take as much
sap from their quarter Of the wealth as
from the three-quarters belonging to
the people in the towns"
The Christian Union is greatly in err
TOR in saying that the association in
question is composed of men favorable to
the Henry George theory. Such is not
the case. Mr.. George would destroy
land ownership, a proposition hostile to
the views of almost all the members of
the tax reform movement The en-
forcement Georges notions would revo-
lutionize society as organized, while tax
reform would simply wipe out an odious
and in5quitable avenue of taxation
that it is impossible to enforce, and
place the burden where it would be less
burdensome to society at large, and
more equally distributed, than in any
other way.
The contention that farmers have
oue-half the real estate is misleading.
They have in area, it is true, but not in
value; and real estate is taxed accord
ing to its value, not area The truth is,
the farmers have not one-fourth of the
real estate Of the country in value, and
under the system recommended would
have to pay less than one-quarter of the
taxea The Christian Union makes a
bad break In intimating that an exclu-
siva tax ON realty would throw the
major share of taxes upon agriculture.
1t should apologize to its readers
The frontispiece. if not an invincible
illustration Of the principle of diversi-
fed taxes, has yet to be refuted- The
sa9acious maple sugar producer taps
the trunk Of the tree, from which every
branch thereof gathers sustenance- In
like manner the sagacious tax system
gathers its revenues from realty, upon
which every branch of human society
depends
This simple economic truth divests
taxation of its confusing perplexities
and Internal inequitieA
The more that the ways of taxing the
people are multiplied. the more scan
dsls and stealings ut the capitolS The
LEGISLATORS who are so jealous in re
lieving the farmers" by cooking up new
schemes of taxation are in reality only
after fat pickings for themselves A,
Cleveland indicated in his message, AZ
overflowing treasury breeds squander
ers and thieves
The Christian Unions orthodoxy ha.
been attacked; but whether or MOI
il be sound on Scripture its review o.
the really admirable work named shows
gross ignorance Of the great economic
question Of taxation--The Troy Press
New YoRK STATE has had long expe
risnee in perfecting . tax system, and
should have . fairly just one II any
state in the union can. Yet an ex-mem
4,er of the state board of assessment.
testifes that fully q, 0o0. 900. 900 worth
of property in the state escapes taxa
zion. of which q. SOC. .0o0. 600 is in New
York county. Here 10 big field fo1
reformera Tribune. jan
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