The herald., 1894-05-22
FROM NEW STANDPOINT
THE TARIFF AS VIEWED BY THE
SINGLE TAKERS.
Quite n Large Meeting of the Club
Last Nighttime. Miller's Address.
Single Tax Books for the
Library.

u uuo ouul0nC0 AttOAAC0 bho pOOAtO
meeting of the Sisgle Tax club last even.
ing at Unity church. and intense interest
in the proceedings was manifested
throughout Several citizens of promi-
nence, who had not previously attended
such meetings. were present on this CO.
cssion, they having become interested
in the subject by hearing the Post lee
lures last we Elk.
After Ralph K. Hoyt, the president,
had briefly outlined the single tax theo-
~ for raising public revenue without in
any manner taxing industry, he intro
duced Clarence A. Miller, who proceeded
to address the audience on The Tariff
and it's Relation to the Single Tax. Mr..
Miller, who is one of the ablest and
most popular advocates of the single
tax movement in Southern California,
was greeted with applause, not only
when he took the floor but often during
his interesting address. From opening
to close he held the attention of all
present.
Miss Kelso, the city librarian, was
present and spoke on plan of placing
a list OF single tax books in the public
library, with complete system Of index
and references in order that readers
may be enabled to find inst what is
wanted on these important and live
questions of the day.
BY vote of the house q committee was
appointed to wait upon the librarian to
make arrangements for single tax
addition to our already extensive pub
lie library.
The committee consists of s. Byron
Welcome, Marvin w. Conkling and
Ralph E. Hoyt.
Hereafter all those who wish to "post
up" on the political economy of the
future can find an elaborate selection of
single tax works of either scientific
nature or in the form of easier reading,
called single tax novels.
Mr. Miller spoke substantially as
follows: Free trade is natural trade.
All OF US know by this time what a tariff
is. There are tariffs for revenue and
tariffs for protection. The protectionist
claims the foreigner pays the tariff tax.
In the next breath he admits that the
tariff is levied for the purpose of raising
the price of imported goods, in order
that home manufacturers may make
larger profits.
A single tsxer who believes in a tariff
is an anomaly. He is like married
priest; he is an absurdity. Single tax
means one taxa tax on the value of
land.
When | was a protectionist myself, we
always found that those free traders
said things we could not answer; so we
said: 'Your theory is all right, but it
won't work in practice" Why did we
say that? Because we could not meet
free trade argument with protectionist
argument. In other words, the truth
of the question ia on the side of free
trade. Any theory which is right, is
right in practice. Nearly every politi-
cal economist aince Adam Smith was q
free trader, and they say that the tariff
ia not any longer debatable question !;
frse trade is scientific and protection is
ieie doctrine.
The laboring man, however, does not
go much on science, and sees where free
traders have not gone to the whole
depth of the question. Free trade saves
labor. Machinery saves labor also.
Lsborers oppose both free trade and
machinery, because both reduce the
amount OF work, and the laborer has no
way OF making a living without work.
When houses burn down new houses are
built; therefore, labor seems to benefit
by fire, by floods, by cyclones and by
protective tariffs.
This theory only holds good when
there are idle men, but when all men
are employed fire. food and protection
are bad things. Here we must fall back
on the single tax. The single tax would
open up opportunities that all might be
employed, and in that case fire, floods
and protective tariffs would be bad
things, and labor saving machinery and
free trade would be good things. Under
existing conditions free trade would not
benefit lsboring men much if any, but
with the single tax free trade would be
blessing to all.
To show what farce personal prop
erty taxes are Mr.. Hoyt said that the
assessed value of all property of the
city of Chicago had decreased $40, 250,-
900 in the last 20 years, according to the
tax returns-a startling statement, but
true.
Dir. Forrest asked if an acre of land in
the desert should be taxed as much as
good orange land?
The value of land depends upon the
demand for the land. When the cheap
land gets into the market and there is a
great demand for land it would become
valuable and would be taxed accord
ingly.
Mr.. Grosser, Mr.. Baker, Mr.. Conkling
and others spoke on different phases of