Evening journal., 1894-03-10
THOMPSON AND SUDELL
The New Castle Man Interro-
gated the Professor.
THE LAND QUESTION DISCUSSED

At the Nsw-Ccntury Club Yesterday
Afternoon-slngie Tax Advocates in
Attendance and They Made Them
selves Heard.
Professor Robert E. Thompson, who
formerly occupied the chair Eof political
economy in the University Of Pennsyl-
vania, and recently elected principal Of
the high school OF Philadelphia, lectured
on THE Land Question" at the New
Century Club yesterday afternoon. His
audience, while not large, was select and
composed mainly OF women, not more
than eight or ten men being In attedn-
ance.
He reviewed the manner In which
land had developed In productive
capacity and value since II had passed
from common TO individual ownership
and said that man had developed ac.
cordingly, the acquisition OF land being
an incentive for labor In the middle
ages land was held In a communicate
way and was gradually absorbed by en-
closures. He defined rent TO be a con-
crete value Of labor applied TO land, and
that rent, instead OF increasing with the
increase of improvements upon and
value Of the land, as is popularity sup
posed. tends to decrease Land does not
| depend for Its value upon the richness
Of the soil, but upon the labor expended
upon II. AS an example, he stated that
an acre Of land In the granite state of
Massachusetts, Is worth as much as
eleven acres OF the rich alluviRl soil of
Mississippi He also spoke Of the relative
worth Of the land Of New Jersey and
Georgia
He said there was an earned as well
as an unearned increment IN the value
Of land, or rent. He took up the quea.
tion OF taxing land values, OF single tax,
IN order to take the unearned increment.
He made the statement that the single
tax advocates held that, as this unearned
increment was made by society ss
whole, IL belonged to society and should
be taken. With this he did not alto
gether agree
In his opinion there was unearned in
crement In railroad stocks FIRE insurance
company stocks, and many other things
While II might have been right TO have
taken 1t In tho beginning, Il would not
be Just 60 take Il now.
The lecture was listened to with In
tense interest, especially by three or four
single tax advocates who occupied
seats In the rear Of the room. Az its
conclusion the professor left the plat
form, descended to a place Ia front of
the stage and announced his readiness
to answer all questions which might be
propounded.
Ono Of Henry Georges admirers pres
ent was Harold Sudell, Of the New Cas-
ne Iron Works
Are not land values dependent upon
population rather than upon labor ex-
peudedY' he asked "lf the popula.
tion Of Great Britain were transported to
some island In the Pacific ocean-one
which had never before been settled.
would not the land values soon equal
the present values In Great BritalnY'
"Yes, replied the professor, because
we have made great improvements In
labor appliances and could produce the
same results in much shorter time than
formerly
In spite Of the labor expended in
Great Britain, would not the land value
disappear II the population we're re-
moved2' atked the New Castle man.
There would be no land values in the
world II there were no population" was
the reply.
"what has been the effect Of the tax
. | uNOn lhnu Nhluth IN NoW AthiAuQl
Il don't know, was the frank admis.
sion Of the lecturer
1.-The secretary of state, In his report,
states that the colony Is in a prosperous
condition and attributes IL TO the effects
Of the tax on land values, which is Ia
operation there. Thomas l.. Shearman
has shown that from 60 to 20 per cent.
Of the rental value Of land would pay
all the expenses Of government. Is that
trueY asked Mr. Sudell.
"Mr. Shearmans figures are not to be
depended upon" replied the political
economist His figures are drawn
largely from his imagination. New
b Zealand cannot be compared with
Victoria"
Victoria has suffered from the same
depression that the other Australian
colonies are suffering from and the peo-
] pie are emigrating ffrOm there to New
, Zealand, suggested Mr. Sudell. ''The
land values are taxed in New Zealand
ard 1t is prosperous.
I IL am In favor Of taxing land which Is
held out of use. like that on the upper
end Of Manhatten Island, said the pro.
fessor "You recollect that the same
condition OF affairs exists in other
places.
Everywhere, was the unqualified re.
4 tort Of Mr. Sudell. I'VE have it In New
r Castle and right here in Wilmington
and everywhere the high price Of land
tends 70 prevent improvement
By this time the women had become
restless and many of them had departed.
70 The professor was reminded that it was
near train time and Mr.. Sudell was pre-
a vented thereby from propounding further
: questions. The next lecture will be
upon money.