The morning times., 1895-11-24
SINGLE TH COLUMN.
CThe Times undertakes no respon-
sibiiity for any views expressed In
this column.) yh .-.

his letter heading, of Gienwood Springs
| Colo, sends us the, following indignant
protest against the Single tax:
"What a morstrShsK doctrine! Apply it
| in this State, where first titles are obtained
| from the GovefnmeRt.. 4 poor man without
| means, but possessing Dpdustry, energy and
| ambition, settles on 100 acres OF Govern
| Inent land. He labers hard TO improve it;
| works at times on fthe railroad grade
or anywhere else that he can earn II few
| dollars to improve his palce. After years
| of hardship and toll he succeeds in pur-
| chasing the land from the Government.
| Through his labor aud energy it becomes
| valuable and yields u comfortable living
| for his family. Think OF bringing about
| such change of laws as would coniiscate
| property in land without penny OF com
| pensauonl Take all his labor from himl
| Confiscate a home of his own creation,
wrestcd frcm nature itself, The doctrine is
| simply monstrous!'
THE BUGABOO DISMANTLED.
| The above extract very beautifully Illus
| trates how wofully a man of even eXcep-
| tioual intelligence may misapprehend the
| fundamental principles and policy OF doc
| trine that is new to him. The Indignation
he expresses at various things which single
| takers do not teach indicates that Mi. Mo
ran would become q vigorous advocate Of
| the single-iax doctrine if lie understood
what IL does teach
Mr. Moran pictures a frontier settler who
after years OF hardship aud toll succeeds
| iu purchasing land from the Government"
| Upon the siugle-taX theory the Government
would not recognize land as n saIeable
| commodity. 1t holds that all human beings
| porn upon the earth have an equal
| aud indefclsibie right in ard 10 its soil,
| aud would ict him have his share of il when
| ever he was ready to use il, without com
| pelling him to undergo untold hardships
aud eXpcnd years OF toll in earning money
| to pay for it, either to the Government or
any one else. What would there be so
monstrously oppressive To the hard-work-
ing settler in this, Mr.. Moran?
| 1t is true that upon the theory that the
land belongs equally to the entire COM
| nunity, when an individual segregates Il
| quarter section from the common heritage
| and .appropriates 1t to his own exclusive
use, IL is but fair that he should reconprnse
| the community for depriving them of its
| use. But in the case of the frontier settler,
| ID, nobody else wants 1T as yet, SO he is
| dcprlving nobody else of anything; t2), he
| also rs the member of the community, hav-
| ing an interest i'll the common heritage,
| hence something is due him as his share OF
| what other individuals owe community. So
| for number OF years, In ordinary cases,
| what the frontier settler owes TO the com
! munlty Tor ground rent would be balanced
| by what the community owes him; and the
| hard working farmer would not have to pay
! any taxes. What would there be so nIon-
! strOusy oppressive 10 him in that, Mr..
| Moran?
COLORADo'S PLAN OF TAXING.
A dozen years pass. The pioneer has
worked his way TO comfortable circum-
| stances A number of other adventurous
| and enterprsing EIen have come into the
| vicinity and have made themselves homes.
| But very early i'll the history OF the country
! the best lands passed INTO possession Of
| land synGicates. =
Now comes a representative Of the state,
| under the giise and official title of an as
SCISSOR, and inquiries, fWhat have we hcrc?"
The pioneer polnts with prideto his quar-
ter-section, all under cultivation, inclOsed
and crossed with miles Of fence; TO his house
| and barn and corn bins; to his horses and
! cattle and sheep; to- all, IN short, that goes
| to constitute a firSt'claSs farm,
The assessor look it1over and says, IAN
this must be worth, 5at fae lowest estimate,
| $1,000. The rate Of taxation this year is
| cents on Il dollar. Your tax is Sl0o."
| But see here" SAYS the pioneer. my
| presence and my work ave been an unmixed
benefit 10 this community and To the Siate.
! have patrnuiZed tho merchants, buyiug
| of them lumber for buildings. wire for
| fencing, Agricultural Implements for use
on the farm. ! have fun shed employment
at generous wages for plowmen and car
! pcnt"fs and stOnC-inaspns and ether Eiuds
of laborcrs. Every dollar | have ever
earned in my life has gone into the pockets
of the people of this community, and in
creased the wealth OF the State"
That's jus; what's the natter" replies
| the asse ssor; lit is the policy of the State
| OF Colorado not to permit people
to come here and do that sort OF thing with
| impunity. Therefore consider yourself
fined this year for your diligence and en-
tcrprise, 500. If you keep on building
,,,sn
cnriching the State it Will be so much the
worse for you when l come around again
next year"
THE SINGLE TAX PLAN.
During the next year the hard working set
| tier makes further improvements on his
home TO the extent of 81 900. AT the end
| of the year the assessor calls again. The
| farmer expects that Ivy this time his tax
| on 81. .00O-will be $40. lie is surprised
| TO find that he Will have TO pay but $40.
! He asks the assessor the reason OF this re-
duction.
The assessor inquiries: DO You not re-
| Inemher that our legislature last winter
| adopted the single tax system?''
| YES replies the farmer, but what
has that got to do with it,
| finder the single tax theory" the as
| seSsor explained. I'VE levy Il tax only on the
value of the unmproved bare land. Your
| house and barn and fences. your horses and
| cattle and sheep, your wheat and corn and
apples, everything that is the product of
human labor, is left untouched by taxation.
| We have abandoned the policy of imposing
| a penalty unon the man who benefits the
| community and builds up the country"
| But in that case" asked the farmer,
anxiously, chow does the State obtain
sufficient revenue?'
The assessor explains: You know that
| the quarter sections north, and south, and
| east, and west, Immediately adjoining
yours, are owned by down-East spectators
who are holding them for u rise. Last year
| YOU were taxed 500; ea ch of the other four
| because their owners were doing nothing
for this community-were let off upon the
payment of $50. Thus the total income to
| the State from the five qua rter-sections was
| SlsO. This year yours and each of these
| adjoining manifestations are taxed alike,
| $40: total income to the State from the five,
! 5000. So. while your tax is only two-fifths
what it was last year, the State gets $50
| more revenue than it did then"
Now, friend Moran, will you please write
| us again, and explain which of these two
| plans goes the farther toward "confis-
| cating'' the fruits CT itfe diiigent pioneers
labor? Which does the most toward wrest-
ing from him the home OF his own creation?
| In short. where is the 'nlonstrous" wrong
wrought against the poor, hard working
farmer by the single tax?
We confess to faint suspicion that the
| woes of the poor. oppressed land SPECTATOR
are what you a re reilly Srieving over, friend