The Opelousas courier., 1895-05-25
a WORKING FARMERS VIEWS

- "oHk'NG FARMERS VIEWS.
Believes THAI the Single Tar sbor,a ID.
Adopted In Counties Wbe,. .h. p.
Demand 1t.
10 the Editor Of the Advocate:
VIII you allow me space to give NV
reasons for dissenting from vour pen.
eral position, that the farmers Of Now
ork state are unalterably opposed to
,ne "single-tax," and to the Ainswortb
Dill as a scheme for having the experi.
ment tried in city counties without the
consent of the farmers in the rpral
counties?
1 am a working farmer born and
ored' and my farm of two hundred and
forty acres of rough land, nv au,lv
source OF revenue. Therefore l believe
that must and do look upon the cues.
tion OF taxation from the standpoint OF
the working farmer. And no farmer
IN the state can have a stronger preiu-
dice against the exemption of personal
property from taxation than / had
when the idea was first presented to
me. 1 would willingly have agreed
mat personal property alone should be
taxed and real estate exempted, be-
cause the people 1 knew who paid per-
sonal property taxes were compare
lively rich, owned farm mortgages.
n were we'll able to pay; while the
real estate n of my acquaintance
were many of them poor and had to
pay interest on mortgages. 1 had
taken it for granted, too, without
thinking much about it, that real es-
tate was mostly in the country, and
personal property mostly in the cities
where things looked to me as if there
was plenty of money to pay taxes
with.
But when l went on to air these
views to a Henry George man, he
showed me that though the land was
in fact mostly in the country, the land
values were mostly in the cities. It
took my breath almost to see in the
controllers report that New York and
Brooklyn paid half the real estate tax
OF the whole state, and there were
twenty-five Or so other cities to pay
most of the other halt. And right at
hone | found from the supervisors
journal that the towns of Olea and
F~ranklinville, because they contained
the largest two villages in our county
of Cattaraugus, paid one-quarter of the
real estate tax of the county while COW
ering only o~ne-sixteenth of the acre
age. I had to admit that real estate
taxes hit hardest in a very different
quarter from what / had supposed.
OF course l had not cared at any time
to be taxed on my own little personal
property, my farm stock and imple-
ments. I knew it was hard enough
work to get these things without being
burdened with taxes on them. But
would not be reconciled to the exemp-
ton of mortgages till l caught the idea
which l have ever since believed in and
advocated, of taxing mortgages as
joint owners, by making their share of
the tax a legal offset to an equal
amount of interest. l have yet to
meet a mortgagor who cares to argue
against that plan.
AS to the great fortunes of the mil
lionaires, we farmers are generally
ready enough to agree that they are a
product of monopoly solely, especially
after we have figured out that it would
take a man over five hundred years to
earn a million dollars at five dollars a
day. And monopolies, or, to speak
more correctly, any methods of legal
robbing of the many by the few, are
not subjects to be taxed but wrongs to
be abolished; and it is in that way
alone that we should look upon them
and work earnestly for their over
throw.
Finally, 1 believe it is opposed to
good public policy to tax improvements
on land. Whether in city or country
they are a blessing to the whole COM
munity; they give employment to la
Dor, put money in circulation, assist
production and tend to make every
body richer. Therefore they ought to
be encouraged by exemption from tax
alton.
For a number of years I have made q
point OF observing and asking ques-
tions with a view to ascertain what
would be the effect upon the mount
OF annual tax, in average cases, OF ex-
emptinR improvements and increasing
correspondingly the tax on the land.
1 believe that in ours, which is an yer
age rural neighborhood, three-quarters
Of us would not find the amount OF "a
tax to vary as much as Eve dollars an
nually through such q change. A con-
siderable number of farmers who have
made themselves homes would be
greatly relieved from taxes because
their land OF itself has little II any
value. A few farmers who hold ev-
eral hundred acres of more or less de-
s;rable land would find their AK IN
creased. :,
INT IL is in the cities, where Ian
values really lie, that the immensea and
beneficial effects of this change would
ppear, in better buildings at less cost,
lower rents and work for b mem
nloved. And this could mean nothing
but brisk markets and fair profits TO
the farmer. Though | say it myself,
there is not, to my knowledge q work.
in1 farmer in my neighborhood, MOI OF
INV intimate acquaintance, who is afraid
Of the land value tax, or who objects
10 it being tried in any county OF the
state whose voters may demand It
GEO. b. RoUNsEvELL,
Haskell Flats, N. Y.
Suppression BY Bounties instead O ~
Taxes.
In Goodhue county, Mimi, they had
! bounty ON gophers, fifty cents for
.r.- fail. The little beasts are very