The Opelousas courier., 1895-01-26
THE SINGLE TAX AN ARSUR.
DITY.
il Would Destroy Farm Land Values

HE LE IAN AN RpSOHs
DITY.
il Would Destroy Farm Land Values.
To the Editor OF the Advocate:
Your correspondent put forward GER
tain views favoring taxation upou land
the present system
y6f taxing both land and personal prop
erty works unjustly: that by reason Of
n tax upon personal property many
wealthy citizens Of rural districts are
tempted to become non~residents: that
it encourages downright perjury: that
personal property represents the re-
suits of labor: that q tax thereon is a
| tax on labor, or punishment upon the
practice Of economy and thrift or hne
upon such persons as shall practice
these virtues; that in the decade end
ing with 1890, population increased rs
cent, farmers who " their farms
less than j Per cent, while tenant farm
ers increased IS per cent. with an in
crease OF mortgage Indebtedness Of 1856
per cent: attributing the fabulous
value Of city lands to present system Of
taxation; hat if the whole burden Of
taxation were imposed on land, farmers
would share in the land values they
now help TO create. ***
The objections to the present system
of taxation refer to the insuficiency of
the statue law. rendering its admins
tration Inefficient and inpracticable. as
tending to relieve personal property
from its just share Of the pub
lie burden. thereby unjsstly increasing
the tax on land and resulting in de-
pressed valuation Of farm property.
We maintain another proposition, to-
wit: that if ,all men paid their just
proportion of the public burdens all
would be O deeply interested in
pure and economical government.
III The state of New York at present
farms ere hardly worth first mortgage
liens, The decline dates from 1877. since
which time depression has steadily ON
:inued, until the present value is an
anomaly in history without visible in
dications OF an upward move, but on
the other hand abundant ground for
greater decline in value.
1t is simply absurd to suppose or in
sist that any relief can come to farm
ers by the shifting of the entire burden
of taxation to land. If the single tax
heresy obtained with existing unfortu-
nate political conditions then would all
farmers gladly exchange their titles
for money, bonds aud mortgages to
escape the burdens. So greatly is
this now the case that there remains
scarcely any demand for the pur-
chase of farm property. II Of the
worst evidences of decay in free insti-
buttons.
a just tax law reaching all persons
and all property without exception,
administered under the assessment sys-
tenn of blanks filled out by each taxa
bic inhabitant, showing net propesty
Of each person to be taxed over liabil-
tiles, would at once effect an array of
taxed valuation that would result in
reducing taxes on farm lands to one
third the present rate, and at once
raise the average price of farms in
New York state $500.
But, says the objector, this system
would encourage perjury. How many
persons would incur the hazard OF per-
jury under a just law if punishment
and confscation to the state of such
property SO fraudulently withheld were
made the legal penalty?
Your correspondents y y y seem
to sum uptheir argument thus: "Those
values which are created by the public
should furnish the necessary means to
pay the expenditures of the public"
Assuming that a lot 25x10O feet in New
York city has obtained a value of $780,
600 from the public, can it be said that
a farm is in like condition? VIII it
not always be true that labor in the
main and personal enterprise have con-
spired to the creation Of value? If SO,
should not the farm for like reason be
exempt from tax?
The theory of free government rests
upon the infexible principles of com
mon law OF exacts justice in which as
''born kings" its subjects are alike in
terested with equal rights alike pro-
tected. Well devised statute laws are
founded upon the same basis. To ex-
empt any man Or class of men from the
burden of taxation is an invasion of
common law and at variance with the
principles of the free government. It
can not be SO applied in this or any
other state of the union.
In the seventeenth century, under
the reign of the prince of Orange, a
special land tax of four shillings to the
pound upon the rents of land was i'm
posed, which is continued to this day.
This may in some cases stimulate pro-
ductiveness. It would be easy to point
out cases in which the tax, becoming
by its fxation d;sproportionate to the
a Of the taxpayers, and condition
of soil, might be productive of much
mischief. Excess of taxation on land
here. practically has this effect.
Appreciation of land values in cities
and villages by reason Of congested
population illustrates the effect Of
the increased taxation upon farm
lands in this state, proving that any
increased land tax in city lands fails
in its application to agricultural lands.
Taxation is not q theory. 1t is u
fz.ed fact in the system of government.
1t Is taking part OF a mans property
annually for public purposes against
his will, and SO far it is tyranny. Il is
involved in the problem of national
life and because the subjects of free
government are all born kings" its
burdens should bear equally upon all
t. TS--J--1 l.