Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1895-07-05

EDITOR CHRONICLE. - Dear .Si5.
Whatever may be the ultimate result Of
the single tax agitation in Delaware, sin
gle takers will always retain a lively graf
itude towards those newspapers which
have welcomed the mo, ement with words
of encouragement and in this respect the
CHRONICLE will be distinguished.
The most that single takers can expect
to do is to print the way and urge inves.
LEGATION. The people must do the rest
Let the cry, educate, agitate, organize, :"
go forth and in time Delaware will be the
cynosure of all other states
From moral point of view, our propo-
sition may be stated in this wise: God
made the earth, and He made it for all His
children alike If one man were to appro.
pirate the whole earth to his own use he
would be doing an injustice to his fellow
man If any number of men appropriate
any portion of the common heritage with
out giving an equivalent to the rest the in
justice is the same in character But, if
an equivalent be given, the equal natural
right of all is vindcated and the end of
justice met. The equivalent can be fixed
by taking the annual value to the appro
prator; in other words, what the presence
of population make it worth in the shape
of rent This rent could be taken an
nually and all other taxes abolished
ltwould relieve labor from the burdens
which our present system imposes, but it !
would extingush andlordism The land. /
lord, as such, lives by the labor of Others
We do not believe God intended that
some of His children should live in idle.
ness and at the expense of other children.
We believe there IS essence Of true chris.
lianlty and sound common sense in our
and that its justice is perfect.
From the dollar and-cents standpoint it
will be seen that the single tax, besides
being just, IS good thing-that it will
lay II
Taxation, as now imposed, falls ulti-
nately on the consumer, and by our
ROCKED system Of indirect taxation it al
ways takes more from him than the gov
'rnment gets The result is he consumes
ess, and the labor and capital which must
'roduce in order to. exist is deprived of
Employment Labor starves and capital
ieeks the more profitable because practi.
ally untaxed field of land speculation, 4
and IS thus tied up at monopoly price, S
md The labor which would use it, if cheap, 6
locks to the cities in search of employ
nent, competing with artisan labor and
in all E-II
nd the wage earners both on farms and
. the cities use less and ever less Of each
theirs products TIL what we call Hhard
ines" set Ia. We want to reverse the
recess. and the single tax will do it o
rec production from all kinds of taxes :,
nd tax land according to its value, +
fhether in use or not fully used and YOU
llll stimulate production and destroy spec
lation in land. Factories and workshops
I'll spring up for the employment of art Z
an Labor free land will attract the agricul
lrlst from the city and remove the com
clifton OF starving and desperate men
ON the labor market. In consequence
ages Will constantly tend upwards till
] men willing to work are employed.
With all men working there will be an L
yer Increasing demand from farm and d
ty for each others products till all mems [.
ants are satisfied and labor and capital
ct the full reward of their services. 7
Thus most of the evils that disgrace our
villz ton the involuntary idleness, des- n
tuition, vice and crime, traceable 10 pow
ty-W0uld disappear, along with the
Eruption Of public officials AID waste Of
lbllc money inseparable from our present =
stem p
Land caunot be hid and its value can
ways be easily ascertaired A tax on
would therefore be certain in results.
I'd statistics prove it would be abundant az
amount; while its collection would be P
reaper thar any tax yet devised
GEORGE SUTHERLAND.
! East 27ih ST New York, june Is, 'os.