The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-10
The Eloquent Congressman
Addresses the Social
Economics Club.
MANS HERITAGE ON EARTH
Popular Ownership of Land Is a
Goa-Given Right of an ALL
Wise Creator.

afternoon. The hall was crowded TO the
doors and the reception rendered the
speaker upon his appearance within the
walls was particularly enthusiastic.
After the meeting had been called to
order the chairman, Hermann Roger,
made a short speech, outlining the objects
OF the club and then introduced Judge
Mcguire. Again the audience broke out
with great peal of applause, which was
followed during the hour the speaker &C.
cupied in giving his views with many more
similar demonstrations
Ladies' and gentlemen" said Judge
Mcguire, 81 presume that most of those
who are present know what the single tax
proposition is. 1 have, however, found in
my time that a great many, even of those
who were with the single-ta1ers, did not
know what the single tax was. The prin-
Cipal proposition Of the single tax men Is
TO raise all the public revenues, for
National, State, county and municipal pur-
poses. by single tax upon land values,
irrespective of Improvements, and to abol-
ish all other taxes. The purpose is to
carry that single tax upon land values to
the extent of absorbing thu entire margin
of production of all land, that is, the mar
gin which is known as economic ground
rent.
This tax has two purposes. The first is
to improve the method of raising public
revenues; and the second and most i'm
portant is the means of establishing and
maintaining in this country, an absolute
equality of right, on the part of all citizens,
in the land which constitutes this country.
at would be quite enough to recommend
the single tax system that it is Infinitely
the most economical and the least burden
some method of raising public revenues.
result expected from its adoption, [ would
give very little of my time to the advocacy
of the single tax system. | do not think
that that part, while ii is highly important
and would be vast improvement upon
the present system, is the purpose that
holds single tax men together or that
presses the great single tax movement for
ward throughout the entire civilized world.
II is the other purpose-the purpose of
establishing equality of rights among all OF
God S people in the land which the Creator
has freely given to all men for their sup
port and in which the means OF living
and comfort of all men are locked up.
~ shall not discuss the first feature of
which l have spoken. 1t must be mani
fest, however, that it would be a vastly
cheaper method of raising puolic revenue
and there would be less waste involved in
it than in any other method imaginable.
1t would fall upon the ownership Of land
Tie ul6IS ONuCISuIp Oh ldHu-dQQ not
upon labor or other products of labor"
Continuing, Judge Mcguire stated that.
a few years ago, he had occasion to inves-
tigate the probable expense of levying and
collecting The taxes OF this municipality
by the direct tax upon bank values as com
pared with the present system. He found
that in one year, when Mr.. Badlam was
Assessor, it had cost approximately $3.50, 900
to collect such taxes. He had then made
careful estimate of what it would have cost
TO raise the revenue by the single tax syS-
TEN and found that it would not have cost
more than $4,000 at the outside. He con-
tinued with an attack on the svs-
TENS of taxation through the Custom
house and the inequality in the collection
of taxes on personal property. This latter
point was not to be lightly considered.
More than one-third Of the taxes levied
upon personal property was lost through
failure to collect, and the owners of the
other two-thirds were compelled to bear
the burden, providing they were equally
assessed.
cit is generally true" he continued
'that they are not equally assessed. Under
the present system the poor pay taxes to
the full value of their property and the
rich upon very small percentage of their
present holdings. 1t is impossible in the
present nature of things, to assess
personal property evenly or equitaply
and it is impossible to make collections
equitably or fairly, while, with the taxa
ton of land values, there is never any loss
by delinquency. If the taxpayer fails to
pay and nobody will buy, the State takes
the land for the tax, so that there is never
anything lost by delinquency in the pay
ment of real estate taxes or land taxes.
But it is the other feature-the other
purpose OF the single-tax system,' said the
speaker, ~ am here to-day TO discuss. 1t is
acknowledged by all men that the earth is,
or, originally was, as some say, the COM
mon heritage of all mankind; that in the
earth are locked up the resources neces-
sary and sufficient for the satisfying
of all human wants; and the means
of getting these necessaries from the
earth are mental and physical labor
applied to the development of the earth's
resources.
MAN is land animal. Every particle
of his food, clothing, shelter, the comforts,
the luXuries, come from the land. They
cannot come from any other source and
the land was provided for the purpose of
giving all of these things to the men who
would apply their labor, under the guild
ance of their minds, to develop the re-
sources of the earth. Even the bodily
frame of every man living upon the earth
is of the earth, and when ne dies his body
returns to the land-returns to the element
from which, through life, his bodily life
was supported. He is essentially a land
duliIidls ne muSJ i've On the ldnU ana
from the land if he is to live at ALL
What, then, is one of the most essen
tial requisites of comfortable living, or of
living at all? 1t is access to the land; &C
cess to the means of supporting life; access
70 place of living and to means of produc-
ing the things which support life and
make it comfortable. That is land There
is no other source. Man looks to the land
and depends upon the land just as the
water animal looks to the water and de-
ponds upon the water. Separate the fish
from the water and he dies naturally, be-
cause he is separated from the element
created for his support and by which he
must live, if he lives at all. Separate the
land animal from the land and it must die,
Just as the fish must die when separated
from the water. Precisely. Make the
separation partial. Make it difficult for
the fish to get water but give it enough to
keep it alive, and what have you? A mis-
cradle life, full of constant wretchedness
and hardship, and struggle worse than
death. Make it difficult for the land ami
NAL to get at the land, or at the comforts
of the land, and what have you? Just
what you have in the case of the fish-a