The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1897-09-08

a
greedy. They didn' leave enough honey
to carry the workers through the winter,
and there was trouble in the hive. The
New Zealand people were the first set
of workers to 'get On to- the true cause
Of hard times.
The Diagnoses Of the Doctors.
Other people have listened to the dag
noses of various political doctors, who
assured them, on the one hand. that it
was lack of silver coin, and on the 9th
er that it was too much silver; that it
was too high tariff Or too low tariff, OF
overproduction or foreign immigration
But the New Zealanders concluded
was just plain robbery, in the shape {
a heavy toll laid Oh all industry By :.
few men who had nonopolized one oi
the two essential factors to all produc-
tion-land The force of tradition kept
them from applying radical remedy.
They have taken steps, however, to
lessen the land monopoly, which, like
the dragon Of mythology, demanded its
yearly offering of the peoples blcoe.
They have stopped the accumulation CT
holdings beyond 2, 600 acres. They have
put special tax on nonresident owners
and placed a graduated tax on large es-
tates in addition to the regular tax.
They have exempted improvements up
to the value of ee3, 600 and have adopted
an income tax. They now raise the bulk
of their revenue from the land and the
income tax, and New Zealand is the orc
country in the civilized world from
which no cry Of distress has come dur
ing the last year. New Zealand, then,
serves as an object lesson on the evils Of
land monopoly and the good results Of
even partial reform.
Budget of Taxation.
Let me give few facts and figures to
elucidate the situation IN Great Britain.
Let US see if there is not N these some
explanation of the poverty that prevails
in the United Kingdom:
The total of imperial taxation, accord
ing to the budget of. 1891, was in
round numbers e75, coo, 900. Two Of the
items are Instructive The direct tax on
land was 1885, 600. The tax On tea
was s3, $780, ,375. The land tax is paid
by the mobiles, who by their very code
are nonproducers. The tea tax fell on
the working population. The land Owl
ers were apparently reached through the
income tax and the genral property tax.
But they didn't pay either. Their in
come is drawn from the rentals OF their
land and is therefore paid indirectly by
the tenants, While, according to the
terms of English leases, all taxes, gen
eral and special, are paid BY the cccu-
pants of the property.
Besides imperial there is local taxa
tion which for the year 1901 {the lat
est figures available) was as follows:
For police sanitary and other works. g.:
For relief Of the poor. l0cSS,Ot6
For school boards. Observation-Disclosures. s,G49,ooj
Total .se553;, ,ea33, les
Lock at that. Ten million pounds fer
poor relief and 81 900, coo for education;
e10, O00,00 fer cure and 81, 000, 0G0 for
the more hopeful measure of prevention!
And nearly all OF this money is paid bJT
the great middle class, the majority CT
whom have to work and scheme and
pinch to live decently ard r..y their
rates.
The people Of Great Britain, then,
have to pay annually out Of their eaan-
ings for the support Of the government
total Of about Tin round numbers}
e12S, 100000, over 5000, 100000.
But this is not all The estimated
rental Of London Is years ago was e25,-
900. 1t is by this time certainly !e30,-
900, 900. The New Dcomsday Books"
of 20 years ago gave the annual rental
of the kindom outside of the metropolis
as e99, 352, a03. Setting of the fall in
agricultural lands against the increase
of urban rentals, it is we'll within the
mark to call the total e100, 900, 900.
This, with the London rentals, makes a
grand total of el30, 900, 900.
The Toilers Pay the Taxes.
Here, then, is an additional mulct on
the industry Of the Inhabitants. Ger
tainly no one will claim that the land
lord pays the rent. The people, there
fore, carry this double burden-e12S,-
100000 for taxes and e130, 600, 900 for
ground rent. Is it any wonder that their
shoulders s:oop and that the weaker
backs are broken?
Would Natural Tax Raise Enough Rev
enue:
The question Of the ratio of ground
rents to government expenses has often
been raised by opponents Of the single
tax. Some contend that single tax Oh
land values would not yield enough rere-
nue.. Others are equally positive that
the amount would be so unnecessarily
large that it would lead to extravaganza.
These two, it seems to me, may be LETT
to fight it out between themselves.
Whatever the decision may be, it has nc
bearing on the question. Since land val
ues are created by the community they
belong to the community, and until ev-
cry cent of this is taken there is no JUS