Iron County register., 1897-09-30
IRONTON. MO. THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 80. 1897.
Rich RascaIs.


some examples of tax lodging on th'
part of those who were best able t
pay; but if you want any more suct
examples. examples that almost pass
beyond belief, look over the ''Eightt
Biennial Report of the Bureau of La
bor' for the State of Illinois. You viii
find plenty of them that will badly dis
count the cases you give. Take. fol
example, the report made by the banks
of Chicago, and Cook county in 1898,
to the State Auditor. to show their
good standing, and giving an aggre-
gate of nearly twenty millions of dol
of which are taxable, statement made
under oath. Eleven months after
ward, when in the course of things
the banks were still richer, and had
more money, and taxable credits, a
report was made, under oath again,
to the assessor, in which there was
returned. from all the banks in Chi
cago, and Cook county, only ten thou
sand dollars! How's that for perjury
and fraud?
But what better can we expect? Un-
scrupulousness is a strong element in
the characters of those who amass
wealth under the present regime of in
dustrial slavery; and with a system
of taxation that fines and Furnishes in
dustry, and thrift. one need not be
surprised at such things. If we depre-
ciate lying, falses wearing, and tax
doGging, we ought to see that the
State does Tot offer a premium on
such crimes on the one hand while
thrift and honesty on the
other. The remedy is simple, though
as radical and sweeping as 1t is simple:
cease tax on any product of labor.
That would leave but one thing to tax,
land values.
That old and conservative paper,
HaTper'S Weekly, recently said: There
is, in truth, but one tax which cannot
be evaded, and which distributes itself
with accuracy among men according
10 their ability to pay, and that is the
tax on land" OF course the editor
meant on land according to its rental
value, for in no other way could it be
squitably assessed.
In 1892 the n. Y. Times said edi-
s.We have no hesitation in
declaring our belief that the ideal tax
alton lies in the single tax, laid ex
on the rental value of land
of improvements" A year
before that the N. Y. Sun said: The
;urest subject of taxation is the thing
hat perforce stays in one place, and
hat is land" Even the NJ ]. TTibune |
n 1898, said: ''If the whole system |
collecting taxes from personal prop |
,rty) was swept away, and the needed |
'evenue derived from real estate alone,
here would be a great equalization of
,urdens."
The term real estate includes thel
which are the products |
# labor and cannot justly be taxed;
,ut this is only an editorial inaccuracy
n the use of words But we might
Iuote from many papers beside those
published in New York; and from the
'est and brightest men OF every call
ng, all to the same effect. The great
st wonder is that truths so plain
hould have escaped the notice OF the
masses so long. 1t is a wonder too
hat political party calling itself
Democratic should continue to ignore
principle without the practical ap-
,lication of which Democracy is i'm
possible. Apply that principle and |
We should have no occasion to com
,lain of rich rascals, or poor ones, |
either. WIN. CAMM.
Murrayville. Ills, Sept. 20, 1897.
Guilty Before the People.