Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-02-14
THE SINGLE TAN.

The agitation started by the report of
the state tax commission for the revis-
ion of the Massachusetts, system seems
to have stimulated the single tax prop
agandists to greater endeavors than
ever before. The Massachusetts league
leading men of various professions and
business interests have been invited to
attend on stated occasions. Only last
week the clergymen Of eastern Massa-
chusetts were asked to listen to an ex-
position Of Henry Georges scheme by
no less dignitary than Dean Williams
of Trinity Cathedral of Cleveland, o.
AS rule, if we may judge from the
newspaper reports, the speakers give
most of their time to emphasizing the
right Of all mankind to the enjoyment
of the gifts of the creator, and to de-
nouncing the iniquity and injustice of
private ownership of land. The matter
of the "unearned increment of land, of
course, comes in for discussion, and
much is said of the rise in rents or the
appreciation of value that comes from
the general development of the neigh
borhood and the consequent increase of
population and stimulation Of COM
petition. without any exertion, outlay or
expenditure for improvements on the
part of the owner.
There is nothing new or original in
fboso +v,o ,,rayoeit;o,e ,,,;1I
for the most part, agree with John
Stuart Mill in asserting that property in
land does not rest upon the same basis
as other property, but only upon eco
nomic expediency and the consent of the
state, which, in the United States,
means the consent of the people. Varo-
Gus propositions have been made, from
time to time, to improve upon the pres
ent system, but none of them--neither
Mr.. Mills nor Mr.. Georges
has appealed to economists or
publicists, or the world at large,
as either feasible expedient, safe,
economical, just on honest. The
indications have seemed clear, that in
making the change there would he a
business upheaval and financial confu-
sion; that some persons woud be robbed
and others enriched; that the state
would gain in one instance and lose in
ated in value there should be compen-
sation if tax is to be levied where ap-
probation is manifect Such things,
however, are matters of administration
rather than of principle, and with it we
have nothing to do now. If public own
ership of land were decided upon, it is
unlikely that any legislature would
adopt either Mr.. NIill's method of ad-
ministration or that of Mr. George.
The most original feature of Mr..
Georges doctrine is his assertion that
rent nowadays monopolizes all the prof
its arising from Improvements in meth
DDS of manufacture and production so
that the laborer's wages and the returns
of capital invested are constantly grow
ing less, and we have Progress and
Poverty increasing side by side and
with about equal rapidity. This is his
own discovery. If any economist of note
has given his adherence to this doc
trine his name remains to be an
nounced. Yet upon it Mr.. George must
rest his case, and unless he, or his ad-
herents, can satisfy the world that rent
is gobbling up both wages and profits,
he has failed to make clear the mon
strous wrongs which he asserts has
been caused by allowing the private
ownership of land. That the contrary
Of his proposition as to wages is true is
shown both by observation and statis-
tics. Wages have increased vastly, both
absolutely and relatively, within the
past fifty years The labprer not only
gets more money than formerly for his
work, but he can obtain more and bet
ter food and clothing for the same mon
ey, and he is also better
housed. If interest or profits
have decreased, there are recognized
economic reasons to account for the de-
cline, and these need hardly be enumer-
ated here, because Mr.. Georges anxiety
is not for the capitalist, but the laborer.
This fundamental assumption Of Mr..
Georges is one of the things that the
propagandists seem to let alone. Yet
how can rent monopolize all advantage