Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1900-02-20
THE SINGLE TAX
How Its Introduction Would
Revive Business in
Nevada

The following Is the cOnscluSlon OF
w els Drury's article in the Nevada
Magazine on the question of Single
Tax AS applied to Nevada. He says:
Taxes on land values On the other
hand, even if high enough to absorb
all the rental returns of real estate,
would not tend to keep out single per-
son whose presence would be bene6c ial
to Chicago or any other community, /
for which reason taxes may be increased I
on land values as they have been in
Chicago without interfering with the
prosperity of the city. The higher the
tax on land the lower the selling price,
but it does not necessarily follow that
the profit to the holder of improved /
property is decreased. The single tax
certainly would not result in higher
taxes for farmers, stock growers, and
men in similar branches of inc ustry.
By an investigation conducted through |
the Census Bureau OF the United |
tanned that the farmers-that is, the |
actual tillers of the soil and the men /
actually engaged in raising stock
would be the persons most benefited |
by the Introduction OF the single tax
theory of taxation. /
When | cat this far in talking with
some of my friends who seem to think |
that the present tax laws are perfect, |
though there is room for improvement
in every other field of human though
and endeavor, | am freq uently met
with the suggestion that the single tax
| plan may be very wise and very just in
theory, but that they doubt its prac
tica bility. My reply to that may be
given in the words of the late Nicholas
I Luning, a noted inanCier of San Fran
CISCO who. when convinced that the
single tax idea was founded on proper
principles. said: If it is right, moth
ing can stop its adoption by the Amer
lean people when thew once see through
the logic of the system: if it is just, as
| believe it to be, nothing can stop
| from being introduced.
| Luning was practical man, and he
at once began to set his house in order
to prepare for the change that he be-
licved would come sooner or later. and
he did not intend to be caught mapping
When he died his property was in such
condition that if the single tax had
been adopted the next day it would
have helped his estate. He had so i'm
proved his land that whatever in
creased tax had been laid on his laud
values would have been more than
compensated by the exemption Of his
i'm provements and personal property
from taxation. " hich is the vital prin
c:ple of the single tax philosophy.
just so it would be in Nevada under
proper legislation. 1t would financially
, aid the owners of decent houses in
: Carson, Winnemucca, Wabuska, Dry
ton, Reno, Virginia, Austin, Eureka,
Elko, Phoebe, Belmont, Yerington,
: Empire, and, in fact, every city, town,
/ village and hamlet in the State. In
short it would help all good people
and injure no good people. The only
persons who would be hurt would be
persons who attempted to hold land
!, out of use for speculative purposes OF
who put the land standing in their
names to such purposes as would be
detrimental rather than beneficial te
the community. The change could be
readily accomplished by amending Ar
# ticle Y of the Constitution Of Nevada
If By looking at page 20 of the Nevada
State Controllers report for 1898 you
; may learn that in total valuation 0
" S23, 1877, 2ll returned for taxation in
1898, the amount of personal propert,
is S6, S22, 555, while the real estate re
ported is only SIG, 1854. 656. This is
higher per centage of personal proper
to returned for taxation, compared
"a with the total, than in any other State
n with the taxation Of which | am &C
10 ure about Nevada is That this high as
s. sessment of personal property has bee
persisted in from the time of Nevada
accession to Statehood. In Californi
the trend toward the single tax plal
~ has been Marked in this, that tn
amount of personal property returne
for taxation has been constantly de
2 creasing ever since Henry George pub
4 lished his book, ssProgress and Pow
erty," so that the per centage of per
sonal property returned for taxation
only IA per cent at the present time, a
compared with over 26 per cent report
4 ed in 1880. You see California ha
been constantly bidding for Nevada
( personal property by red ucing the rat
of taxation on assets Of that character
That bidding has not been unsuccessful
as Nevadans know to their cost.