El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-02-08

OF population W1bnln Jne1f lnHuepCc.
The vacant lot and the vacant acre as
such are not worth one dollar per
square mile. They shine in borrowed
splendor, are brigands of the first
water, and the greatest robbers of the
age.
How much was all Texas worth be-
fore Columbus discovered Am erica
Nay, the townsite of Houston was con-
veyed as gift within the memory of
more title thereto than Satan had when
he tempted Christ with al the king
doms of the world; and there are men
now living among us who bought ad-
jacent acreage at 6, 8 and 10 cents per
acre.
So it is that we say that the specu-
lator and the landlord who buy to hold
for q rise, and to prevent others from
occupying and using the same, are to
that extent enemies of mankind, par.
alyZers of human effort and dead
weight on progress.
This bill greatly favOrs these trusts.
these monopolists who toll not, neither
do they spin, by diminishing the taxes
on these their alleged properties,
and adding the difference to the bur-
dens of those by whose labors and pri-
vRtions the desert becomes as the rose,
and by whose enterprise and thrift
CLUES are OullG: railways m6lusoluSu,
Observation-Disclosures governments sup
ported, schools, churches and asylums
provided for the betterment al con-
veuience of mankind.
Note: AS sample of what the bill
would do in action, let US go into de-
tails with one illustration. Let some
one put up cotton mill in Texas at
cost of S15O,000.
He pays cash one-half, S75. He
gives bond and mortgage for the other
S75, 900. Interest at per cent. Time
Suppose that at the end of five years
the factory fails, and in that the prop
erty has deprecated in value, 80 that
on forced sale it would not bring more
than one-third of its cost, and in the
meantime there is two years interest
in default.
The bondholder in New York sends
the bonds to Houston for foreclosure.
He must first pay the five years taxes
on the bonds before he can get into
court.
Suppose the state, county and city
taxes amount to IL per cent for five
years; that amount would be II IL per
cent on $4,000 of bonds, or S13, 125.
Attorney fee, say per cent or $3.50,
and court costs, say $3.50. Then he
finds that the owner has not paid his
y
These at the above rate, amount to
SIS, $50 more, that he must pay before
he can recover q dollar.
Where Ia the man that would build
a factory under such circumstances and
where is the man who would loan
money for such pur pose?
But the cup of iniquity is not yet
full. 1t is further provided that ii
any man in his desperation to borrow
70 "a
sasi' on .h hsreG money borrowed Pox a as
we'll as the tax on the property
under bond, "the same shall be deemed
and treated as usury, and be subject
to the laws governing the same"
which means that action can be
brought to recover the usurious money
aud like amount added thereto as
penalty.
When this bill becomes q law, will
there not be rush of Investments to
the state?
Our people are praying for manufac-
tories and for multiplication OF indus
tries to put them abreast of those in
other states.
Who shall say that when this bill
becomes law, and "moveth itself
Alright" that it will not "bite like a
serpent and citing like an ADDER"
First. The farmer is in popular
phrase known as the backbone of the
To him does population look
for bread and meat, and without him
there could be no supplies, and all in
dustry would languish.
Conditions must be such that he can
work at profit and find q market for
his produce. To this end he must have
capital either of his own or to be hired
in the market at reasonable rates aud
the taxes levied are a direct burden on
his lahOr Teyaa has nvar 16O O00 000
acres of land. IL 1890 she had 26S. 600
acres in cultivation. The amount of
acre age added to that since 1890 can
not be precisely stated, but let US say
tbat~ft has doubled. We have now
then 536, 900 acres under the pillow, or
one In 800. The bulk of this unim-
proved acreage belongs to real estate
speculators and capitalists, who are
" holding for a rise.''
In addition, only 80 per cent of the
improved acreage is owned by those
occupying them. The commission
now proposes to take off IL cents of
the present 20 cents of tax levied on
every 800 worth of real estate vslu-
alton.
Every time you take off one dollar in
taxes from the farmer you take off $500
from the speculator who is "holding
for rise" But as only 30 per cent of
GIlo I'LL pTONeu pTOpeTby Is OcCupleu ny
the owner this remission .of taxes for
the benefit of the farmer ia hardly
worth mentioning. But who pays this
remission made on real estate, for
there ia no diminution in the amount
to be paid. 1t is charged over to the
business, the Industries the occupations
and the personal property in the state. Z.
Every product of the farm, every
head of stock raised, every improve
ment made, every article bought,
every dollar remaining in his pocket
is given an additional tax thereby.
The labor, the thrift, the enterprise
and the credit of those who live on the
soil are taxed additional for the bene-