The independent., 1903-05-14

a social animal. And the creative
scheme must embrace the life and de-
yelopment of society, as truly as it
embraces the life and development OF
the individual. Our civilization can
not carry us beyond the domain of
law. Railroads, telegraphs and labor
saving machinery are no more acci-
dents than are flowers and trees. I
Man is driven by his instincts and
needs to form society. Society, thus
formed, has certain needs and fun :,
tions for which revenue is required.
These needs and functions increase
with social development, requiring a
larger and larger revenue. Now, ex-
perience and analogy, If not the in Z
stinctive perceptions of the human
mind, teach us that there is natural
way Of satisfying every natural want,
otherwise animal life could not exist. /
And if human society is included in
nature, as it surely is, this must ap-
ply to social wants as well as to the
wants of the individual. and there
must be a natural or right method of
taxation, to raise revenue to satisfy
the wants of society, as there is a.
natural or right method to provide
food and raiment to satisfy the wants
of the individual.
The value of land-the unearned in \
crement of land values-only arises
as in the integration Of society the
need for soma public or common rev.
enue begins to be felt. 1t increases
as the development of society goes or,
and larger and larger revenues are
therefore required. Taxation of land
values does not lessen the individual
incentive to production and accumu
lation, as do other methods of taxa
ton; on the contrary, it leaves per-
feet freedom to productive forces and
prevents restrictions upon production
from arising. 1t does not foster mo-
nopolies and cause unjust inequalitie
in the distribution of wealth, as dol
other taxes; on the contrary, it has
the effect of treaking down monopoly |
and equalizing the distribution of
wealth. 1t does not beget the eva
sion, corruption and dishonesty that
flow from other systems, and can be |
collected with greater certainty and
economy than any other tax. In shoIE, |
1t conforms to every economic and |
moral requirement. AS justice gives
to the individual what he produces by |
his mind or his muscle, then what |
can be more in accordance with that |
principle of justice than that the un
earned increment Of land values.
which is not created by individual eff
fort, but arises from the existence and
growth of society, should be taken
by society for social needs?
This is the natural law of taxation
or rent: Gas individuals come to-
gether in communities and society,"
grows, integrating more and more
its individual members, and making
general interests and general condl-
tions OF more and more relative inn
portance, there arises, over and above
the value which individuals can ere
ate for themselves, value which is
created by the community as whole
and which, attaching to land becomes
tangible, definite and capable. of COM
putation and appropriation. AS So
ciety grows, so grows this value which
springs from and represents in tangl-
BILE form what society as a whole
contributes to production, as distin-
guished from what is contributed by
individual exertion. BY virtue of nat
ural law in those aspects which 1t is
the purpose of the science we cal
political economy to discover, as it is
the purpose Of the sciences which we
call chemistry and astronomy to dis
cover other aspects of natural law
all social advance necessarily contri~
butes to the increase of this common
value; to the growth of this common
fund"
Here Is a provision made by nat
ural law for the increasing needs of
social growth: here is an adaptation
of nature by virtue of which the nat
ural progress of society is a progress
toward equality. not toward inequal-
ity; a centripetal force tending to
unity, growing out of and ever ball
ancing centrifugal force tending to
diversity. Here is a fund belonging
to society as whole from which,
without the degradation Of aims, pri-
vate or public. provision can be mads
for the weak, the helpless, the aged;
from which provision can be made TO:
the common wants Of all as a matter
Of common right to each.