The independent., 1903-05-14

shall assume that we all agree to
the necessity for government It is
true that society is one thing, and gov
ernment is another. Society does ex
ist, irrespective of government. But
it seems necessary that society shall
have some organized agency for the
administration OF common concerns
not of private concerns, but for the
administration g CT common concerns.
We must have the peace preserve |.
We must have highways laid out and
kept open. We must have land tenures
regulated. These are common con-
Germs. There may be others, but these
are at least. This being SO, society
r-ust have some kind of organized
agency to manage them for the COM
mon good;' and by whatever name you
call that agency, it is a government.
But if we have government, We
must make provision for it's support
What does that mean? Nothing but
this, that the government is composed
of men who devote themselves to pub
lie business as other men do to pri-
vate business. and who must be paid
for their services. And what does
pay" mean? Not greenbacks, not
bank notes, not checks, not silver or
gold money, not certificates Of value
or any form or of any character. All
such things are merely orders for the
various kinds of tradable objects our
public servants want. They are not
the objects themselves. The pay of
these men consists, after all, of food,
OF clothing, OF shelter and of other
consumable objects. Moreover, Off
cials must have official equipment.
such as public buildings, Office furni-
ture, stationery, and so forth. But
whether it be the public buildings or
the like, which government must use,
or the food, clothing, and so on, which
government servants really get in
payment for their work, all these
things are made by men. And not
men of today They are the current
products of current human labor, and
in the first instance they belong OF
right to the men whose labor pro-
duces them.
If society is to get these things for
the purpose of providing for the sup
port of government, it must somehow
| take them from their owners; that is
| to say, it must take them from the.
! individuals who produced them, or
who have BY trading Of some kind
succeeded to the original title of those
who produced them. 1t is this taking
of individual possessions for public
use that constitutes what is called
| taxation.
The present methods of taxation
are so notoriously vicious that the
facts need only be mentioned; and
why the people should tolerate them
passes comprehension. 1t has been
suggested that they are retained by
| the combined influence of rich and
poor-the poor favoring them be-
cause they think they are paid by the
rich, and the rich favoring them be-
cause they know they are borne by
| the poor. A more charitable explana
| ton perhaps would be that public
opinion has not yet realized that there
is a better way Of getting taxes. But
there is better way. 1t is the way
which the resolution before us pro
poses.
Consider the matter fundamentally
There are two possible rules for de-
termining how much each taxpayer
shall pay. One requires that men be
taxed in proportion to their personal
ability; the other requires that they
be taxed in proportion to the benefits
! they derive from society. Now which
of these rules ought we to adept?
Should we tax men in proportion to
their ability to pay taxes, or should
we tax them III proportion to the
benefits society gives them? The
question answers ITSELF Taxation in
proportion to ability to pay is moth
ing but legalized piracy. Government
has no right to levy tribute. 1t has
only right to charge for the service
society renders, and to charge accord
| ing to the value of that service.
No other principle would be toler-
ated by honest men, where 1t not for
the fact that it has seemed as If taxes
| in proportion to the service society
renders to individuals cannot be meas
ured. Because everybody is, in a
sense, beneficiary of social develop
ment and governmental protection.
the rough and ready plan is adopted
of trying to require everybody to con-
tribute to the support of government.