The independent., 1903-06-18


The price would fall until it would
reach the point where people could
buy; that's how you would get cheap
er land.
The building upon vacant lots would
| increase the demand for workmen.
| Now, there are more workmen than
| jobs, and wages are low; in the other
| case, the increased activity in build
| ing would make more jobs than work.
| men, causing the land owners to bid
higher price for mechanics. Result
wages would rise. This condition
would give us two great benefits,
cheap lands and higher wages. No
one will deny that this condition Is
beneficial to the majority of people.
Ir would place the workmen in po-
sition, not only to get home earlier
in life, but steady employment at bet
ter wages, would enable him to edu-
cate his children, instead of sending
them to the factory before they were
fully developed.
Under present conditions about 10
per cent of the population own all the
land-under the single tax about 80
per cent would be land owners. Con-
slider both conditions, and you must
ADMIT that the single tax would be a
blessing. J. ]. PASTORIZA.
Houston, Tex.
Taxing things that can be hidden
makes sneaks and liars. The single
tax has no place for spies and in
formers.
COMPARATIVE LAND VALUES.
An able statistician, one in posi-
tion to know facts from most recent
and reliable sources, lately wrote in a
metropolitan paper:
"The wealth of the United States is
now worth about one hundred and
ten billions, of whi h ten billions cer-
tainly and probably twenty billions
represent only spurious values, or wa
tered stock, paying dividends. Of this
vast sum the share owned by farm
ers, including their land, improve
ments, and all forms of personal prop
erty, is rather under than over three
billions. From this must be deducted
mortgages and other Indebtedness and
much valuable suburban, mineral,
forest, and other lands listed as farm
land, but too valuable to use as such
and not owned by farmers, as well as
many millions of acres owned by
home and foreign millionaires, spec
ulators, railways, banks, loan conn.,
panies, ETC.
1t will be remembered that the
president of the steel trust, in his
testimony before the senate Industrial
inquiry committee, when asked why
his corporation was capitalized at a
billion four hundred million when
they had bought all their property for
1904, 600, said the di iference lay in
the enhanced value of their lands AMI
terminal facilities, that the trust
owned $4,000 acres Connellsville coal
lands worth 100000 per acre. Exam.
ination of the county records showed
this coal land to be assessed as farm
land as an average of less than $25
per acre. He also said that ore lands
were equally valuable, but these show
even much lower value for assess.
ment, averaging about $40 per acre.
He was right about the lands real
value now, though it originally cost
but a trifle
Ihe a1thraclte coal lands of PENN
sylvania are worth ten to fifty thou
sand dollars per acre and are assessed
at from ten to thirty dollars.
Farmers seldom realize the enorm-
GUS city land values, as compared to
farm land value. There are less than
dozen of the forty-ive states which
have not single city in which the
land values (bare land, rememberl d,
not exceed the entire farm values of
that state, and there is no state in
which it's two largest cities have not
greater land value than all its
farms. New York city land values arc
seven times the states farm values:
Chicago more than five times that Of
Illinois; Cincinnati and Cleveland
seven times of Ohio, etc.
Farmers must realize how slight IS
their own share of the nations land
values before they can understand the
effect Of the single tax in shifting tax.
alton from the cheap lands of the
country to the dear ones of the cities
and to mining and forest lands, ter
minal rights of way and other mo-
nOpolistic values, and from '1ahor,