The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-29
TIE fAIRn0fE COLONY
Il D .oAsroN rAExs or SINGLE
 TAxE1s.
Ne is Interested in . Btll Providing For Its Incorporation Under
 State Law Plan is Popular.

F. D. Gaston, of Fairhope. editor of The Fairhope Courier, and secretary or the FAirhope Single Tax Colony, was in Montgomery yesterday looking after bill which Senator Hall and Representa- tive Byrne of Baldwin county have Tn charge providing for ''corporations not for pecuniary profit in the sense of pay for the benefit of their members through their mutual association and co-opera- ton.
 "The Fairhope colony" said Mfr. Gas ton, which was incorporated under the laws of Iowa. desires to re-incorporate under the laws of this State. but no ex- istiAg statute provides for such corpor- ations The bill in question has passed both houses and will doubtless become a law"
 Mir Gaston was a caller at The Ad- veysiser ofiee and gave some interesting facts Yeeartiine his colony which has at- tracted much attention as the only one in the world attempting to apply Hem y GeorGe's theory of the eingie tax on land valnes by means of colony.
 'rhe basic principle of the single tax or Henry George principle" said MT. Gaston, sls the levying in lieu of all other taxes of single tax on land values. There are many arguments In favor of this policy, but the chief are that all men are by nature endowed with equal rights to the use of the earth the only practical way to secure which according to single taxers. is to collect mon benefit, the fu1l value of the portion of land exclusively held by him, and that the public are entitled to the value of sites, because it is their presence and desand which makes land values" "In speaking of land vaiues,' contin- ued Mir. Gaston, single taxers always refer to the unimproved value, the value which in city, accrues to an unimprov- ed lot equally with the improved lot uent in its favor is that 1t discourases the holding of land not of use and en- courASes the putting of it to use by ex- ernpting the Improvements from taxa ton. It thus. we claim, presents a so. lution of the labor problem by making 1t easy for men to employ themselves on land and stii itulating the demand for la . Dor from other hc:ders of land encour- aged to improve 1t and put 1t to use. In short, it will make the iaborer inde- pendent, by making conditions such that jobs will hunt men instead of men having to hunt jobs.
 "our colony. having no taxing power, applies the principle in a very simple way by holding the title to its land and ieuvlhg 10 Whoever will apply for 1t, in quantities to suit. collecting the full rental value, as any other landlord would; but, unlike other landlords, ex- pending the sum thus obtained for the common behent of those who pay it. first charge against this rent fund is State and county taxes. and the colony assumes the pay ment not only of the State and County taxes on the land itself, but even on the improvements and personal property of the. lessees, thus making the rent charge really single tax to them-exeept for tariff and internal revenue taxes, road taxes paid in work and poll taxes, and there is considerable prospect of the col- ory assuming the payment of road and poll taxes also.
 The expenditure of every cent of the rents fund remaining for the local ben eft is definitely and positively guaranteed by our leases"
 MT. Gaston claims that the application of the principle in the colony is justify ing the claims of the founders; that it is growing faster than any other of the set dement's in the vicinity. and that it has proven particularly advantageous to poor
 men. in making 1t easy for them to get homes and employ themselves. The col ony has a fine location. across the bay from Mobile, about midway between