The independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907, 1905-04-13


worth Of what we have to live on nor
what we have to wear At another
stage of the game you tell us that the
Astors (the owners) should be taxed
on the full value of the entire Greater
New York in its improved state, but
you don't want it called improve
ments." You want it called grown in
value" Such complexed ideas! A
mans building does not have to cover
his entire farm for his entire farm to
be improved, so it is with New York
city. What values there are attached
tc New York city, Manhattan borough
and all, wos fostered there by cOncen-
trated improvements which you say
should not be taxed, yet again you say
tax them. Where is the practicability
of such preaching? You say tax the
mining lands of the different kinds of
mines and mining. companies to the
full value of such lands, and you say
don't tax improvements. Pray, tell
me what mine and where it is that is
of any value whatsoever to the living
public and it unimproved? Take the
crude stuff OF those mines, and what
value is it until improved? 1t is only
the eXpectant value of it improved
that causes it to be extracted from
the land. But you say all natural
things external to man is land and
you want all land values taxed. That,
of course includes gold silver, iron,
brass, copper Gall metals and miner
als), coal oil, gas, pig-ware, bricks,
marble, timber, roots, herbs, etc. All
things extracted from the land and
sea. The sea being land, well, if they
are land before they are improved
they are land after they are i'm
proved, and hey must be taxed after
they have grown more valuable (im-
proved) to the full amount of their
value, but we must not call them i'm
proved for we don't pay tax on inn
provements, we must call them grown
more valuable" for we pay tax on
the grown more valuable goods used
by the living and desired by the liv-
ing. Well, Mr. Freeland, if you say it
is so it must be SO, and why not just
drop the poll tax out of our present
system and say we have single tax
now? When anyone got to grumbling
about having to pay taxes upon their
brick or marble structure, their steel
or iron structure, their gold, silver or
copper wares, their coal oils or miner
ais, ETC., you could just tell them that
that was some of the most valuable
parts of the land they had gotten hold
OF and must pay the land tax on the
value of it. If they should say that
that was paying tay on improvements,
you could say, no, not an improvement
en- grown more valuable land" If
they refused to pay the required tax,
tell them to move out on parts OF the
/. 70S, 100000 acres of the unused, un-
improved, undesirable, ungrOwn more
valuable land, and thus move the in
habitants of all the cities and all the
farms from old region to new region,
from the grown more valuable" land
to the "ungroWn more valuable land
until you have the entire area of over
2,10S, 100000 acres of land we'll i'm
proved, and then, what? Let them
take back track and reach out after
them all the time as the presently used
portions become more productive,
more desirable more valuable? Right
practicable method isn't it, Mr.. Free
land? If the present owners held their
present locations they could shift the
single tax off on consumer as easily
as they could ony other tax as long as
transportation lines stayed in the
hands of private individuals, under pFi-
vate control Without public control
of these public utilities we will never
know absolute fairness and freedom.
If they moved to new localities, ac-
cording to one trend of your talk, the
tax would drop to a mere nothing at
the old localities (cities, towns, farms
and alb and would not rise at the 9TH
err, the consequence would be we would
not have a sufficient tax to run the
most economical government For in
stance, a few days ago colony opened
up a little town in fertile region near
here around which population was
sparse That town, with railway and
water transportation facilities prom
ises to soon grow to be city. The
colony owns several thousand acres
in one body. The offered upetaoi
in one body. The opened up the town
at $40 and $40 per lot, business and
;nr IN we