The Washington herald., 1909-03-07

Where, IN Iacts II you trleQ % pay Ld4rS
you would be sternly refused?
Down on the eastern shore OF Mobile
Bay there is a town which for fourteen
years has been giving. so far as is pos
sible under existing laws, a practical ex-
emplihcation OF Henry Georges theory.
1t was ests bished for that purpose; It
was built on practically uninhabited
ground. and In the years OF its existence
It has grown from nothing into a thriving.
prosperous and happy community Its
Inhabitants pay no taxes and get along
In fine style without them, says the Bal
timOre Sun.
Henry georges theory IS commonly
known as the single tax a term coined
by the late Thomas c. Sherman. not be-
cause Of its accuracy. but because a short
and easy name was needed. Actually, the
George theory does not contemplate the
paying Of any taxes at all. It contem-
plates the wiping out OF all taxation and
the support Of the community by the pay
ment Of ground rent into the treasury.
In form, Of course, that payment would
be made a tax. but the Georgeites con-
tend that Il would not be tax IN the
sense that a levy made upon ones per-
sonal belongings, for example, would be
single Taxes Start II.
It IS impossible completely 70 demon
strate the efficacy OF the George doc
trine to any community where personal
property taxation and taxation upon i'm
provements. to say nothing Of the indi-
rect taxation Of the tariff. exists But in
Fairhope. Ala. they have got as near 70
demonstrating Il as can ever be done
under present-day conditions.
Fairhope was started in January, lSs5,
by four single takers from Iowa L is
now a thriving town with a city charter,
three schools. a hotel, two newspapers,
a wharf. a steamer. several stores. a
number OF clubs. and a free library u
has a water works system, but no water
rates. II has a telephone service which
/ is free II doesn't cost anybody in Fair
| hope a cent TO 60 into his telephone room
and call Up anybody in Baldwin County.
How. in State which ievies taxes after
| the good OId-fashioned way. II could be
possible for a community 70 exist with
/ out taxation of individuals might puzzle
the huskiest intellect However, Z B.
( Castor. J. Bellangee. and the other Iowa
single takers discovered that where
/ there's a viii there's way Their scheme
was simply this:
Only One Tax Fund.
( To found a community wherein all the
I land should be owned by the community
/ that is. by a corporation representing the
/ community; 70 let out the land on long
/ term leases 10 individuals; 70 take from
/ the lessees the fun amount OF the ground
A. -
that ground rent. and 10 pay the taxes
/ levied BY the State and county out q the
same fund.
4 Henry Georges theory IS often called
/ socialistic. There is nothing socialistic
about f. II IS. on the contrary. the eX-
/ trerne limit IN the way OF individualism
. and George himself was the most power
/ fuI opponent Of socialism in the list O,
I the worlds Sreat writers. Whereas So
{ cialism coutemplates the ownership by
the state OF all the machinery OF prOduc
4 ton. George would have made absolutely
/ secure all private property ir the Produc
Of labor. would have established FIRE.
+ competition without any fetters OF tariff
or tax. and would have restored. a.
! nearly as might be. the condition C
( things which existed when America Wal
Ia virgin continent and when no man had
vate employers If he wanted work.
without a Tax Levy.
4 That OF course. Fairh0pe cannot DO
+ It's exemplifcation OF the single tas
theory must necessarily be halting and
/ incomplete. Nevertheless. as far as 8
Z has been able 70 90. It has made such q
I demonstration as must challenge the a.
tenticn OF the students Of economies II
I a FAR broader sphere the George theor,
4 has been tested in New Zealand, anC
with satisfactory results, and d taxation
Of land values is on the Liberal pro
. gram-ae IN Great Britain. but Fairhop,
IS the only example Of an attempt q
. demonstrate il in the face Of advers,
laws. The fact that the experiment Ia.
I been successful in spite OF the levyins
/ OF taxes by the State and county Is
striking biz OF evidence GOr those VII,
think there may have been something il
, Georges doctrine.
Il Is a curious fact that the only acri
monious critics Of Fairhope have beer
men who We're themselves single takers
and Just now there is raging q hot con
I troversy among them about IL
Sifted down. II comes 70 the immemo
rial inability OF social ref0rmerS 20 agre
among themselves about details The op
! pOnents OF Fairhope want a democrat.
rule substituted for the rule OF The Fair
( hope corporation. arguing that the run
ming OF a single-taN community by
private company Is undemocratic. Tn
answer Of the Fai-hOpers Is tWOfO,d
First, that as long as the present system
OF taxation exists Il IS impossible 70 rul
/ a single-taX community on any othe
basis: second. that the initiative and ref
erendum are in operation al Fairhope
and any time a majority wants q chang
in the system they can get II.
Free Phones and Water.
Meanwhile. the benefits which The Fair
hope experiment confers on its superior