The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-06-03
Letters to The Editor
AS TO LAND VALUES.



Highland Park Correspondent writes
E of Them.
Montgomery. Ala. June !. 1908.
EDITOR OF The Advertiser:
Gle IN your issue Of May. 81 by Free
Trader and Single Taxer."
Permit few friendly comments
,sos 400 90 sS' Tor good SHhl rsoads made the
land owners richer by 100000 why
should not the land owners pay every
dollar spent on the roadsT think ne
er is, IF the peoples money created
the 100000 increase why In the name
Of common sense SD onld not the people
S Say he ssnst .o e the 0 whoe BY
100000 to the landlord who did not
earn Il, and rob the people who ola
He again evidences his excessive and
q think misplaced amiability when
he modestly demurs to your editorial
;assnsn - 5 90 ar wss f das
y eoancsaes Sat
seems to opine that the other $4,000.
psg dos is s d III. CITY, Very good
Then give the sSo.00o,60o to this city
to whom he himself says 1T is due"
Don't give. II to the landlord who did
Labor applied to land produces all
wealth. (ALabor" Including both man.
uaI and mental laborl. The people OF
enterprise and labor have created the
value of the city's site. and II Is an
inescapsble truth that. as the Creator
should ewn the thing created a.. the s,pp, n9id
the city be permanently depopulated
the land here of course would be abso-
Then let the city Council take the
whole increase In the value OF land,
from now on, and cease taxing sll 9TH
err forms OF property. Let State and
nation do likewise and we wpuld be In
hailing distance of an economic mil
lenium. You need not confscate the
land. Simply take the annual increase
which Is created by the community and
ty. Release all other property from
taxes! Cease the absurd II not crin1i-
nal custom Of hnfng q man Through
taxationl the moment ne presumes 70
build house or make improvements.
Stop encouraging (by. low taxes) the
landlord In holding his vacant lots for
speculative purposes. Then would we
fas dr on permanent ana G uaEshaE
able basis-the rock of elemental and
eternal Justice.
. No man made the LAND, ergo no man
righteous title to one square foot of
land In the whole world. And the le-
gal title is only an antiquated but
est special privilege on earth. the priv
ilege Of owning the earth. 1t gives
power Sos lsa of faaing i the tandiesstas pow.
er Of capitalizing the speculative value
which land may have on some future
Just consider: the landless man can
not go into any court today and estab-
ted States constitution explicitly de-
clares that the right to life is lnalien-
able. You do not believe IT. The. law
of trespass win forever bar him from
there no blessed vagrancy laws.
Thanks to the law of economic evo'
luton the hour will soon ring when
the common people, the hoi polloi, Will
own the productive whole product,
untaxed by any government on earth
when II viii be considered q crime to
tax for any purpose any good thing
the result of human endeavor-when II
will be the universal verdict of all
peoples that the only just source of
governmental revenue is what John
Stuart Mil called the "unearned in
crement" Of land values.
To illustrate how the world is turn.
ing TO THE Prophet sof San Francisco"
I will merely mention the late land
laws Of Germany, more especially those
land. but, most especially and astound-
ing OF all. the late British budget
brought Into the English Parliament
BY Hon: Lloyd George: the Chancellor
paper Mr.. George parafyzed the Lords
by actually introducing the pith of
Henry Georges single tax. constituting
without any doubt the most stupendous
Of the world since the repeal of the
corn laws. Respectfully,
George Welby Van Pelt.