The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1909-05-13
Washington, ID. c.


halls this week,-gossip is none the
less interesting because 1t is indie
finite, and every one knows 1t will
amount to nothing. 1t is said that
the leaders have actually talked over
the single tax" scheme for raising
revenue, or some modification of IT.
England has recently turned to this
plan in a limited way. Germany,
France and Austria are considering 1t.
Why should not the United States
be a trifle ahead of the times, since
we need the revenue, and join with
Great Britain In setting the pace for
this innovation in practical taxation?
The reader will of course remem-
Der the name of Henry George, who
might have been mayor of New York
had he not died, In connection with
the term, single tax" His be-
lief was that the rise In the value
of land which is all the time going on
In every neighborhood ought to bene-
fit every member of the community
and not merely the men who happen to
own the land. For instance. IL a man
holds a piece of ground in a county
seat and a railroad comes thru and
doubles the value of the land near
the station the man gets lot of
money that he never worked for. Hen
ry Georges contention is that this
money should go-to to all the people in
the town, and consequently he would
tax it away from the owner. In the
same way whenever people In cities
get rich without working simply by
holding land which becomes more
valuable as the city grows, they should
be taxed the full amount of this I'm
crease in value, which was created
by the general public and ought to be
received by 1t. AS a matter of fact
Henry George was not the author of
this idea although he was the first
American to advocate IL effectively
II was originally put forward by Tur-
got, Minister of Finance of Louis XVI
of France, before the French Revolu-
ton.
In America IL is generally consider
ed to contain a fine ideal for the flu
ture, but to be impossible for hun
bred years yet. Perhaps England's
example and the present need of money
for our government will lead to its
trial sooner than was expected. No
one in Washington takes 1t seriously.
but many persons have been talking
about II all of a sudden.
TARIFF MIX-UP WORSE.
AS to the tariff bill, all signs are
failing, and the weather prophets are
taking down their signs. The fate
of the present attempt to reform the
tariff is a secret in the bosom of an
uncommunicative Providence.
The attempt of Senator Aldrich to
keep his Senators in line to vote for
the bill resembles man driving a
drove of hogs. By the time he has
brought one stray member back in
to the bunch some other one has
started celebrating Christmas all alone
Senator McCumber, who last week
was like unto roaring lion. has this
week been calm as any sucking dove.
On the other hand good old Senator
Clapp of MINI. who never thought
an metropolitan or wicked thought
before in all his political life has COM
menced beseeching the skies to
send thunders to overwhelm the
regular protectionists. Senator Bris-
tow of Kansas, too, has changed from
dormant to an eruptive volcano,
and is now giving utterance to all
the rebellious feelings which he has
been sitting behind his stiff shirt
bosom since the session opened. Lis
ten to this;-" Mr.. President shout
ed the fighting Senator from the mid
die west this is the third time. Il
have been on my feet asking to get
recognition from the Chair. l am
a new member here, and possibly hay
no right to be heard in this body; but
am here by the same constitution
we'd here for thirty years, and with
the help of what physical strength
have | intend to be heard. That
is the kind of kinks which hot wea-
Their and the tariff question have been
throwing into the chill Senatorial
chamber during the past days. Practi-
cally all of the members are beginn-
ing to talk now, and each one has his
style of oratory, as we'll as his line
of argument.
ALDRICH NOT SCARED.
Senator Aldrich views this tendency
to speechifying with great gladness,
since every day gives him more time
to make sure of his men for the final
vote on the bill. The opposition is
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