The Washington herald., 1909-03-07
TRY THE SINGLE TAX PLAN
Alabama Villagers Have Free Telephone and Free
Water and Happier Lot Is Hard to Find.

ninety-ninz years. Il. for example. a per-
son should acquire a Ieasehold whereon
the annual rental was SIS he would turn
that amount into the communal treasury.
Then the county OF the State wosld swoop
down with tax Of. say, S. that being
the assessed value OF the improvements
and Of the land Il might also include any
personal property that the tenant might
hold. anyway We viii assume that il IS
g When the tax assessors came down
on the community they would find that
only the corpora ton was liable, because
only the corporation held the land. and
they would assess their S against it The
community thereupOn would pay tout
OF what2 Out Of the rental value already
turned in by the ninety-nine-year tenant.
IN other words, the tenant simply DAYS
over whatever may be the assessed valu-
alton Of his land. and has got no other
consideration 70 care for; the community
looks out FOR that
1t isn't an ideal demonstration OF tha
single tax: nothing can be that while the
present laws continue in force. Neverthe-
less, il is about as near II as you can
get The purpose Of the origlnatOrs was
20 demonstrate the way IN which a com
munity can grow and prosper with moth
ing but ground rent as the source Of its
revenue and its payments That It has
done.
Founders of Community.
The founders Of this community were z.
D. CASTOR. James BeUangee. J. B. Hunn4I.
and Alfred Wooster. They were all Iowa
men. devoted single takers. and practical
folks Mobile Bay is a sort or scauop in
Southern Alabama On one side OF the
scallop is Mobile; on the other side was
the sandy tract OF ground which then
was uninhabited and now IS Fairhope.
These four IoWans came down there and
picked out this unprOmising piece Of earth
as the foundation Of their model com
munity.
That vas fourteen years aSo. Now
Fairhope Is. according TO Joseph Fels. OF
this city. the biggest town n Baldwin
/ County II certainty has got the IivAEsst
and most husting population in the State
OF Alabama, If you leave out the big cities
I Ike Birmingham. Its growth 10 such
success from miserably small beginnings
IS attributed by CASTOR and the other
men who have stayed with him 70 the ap-
I plicatiOn OF sinzle-tsx customs
II IS not by any means solely a single
I tax colony There are people IN il who
never heard % the single tax or who don't
7 believe IN g. All OF them. however, take
I their leasehoids from the corporation I'D
/ on The same basis as do the devotees OF
I Henry George.
/ The only sOCialistic feature OF the enter
Z prise is the steamer Fairhope. which
I crosses Mobile Bay. and that IS not exact
/ Is soCialistic enterprise. because il Is
owned not By the community, but by In
/ cividUals resident there
A Single Tax Critic.
/ The most prominent among The single
tax critics OF the Fairhope enterprise is
Joseph Dana Miller, Who has been fc-
many years one OF the leaders in tia.
cult IN explaining his opposition 10 the
/ enterprise. as az present conducted. Nj.
/ Miller said
( The objection now seems 10 be auon-
/ a number OF the people Of Fairhope thar
/ the government IS not democratic. They
+ object that they have no voice in deter
mining the value Of the land or the taxes
/ they have 20 pay That. however" AI-
I Miller added, has been remedied by a
/ referendum taken on the assessments
| The criticism OF FairhOpe from the ir-
side appears 20 proceed entirely from per
sons who are not single takers and who
want 20 install the CID system Of private
] ownership The land values have been
! created by the presence Of the c0mmun-
ity. and 10 that extent have fuStIled the
stngle-taX theory. Now that these land
I values. which originally were nothing
( nave grown 20 a remarkable asset. there
. are persons IN the town who desire %
reap the advantages OF that situation by
reverting 10 the old system Of ownership.