, 1910-03-23

measure as passed provides that the land
shall be valued after the roads are completed
and a tax shah be levied on the unearned
Increment equal to one-third Of the value
which has been added to the estates of the
landowner. 1t has been estimated that
this alone will pay for the cost Of the
roads. A similar law was passed provid-
ing for the building Of u harbor at Es-
beg. Under the law, the city is to pay one
half of the cost, but is permitted to take
one-half of the unearned increment to puv
for it's contribution to the enterprise.
Aside from the issue of militarism, one
of the chief issues is over the taxation of
land values. This is the last State in the
world where such an issue would seem
likely to arise. For nowhere else do so
many people own land. But the great bulk
of the holders have very small farms.
And under the system of income taxation
which obtains the State arbitr. rily declares
that the taxable Income of the XuSalqu1
shall be twice that Of the peasant and three
times that of the large owner per unit of
land. The State recogn yes that the small
patch Is more productive than the large.
bOldlng. This makes it obvious TO the
HNsn1d1d that he 10 being taxed on his
industry and not on his opportunity. Be
ing a free-trader, he sees no way Of rec
tifying this condition save by the taxation
Of all land at its capital value. He
argues that by this means the large estate
will be more READILY broken up aud that
all classes will pay according to their op-
portunlty and not according to their
energy. The UuS01uud, too, like the
peasant and the artisan, is organized as a
class. And at the last three meetings Of
the Peasant Farmers Association the
following resolution was passed: "The
Danish peasant farmers demand the err
llest possible abolition Of all duties and taxes
levied upon articles of consumption or assess
ed IN proportion to income on labor, and ia
lieu thereof they demand that q tax be i'm
posed on the value of the land, which value
is not due TO any individual effort, but is de-
rived from the growth and development OF
the community" This is tn essence of the
single tax.
The Lesson of it all.
To this programmesthe great estate as we'll
as the larger farm owners are opposed. But
the petty landowners are twice as numerous
as the farmers, and are coming to have a poll
teal sense. They, too, desire TO see the laws
of the country adjusted to their interests and
the burdens Of taxation shifted from their
labor on 10 a more equitable basis.
What does this experiment station in
democracy teach ? III the first place, it
demonstrates the controlling influence of
a system Of la~ndownersLip on the life Of
a people. Denmark is democratic, enlight-
ened, and self governed because the great
bulk of the people have an interest in the
soil. France, Holland, and Switzerland
prove the same thing. It shows, too, that
poverty can be reduced to q minimum and
the wel-being Of all the people promoted by
State aid and co operation. Even wages
IN the city are determined by the agricul-
turaI situation. The ease with which men
live on the farm and acquire holdings Of
their own compels the employer to compete
with the land for his labor. The land
question thus lies at the root of the wages
question:
Further than this, the Donish farmer
appreciates that he is o consumer as we'll
as q producer. He has learned that his sue
cess in agriculture is the result of his
own efforts. It is not due to any bounty
or subsidy from the State. He is not
fooled into any belief in protection. He
is q free trader. He buys where he viii
in the cheapest market, aud the cost of
living is much below what it is in America.
He is not afflicted by trusts or monopolies.
There 10 sufficient competition in the world