The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1911-06-23
Tax on Land
Is Solution
SOMETHING THE SOCIETY WITH
THE HIGH SOUNDING NAME
RLOOKS-CHEAP LAND AN AID
TO PROBLEM OF UNEMPLOYED.


vancement of Labor Legislation is the
name of an organization whose purpose
is shown by its title. 1t is not an or
ganization of laboring men although the
names of one or two labor leaders ap-
pear on its letterhead, but its member
ship seems to consist mainly of men
who think that what the world needs
most is legislation forbidding some one
from doing something that no one would
want to do unless compelled by circum-
stances might be changed is matter
which has not yet received the attention
of the association.
At the last session of congress it
worked hard, but without success for the
passage of the Esch bill, prohibiting the
use of phosphorus in the manufacture OF
matches. Phosphorus is a deadly poison
and the workers in the factories where
it is used eventually become afflicted
with dreadful disease known as
"phossy jaw" The facts in regard to
this disease are horrifying indeed and it
is no wonder that the kind hearted mem
bers of the association feel the need OF
doing something to abolish it.
The Esch bill, for the passage of which
they worked, might well have been en-
titled "An act to compel laborers, forced
by existing conditions to choose between
starvation and risk of phossy jaw, to
choose starvation"
Now starvation may be more pleasant
than phossy jaw, more to the advantage
of the sufferer and more beneficial to
society. If we must choose between
driving workers to one or the other OF
these evils there is no question about
the wisdom and humanity of legislation
which will abolish the greater evil. Btu
are we restricted to such choice
Might not conditions be made so that
the laborers who now 90 into the phos
phorous factories because that is the
most remunerative employment open to
them, can have opportunities for more
healthful employment on good, If not
better terms? Would not such a course
be more in the nature of advancement
of labor interests and should not the
greatest possible advancement of labor
interests be the principal object of labor
legislation?
Should the workers in the poisonous
match factories now go out and look for
work elsewhere, what will they find
Everywhere they will be told that work
ers are more plentiful than jobs. Ii
this were not the case, if jobs in other
lines were more plentiful than workers,
conditions in the match factories would
soon get to be much nearer to what we
are all agreed they ought to be, without
the enactment of any legislation like the
Esch bill Laborers would simply re-
fuse to work in match factories until all
danger of phossy jaw would be elimi-
mated. That would settle that question
in short order
Now what stands in the way OF such
condition is the presence of laws on
the statute books forbidding it. Every
law that puts tax on labor or labor
products is a law restricting labor op-
portunities. The tax on houses, for in
stance, is in effect measure for re-
stricting the number of men who may
be employed in building houses, in the
production of building material and
building tools and in a long list of other
wavs that are more or less essential to
the building industry. The tax on ma
chinery has similar effect. The tax
on merchants stocks also. Taxes on the
farmers crops, cattle, horses, etc, still
further limit the number of jobs. Taxes
on occupations add to the process of re-
striction. Tariff taxes restricts domes-
tic industry applied to producing wealth
to exchange for imported goods. All OF
these taxes have the effect of enormous
ly increasing the cost of everything
needed to satisfy some human desire, so
that the laborer's wages does not enable
him to buy more than a very small pro
portion of what he otherwise could pur-
chase. But that is not all There is
one thing that could be heavily taxed
not only without restricting the number
of Jobs, but with the effect of enormous
lv increasing them. The taxation oi
land values cannot affect the produc-
ton of land for all that ever will be
produced is already here and is here to
STAY. Low taxes ON land values make
it to the landowners advantage to hold
land out of use. Heavy taxes on land
values will compel those owners tC
either improve the land themselves or lei
some one else do so, since otherwise the
taxes would make land holding unprofit
able. So the abolition of all taxes oil
labor and its products, leaving land val
ues as the sole source of public revenue
. would increase the number of jobs i
! every branch of industry to such an eN
, tent that the number of them woul
exceed the number of workers.
Unfortunately law repeating a
49, hur1anaap,a taxas n law Wnic