New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-12-02

VI tic tftIBtllC tllpi 10 1ilNy ~
to sell their lots TO home builders. Inc
more there are OF them and the more they
compete with each other TO attract GUS
toners. the more numerous are mo
suburban homes which are created
In moving To an outlying district where
streets, sidewalks, sewers. waterpipes' gas
pipes. etc. are all provided, and where
community is already beginning 10 grow
up. man can afford 10 pay much more
per square foot for the land he occupies
than he could IL he took 1t In the wild ana
comparatively uninhablted state But the
point Of the argument is that the move
ment is in progress on a large scale ana
that home owning is attractive and bene-
fetal so long as men can count, as for
the most part they now can, on an In
crease in the value Of their lots. do not
know that this is denied or that the fact
OF a rapid movement Is I'm danger Of be-
ing doubted.
one point in Mr.. Donovan's letter is OF
much Importance He speaks Of Van
couver. which has been doomed by phe-
nomenal influx of farmers, miners, etc.
into n vast area which Is. in one way or
another. tributary 10 II. and says that,
after some years Of experience with n
measure which reduces taxation on build
ngs and increases It on land the COM
munity has liked the result so well as 10
repeat the experiment, taking further
slice from the value Of the land Is this
likely to be the general rule? VIII Van
couvcr like the effects of this increased
ConfiSCation well enough TO increase 81
again after few years? VIII they con-
tinue until they reach what with some IS
an ideal, a virtual public ownership Of the
whole? Would that also be the experience
of New York. If IT should begin 10 carry
out n similar policy? A more complete
cOnfscation may be agreeable to those
who get the benefit of IT, It would be cheap
for a community 20 maintain itself by
appropriating tie Income OF any one class.
whether landlords. bondholders. manufact-
urers or any other capitalists. The ma
tional government might gain handsome
income by appropriating railroads grad
uaily. Of course 1t is somewhat disquet-
ing TO know that the habit Of conhscaton
has been pleasing TO the Inhabitants ~
Vancouver The appetite for It IS not a
safe one to foster
\ letter to The Tribune signed by Messrs.
Mornay Williams and, Raymond V. Inger-
soil misstates doubtless unintentionally-
my position. It attributes TO me an "ar-
gument that the supply Of new buildings
will be lcssened by tightening the tax on
thom.' careful reading Of my letter
will show that it makes no such claim. IN
itself alone the reduction Of the tax on
buildings would tend TO increase the sup
ply; but. In the case Of a prospective home
owner. the increased tax on the land is an
opposite influence. If there were irnpend-
ing series OF additions to the tax on
land the effect Of the entire policy on the
growth Of home owning would not be IN
doubt 1t would be a strangely consti-
tuted workingman who would put his
weekly savings into a bag into which the
government would periodically thrust IT'S
hand, with disastrous results for the
contents
BY selecting, as an illustrative case. n
building worth $4,000 standing on a LOT
worth $1,000 Messrs. Williams and Ingor-
soil easily show that the proposed meas
ure would lessen the owners taxes An
Item which it might be well to consider IS
the fact that # would reduce the value of
the land from $1,000 to about sS75, more
or less, and that this reduction wouId an
ply pro rata TO future increments Of IT'S
value. II would also be interesting 10 fol-
low this investment 10 the period whom
the house will be the cheap item and the
land the valuable one. There are houses
once valuable that are now worth rot
over $1,000, and there are lots once worth
Sl.O0O that are now worth sf0OO let NC
Try the same arithmetic on these cases
we SHAH find that, besides n net increase
IN taxation, the owners will lose about s,o0
In the value Of their land. If a nrosna,t
OF TINS alures men into home owning. #
Is because they do not clearly see what
is before them.
The proposed measure Is more than an
entering wedge for the Single tax v.bi,,
II tuily applied would mean the comnreta
conhscation Of property I'm land II Is tho
greatest moral mystery that this poa.,-
ure should be thought Of by any human
being as just II far overtops tho CON
hscauons Of the French Revolution. which
Were made on the ground that the Victims
had become traitors to their country. OF
course. this subject Is too large, for a Lot.
ter, but the connection Of the meas,,ro ,,.,
are discussing with the single tax should
nor he overlooked. The possibility that
ms one appropriation Of land yaIue u
made would not stand alone. but uo,,Id
be Followed by others, is too serlous IN no
us. eS'rued JOHN p. CLARK.
New York nec to1t