Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1911-01-06
VOTERS AND SINGLE TAX
Only Small Percentage of People
Knew True Import of Measure.

. UIarry Park in Brownsville Times
Your statement in last weeks Times
that the people of Oregon were VI
against hard proposition in enacting
the constitutional amendment provid-
ing for the people of each county to
regulate taxation and exemptions with
in the county, etc, and which con-
tanned the single tax idea, leads one
to inquire how many people there are
who really want such law? 1t seems
that the vicious and freak measures
voted on at the last election were
about the only ones that passed into
laws. One is forced to the conclusion
that the people want such laws as the
| home rule law, the liability law, and
the single tax amendment or they
| don't know how to vote. 1t is not like
/ ~ that there were more than a very
small per cent of the people of Ore
gon that really knew what they were
voting for when they voted for the
single tax amendment. Its title did
not reveal the real character of the
measure.
Why don't the people inform them
selves as to the character of what they
are voting for, or vote no? 1t is a
simple thing to do. l can look back to
the November election and recall with
satisfaction that l voted no" % times
| can recommend it as an easy way to
kill freak legislation. Vote no on ev-
erything you don't understand, and
then some.
Perhaps people of Oregon want the
single tax Perhaps they want the
land to bear all the burden of taxa
ton and all other forms of property to
be exempt. II they do they have got it, I
Perhaps they want the splendid tide
Of immigration that has been coming
to us in recent years diverted to other
Western states where the crack
Drained reformer is unable to get a
hearing. Perhaps they want land val
ues to decline as rapidly as they have
risen in the last few years: If so. call
in the single-taxer with his unerring
monkey-wrench of reform and he will
fix things for them. II the professional
and habitual reformer would begin
by reforming himself he would have
less inclination to reform the rest OF
the planet.
The announcement that L. s U'Ren
has just returned from the East, where
he has been in consultation with sin
gle-taX agitators and will begin a cam
paign to have the single-tax theory
adopted into as many counties as pos
sible will cause a Iong-suffering pub
lie to wish that U'Ren had some useful
II is remarkable that a
mere man like that can waive aside
he accumulated experience OF genera
ions and go into his closet and shut
he door and then all unaided and ,
llone with nothing to work with but
lisordered brain map out a scheme of
aNation that will make the other fell
ow pay the taxes. and then practice
shameless deception on the voters
y calling IL something other than
that it really is. The worst wish we !
ave FOR such dlsinterested reform :
r Is that he might be obliged to To-
ate on farm and hnd himself up
guinst the proposition Of making a
wing by physical exercise or starve q.
cath. BY the time he had made a sue ;
ess of his job he would be willing 70 =
lrrender some OF his theory for facts %
a time he would not be 50 good look
*. but he would know more. Unfor-
inately Tor the rest OF Us. however.
ich brilliant dreamers usually make "'
ieir living with their Jaw instead Of =
ielr muscle. o'