New Ulm review., 1912-12-18
Big Attendance
At Mems Club
Lecture On The "single Tax
System BY G. j. Buell. Was
Very Interesting.
Next Meeting Will Be Hello
Thurs, Jan. 9th. Program
Not Yet Complete.

| Inurs., Jan. 9th. Program
Not Yet Complete.
! The Mems Club of the Congrega-
tional church held its regular monthly
session Thursday, Dec. 18th. The
meeting opened at 8:15 p. m., with an
attendance of approximately seventy
five men. 1t was quite an enthusiasts
tic meeting, and the speaker of the
evening, Mr.. G. J. Buell., Of st. Paul,
delivered a speech of some length
which was exceedingly interesting.
Hofmeister's Boys Orchestra
played five or six selections during
the evening. The orchestra is made
up Of fourteen boys, the Oldest six
teen and the youngest nine years of
age, and they certainly play very we'll
Victor Rein, son Of C. G. REIN and
Capt. :Hofmeister also played violin
Duo from MaZaS.
| The Program Committee for the.
next meeting, to be held Thursday,
January 9th, will consist Of DR.. o. C.
Strickler and Mr.. H. l. Beecher.
Extracts of Mr. Buell's address ON,
the Single Tax question follow:
Gentlemen:
when we consider this subject full
ly it is a question which interests
everybody. When you recall the fact
that every time you sit down to break
fast and put spoonful of sugar or
cream into your coffee that something
like one third or perhaps more Of the
cost of that sugar or cream is tax,
the subject becomes interesting to us.
When you. consider the fact that every
time you buy a snit of clothes for
yourself or your family that part Of
that cost is tax, the subject becomes
very interesting one, but am not
going to dwell much on that part Of
our taxation system. want to call
your attention to some features Of
! the state and local taxation.
Here are two quarter sections of
land, one just as good as the other
and worth just as much. A man
buys one quarter section and you tax
him on everything he builds on that
quarter section. You treat him just
the same as you do the man that gets
drunk, and goes down the street rails
ing particular hell here in the city.
You fine him just as if he had been
doing a wrong thing! I don't think
that system is right. I don't think
there is a man in this room that
thinks that system is right don't
think there is farmer in Brown
county that believes that system is
right-the system that adds to the
burden of taxation because a man has
gone on and made farm out of
quarter section Of wild land, and all
the while that he has been doing this
the adjoining quarter section has been
increasing in value Just in proper
ton as this man has been working to
make good farm out of his quarter
section, the adjoining quarter section
that lies there idle is constantly be-
coming more and more valuable, and
if this man wants to, get that quarter
section also. he finds that this quarter
section lying next to him will cost
him a great deal more than did the
first quarter section he bought; and
who has made the value that is In
this vacant, idle quarter section? Why,
the very farmer who has been here
at work, he and the other farmers who
live all around who have been at
work developing their land and max
ing it useful. They are the ones that
have made the vacant quarter Sec
tions worth what they are and all this
while the useful citizen has been
taxed great deal more than the
speculator who has been holding idle
the quarter section. and when fel-
low comes along and buys this other
quarter section and builds on it then
you begin taxing him just the same
as you did the first fellow.
Nov, my opinion is that those two
quarter sections should be taxed just
alike, without any regard whatever
to what improvements this man has
put on his land. II you want % dis
criminate at all, think you ought not
Continued on Sixth Page.