The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1913-12-12

]
oror i. was made, by the state or ny
nrivate individuals. the value OF 'H's'
as well as of every other kind OF prop
ertv depends upon the conhlluiii's
| Put IN whom does the unearned ilcie~
ment go?
l,earned Fortunes for LANDLORDS.
In fifty years the ground rent OF Tue
town of Burton.on-Trent lhcreaseu
from $4,000 to $4,000. An absentee
owner. the marquis of Anglesey' d
landlord receives this rent. HIS al
taxes or rates are S3'O.
Sheffield. one of the astes, MAN,
featuring cities in E:gsiiand, is owne!'
in greater part. by The duke of No
folk. A dry s tSds merchant in that
Guy neiu d le ase on land at so d
year SeVf a years before the lease
would haye expired the jlke grantee
renewal on condition pat the ven
ant Surrendered the u blred part VI
'ne ease. paid S75c ear REM ~
the shsAf ba Ill SPsn se in tt, 'op psy all
the taxes. .
A large part 81 the ground upon
when London buildings STAND
owned by Ger ain rich peers Land IS
not SOLD by them. but leased or renb tea
su ul buil,) S as he needs, and pays
al, The taxes. When his lease expires
he must pay the increased rent which
his own improvements make possible
to charge, or else move, abandoning
his own building. Some recent sales
show the almost fabulous price when
the absentee landowner receives when
he does sell London real estate in the
more favored sections.
What is Great Britain to do about
it? Democracy. which is, or at least
should be, the policeman and the part
ner Of industry, is already in the UNI
ted Kingdom doing something and
plans to do more. LET we'll enough
alone" no longer satisfies, much less
"let bad alone. lest the change bring
worse"
National Ownership Makes Roadway.
Three general plans of land reform
have been seriously considered. and
each, to a degree. has been adopted.
The three plans are naturalization
of the land, the small holdings policy.
and taxation TwentyAears ago the
great Gladstone said: If the time
comes when the British nation finds
that the land should be nationalized.
and it is wise to do 1t, they have a
perfect right to do So" Nationalist
ton, which means the ownership by
all the people Of all the land, Is open.
ly talked. Indeed. 1t is put into prac-
teal effect to degree in government
purchase and ownership in the land
purchase acts. That striking form Of
naturalization known as the single
tax, which "prides itself on being ef-
fected without compensation and by
the confiscation by the state Of eco
nomic rent" has many strong advO
Gates. Rent being value created by
the whole community, say its support
ers, should belong to the whole COM
munity. All economic rent. the rent
of the actual land apart from the i'm
provements, is unearned increment
The single takers would confiscate not
the land to the state. but the rent
Another form Of land naturalization
is considered, though not seriously.
This involves the taking over of all
the land by the state, with compensa-
ton to the landlord. Small holdings
by compulsory purchases and small
holdings by compulsory leasing are
other plans actually pursued. Under
these schemes the landlord is com.
PEELED to sell or lease small acreages
for actual farm use. Land hire by the
state and land purchase are involved
In this general scheme.
"A Tax to Burst Land Monopoly"
The real attack upon the evils of the
present land ownership, the one about
which the fiercest contention has Ia
ken place, is that in Lloyd,Georges
budget of taxation. Many forms of
land taxation have been proposed.
considered and, occasionally, adopted.
Land value taxation. in some form, en-
tiers into discussion everywhere This
new land taxation, however, recently
carried into effect by the Liberal gov.
eminent, is not a tax to raise revenue,
but, to quote the pungent phrase Of
the chancellor of the exchequer in pro-
posing 1t, "a tax to burst the land
monopoly" This new system Of taxa
ton included five per cent. duty on
mining royalties, taxation of gifts OF
nature or windfalls. 1t included a tax
on the capital value of unworked min
erals, thus stimulating the exploitation
OF mines hitherto unworked. The i'm
portant principles of the new taxation.
however, are involved In the incre-
ment tax. the tax on undeveloped
building land and on leasehold rever-
sions. Under these sections two tax
values are placed on land, the site
Vaiue and the improved value The
tendency Of the tax, as shown by it's
actual workings, Is to bring more