New-York tribune., 1915-08-04
LOCAL LAND VALUES
Not as High as in Most Of the
Smaller Cities of the Country.
To the Editor Of The Tribune.

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: Permit me to reply TO letter which
was published in The Tribune of July ~
from John Moody, wherein he advocates single
tax socialism for New York Citv and attacks
Stewart Brownies theories as to the cause OF
the removal Of certain factories from the
city.
Land il not too high in Greater New York,
as single tax socialists claim. Land is higher,
comparatively speaking, either agricultural
or urban, from Portland, Me-, to Seattle, than
il is in the boroughs Of Brooklyn and Queens
Land can be bought in these boroughs within
ten minutes walk Of the s40OO0O,OO0 dual
subway system cheaper than equally we'll To-
Gated land can be bought in any second, third
or fourth class city in the United States
The principle underlying single tax social
ism is confscation Of land, and was enunciat-
cd by Henry George, the founder OF the cult,
who declared that private ownership OF land
was A crime equal to that of owning slaves,
and that the state should confscate land
values through the "confscation OF rents
This has been accomplished to an alarming
extent through the operation Of burdensome
regulatory laws that were forced through the
Legislature by the reformers referred to by
Stewart Browne and administered by single
tax officials
One Manhattan real estate expert, in an
analysis of real estate conditions published
in 1912. declared that the operation of one OF
these laws had resulted in cost and loss OF
taxable values of over $S0O,O0O,OO0. That is
going some in the direction Of coniiscation.
The fact that New York City has more than
n thousand million of bonds outstanding and
based chiefly upon privately owned taxable
real estate does not seem to concern the sim
gle takers in the least.
Mr.. Moody declares that buildings should
not be assessed at all, and he also says that
land values are too high. If his ideas were
put into operation, how in heavens name
would the city raise it's budgetary require
ments of $20O,O00,000 plus?
II the city owned all the land within its
limits it could not borrow dollar against
it, as only privately owned taxable land can
be reckoned as a basis of borrowing power
That is why the undersigned has for years
urged that the chief duty of the state and
city is to protect and promote taxable values
in every way that is proper and consistent
with sound governmental policy.
An opposite policy has, however, been
adopted. Regulatory laws have been enacted
and are being administered in such harsh,
unreasonable and unnecessary manner that
thousands of owners have been driven to des-
peration as a result of seeing real estate
marketability deliberately destroyed and
their equities disappear. In many cases this
equity represents the savings of a lifetime of
Industry and frugality.
The crushing and impoverishment of these
thrifty, law-abiding citizens is a grave gov
ernmental error. They have invested their
all, under conditions and laws as to titles
that have been in vogue for hundreds of
years. They had right to expect the state
to protect them. The state has not done so,
but has permitted their financial ruin. This
process has undermined the foundation of
the city's credit, and the people are now pay
ing the penalty. JUDSON c. WALL.
New York, July %, 1915.