Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-11-03

again to the milk question, asserting
that the rules laid down by the health
Office were unwarranted. He insisted
that there was "the biggest kind of {
move" in the country to control the
milk business through pasteurizatioI
and condensed milk"
Liquid milk is condemned, there
fore, he said, land children are fec
on all kinds of conglomerations.' He
charged that the people of the District
are getting worse milk than ever be-
! fore. He told the committee that he
! had brought up these questions to show
that the money collected from the peo-
pie of the District by taxation was not
being properly expended. but was being
| wasted in large measure.
When Mr.. Trundle completed his
/ statement DR.. Woodward, the health
| officer of the District, told the COM
mittee that he would be very glad at
/ any time to appear and refute the
| charges made by Mr.. Trundle. Sena-
i tor Works said that he would be given
i an opportunity to be heard if the
| committee desired to take the mat
ter UP.
Urges Single Tax Here.
<ai'hoi LAWS director OIL tne
United States reclamation service, was
the next witness. He appeared as a
, representative of the Tax Reform AS
ISOLATION and advocated the establish
ment Of the single tax system in the
District
He submitted, in the course of his
argument the following reasons for
the eSta bIShment of the single tax:
lei, oF
all public revenue for national, state
and local purposes, through taxation of
the value of land irrespective of i'm
provements in or on it. This excludes
All farms, licenses, excise taxes, per-
sonal property taxes, improvement
taxes and all other forms of direct and
lndirect taxes on labor or it's products.
ITS adoption is urged because the
taxes which it would abolish tend to
check and hamper industry and enter
prise. 1t is neither just nor expedient
mat a man who puts land to use should
De taxed more than one who holds an
equally valuable piece of land out of
use-yet that is what the present sys-
| ter, of taxation actually requires.
Results of present system: The re-
suit is seen in (a) an enormous amount
of valuable land withheld from use on
speculation; OBJ in land but poorly
used; (c) in old. insanitary buildings
where better ones should be: Cd in a
lack of proper housing, causing con-
gestion in cities: (e) and in an army
of unemployed in a country with suf-
icient natural resources to support a
greater population than exists in the
whole world.
Results Of Single Tax.
Results of single tax: The single
tax would force those now Withholding
valuable land from use to either use it
themselves or let others do so. This
would open to labor the natural re-
sources of the country and give oppor-
tunities for employment to all who
would want it.
'On the ethical side 1t is urged that
what is produced by individual labor
taxing labor products the government
commits robbery. Land. however. is not
produced by human labor, and what
value 1t has. aside from the value of
improvements, is produced through the
presence, Industry and enterprise of
the whole community In taxing land
values. therefore, there Is taken for
public use what the public has created,
and to whom it consequently belongs
by right. To allow individuals, as we
do now. to appropriate land values for
private use is to allow robbery of the
public.
Though the single tax is nowhere in
complete operation. the principle has
DttH Applied LOT local purposes III many
cities. towns and rural districts of New
Zealand, Australia and western Canada
In California's irrigation districts it
has been applied for irrigation revenue.
Germany applied it to her Chinese
province of Kiaochow Pueblo, Col,
voted to put it in effect in 1916"
Represents Small Home Owners.
Mr.. Davis said that he represented
the class of small home owners in the
District. He said that If there was
no change in the system of taxation,
but Congress should decide to do away
with the half-andhalf plan and make
the District citizens pay a larger share
of the expenses OF the District, or all
of the expenses, as suggested by some.
1t would be a burden on the owners of
pointed out that many of these small
homes are purchased on the monthly
installment plan. and that they are
purchased with the understanding that
the taxation policy would be continued
Mr.. Davis argued. however, that If
system of land taxation were adopted,
the home owners would in the end be
benefited. no matter what was done
about the share of the capitals ex-
penses which the national government
should pay He argued that taxes
would be lowered finally to the owners
of small homes, pointing out that the
value of small homes is largely in the
improvements themselves, and If the
improvements were untaxed the taxes
would, on the whole, be less.
The increased values of land in the
District, Mr.. Davis said, are due to the
activities of the government and to
those of the people of the District
we hear the argument made some
times that the District residents should
pay all the expenses of the District,
since the government has more than
compensated them by increasing land
values through government improve
ments."
He said that the government was of
value to the city, but that the people
were also Of great value, and that 1t
was necessary to combine the benefits
conferred by the government and also
by the people in order to get the in
creased value of the land
Says Values Would Be Lower.
lnterrogated to his opinion on the
effect of a change of the fiscal system
in the District. Mr.. Davis said he be-
lieved selling values of land and rental
values OF houses would be lower He
was asked by committee member
what specific recomme ndation he would
ton system
SO as to deal only with selling values
that Is for the present-and this would
squeeze out the water in values and
kill off speculative values"
There isn't much speculation in land
a Il