The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1915-09-11

At an: enthusiastic meeting "a COM
memorating the: 5birthdate Of, Henry
George Thursday, Sept. D. 50 .advo-
Gates of the ssfngle-tax and tax re-
form from Duluth and various parts
of the stateslaid plans for a. perman-
ent state Organization and adopted a
platform. progressive in: every re-
| spect- Louis Nash, member i. OF :. the
St. Paul city commission delivered
the principal address and W.. E. Nc
| Even was POSTMASTER.
! The present system of taxation was
arranged by'sMr Nash and several
other speakers who pointed out speci-
fic instances of injustice.
Real George Convert.
In opening his address Mr.. Nash
explained how he first became a. sim
gle-tax advocate by, hearing Henry
George speak and then through per-
.sonal contact with the great philo-
sopher.
In pointing out certain injustices
in taxation Mr.. Nash stated in ref
erences to those who are taxed on
personal property which has been
acquired through thrift and the I'M
taxed person with greater means but
no taxable property that There is
no service rendered by the county to
one that is not also rendered to the
other. The man who has erected
buildings, whether that building is a
home makes no difference, is soaked
while the man. with greater means
but has no buildings is allowed to
go untaxed. In other words the
fha v1y1n1 n
service to the community. The county
penalties the man Of thrift ten times
as heavily as the. delinquent men,
Der of the community"
Several concrete examples that are
duplicated in practically every county
of the state were cited by Mr.. Nash.
One in particular was the case of
two men, one married, had five chill
dren, wife and a six-room house upon
which he carried. mortgage of 5000;
was earning, but SIS per week and
was taxed for his personal property
in furniture. The other man was a
bachelor earning SIS, lived in, a five
room suite only two of which were
furnished, yet he although better
able to pay taxes paid nothing be-
cause his furniture was valued at
Less than 500: The present system
of taxation 5be4ides taxing the thrifty
likewise taxes those who can least at
ford to pay taxes !:
That the system of land ownership
and speculation is the cause of cities
being scattered. and hence causes high
taxes because Of the great waste OF
space that must be paved and other
extensions that must be made was the
contention of the speaker.
How can we best honor the mem
Dry Of Henry George was the topic
chosen by Mr..4Nash and he closed
in saying that. by Taking advantage
of every opportunity to plant the seed
Of the single-tax theories could we
best honor the memory of Henry
George go
Among others who gave short talks
were. Emil Knipps, Minneapolis;
Louis Schwartz. C. J. Buell., St. Paul;
D C. Henderson, Nisswa
- Charles Mitchell, editor of the
News, Tribune was also called on by
the POSTMASTER but he gave his time
to Mr.. Nash stating that as far as
the name Of the organization, which
had been discussed, was concerned
that the league, Would be given the
name of Single-tax by the newspapers
SO that it might just as well be called
such from the start"
Committee to Meet Sept ii.
The committee elected for purposes
Of perfecting the organization will
| meet Sept. IL at st. Paul 1t is COM
posed Of julius j. Reiter, Rochester,
First district; T. j.. Knox, Jackson,
second; Jens K Grondahl, third;
Louis Nash, St Paul, fourth; Harry
Lind, Minneapolis, fifth; D. c. Hen
derson, sixth; Theodore Christensen.
| Dawson, seventh. Richard Jones, Du-
|luth, eighth; d. sP: O'Neil. Thief
| River Falls, ninth; Lowell e. Jepson,
Minneapolis, tenth; at large, c. J.
Buell.; St Paul; S.sA. -Stockwell, Min
neapolis; Robert :Seibert, st. Paul:
Marcus L. Fay, Duluth; Ole O.. Sag
eng, Dalton, and John II. Sheets,
Browervile The committee also
win decide whether zthe organization
shall be named i the Minnesota, Tax
Reform league >or the Single Tax
League OF" Minnesota i; ss} ~ ~,
t s'ss Platform is Adopted. .ys>,
The platform adopted foilows:
People should not sbe taxed be-
cause they employ labor. The. far
mer who improves his land should
not be taxed more than u.s. the land
owner who leaves his land idle, yet
receives the full and equal benefit
Of all social ana public activities and
the services, rendered by the govern