Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1915-03-12
OPPOSES NORDMAN AMENDMENT
A. D. Campbe II in Letter to This
Paper, Exposes Fallacies Of
the Single Tax Idea

EulLOr NOWS-buuSot. uOlc III
one of the Rusk county papers a
criticism of Assemblyman Ellingson
for his position on the Nordman pro-
posed amendment to the state con-
stitution AS I agree with Mr.. FL
lingson and appeared with him be-
fore the committee on taxation,
will endeavor to state some of the
reasons why l did so.
This measure was paraded as a
single tax measure until the last
minute of the eleventh hour, when
it was found that the single tax
would be made an argument by the
opposition. Then it was dubbed a
home rule" measure The same
shifting tactics were adopted in de-
bate The proponents of the measure
endeavored, as they said to avoid
free discussion by reserving points
for what was styled "rebuttaP'
when it was hoped that the opposi-
ton would not be there. However,
the matter was fully discussed and
the committee decided against the
measure. Assemblyman Ellingson
made on this measure one of the
best speeches I ever heard before a
Legislative committee.
| Mr.. Nordman claimed that his
measure was for the benefit of the
beginner on upper Wisconsin land,
and that therefore it was a good
thing for upper Wisconsin develop
ment The only point that he made
along that line was that cleared
land would be assessed the same as
wild land and that personal prop
erty would be exempted. In oppo-
sition to Nordman's contention,
made this illustration, and it applies
approximately to many towns: Sup
pose one-third of the land of the
town is in the hands of well es-
tablished farmers, one-third in the
hands of beginners and the other
one-third in the hands of the big
holders. The improved farms Tin
Guiding the stock and equipment)
would be assessed about $50 per.
acre, the farms of the beginners
| about $40 per acre and that OF
| the big holders about $40 per acre.
Nordman would divide the difference
of $50 between the three lots, or
$16.66 per acre each. Then the be-
ginners would be helped by adding
66.6 per cent to his taxes.
| But this is not all-Nordman is
single taxer and he would exempt
| all personal property. If merchan-
disc were relieved of taxes, this, in
all villages taxed with towns would
add another heavy burden on the
beginner. Then in upper Wiscon-
sin there are lots of mills and lum-
Der yards and their exemption
would shift another burden upon the
beginner. No one knows where his
taxes would go-but it is clear that
the owners of highly improved farms
l-(Who are amply able to pay their
taxes) would escape a portion of the
taxes they pay under the present sys-
tenn. l emphasized that point, and
although Mr.. Nordman announced
that he would answer me at the adj
journed hearing, he carefully avoided
the point AS to the beginner being
hit hard by this proposed change, he
lodged the issue by saying that it
would be tried where there were but
few beginners, thus admitting that
the measure was bad at the very
point it was declared in the first
argument to be best.
While admitting that upper Wis
consin lands are lower in price than
any equally good land anywhere else,
it developed that Mr.. Nordman's first
thought was to confiscate by taxa
ton portion at least of the pres
ent price of vacant lands in the
state. On this point the opposition
had nothing to say-Mr. Adams of