Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-09-14
COST OF LIVING is
AROUSINC PEOPLE
Concentration of Wealth In Few Hand,
Calling for Social Reform, Says
Single Taxer.
WALLIS GIVES ADDRESS HERE
clares, Is Owned by Two Per Cent
of Citizens.


of Citizens.
! That the high cost Of living and the
| concentration of wealth in fewer and
fewer hands are awakening the people
to social reform as never before, and
| that the single tax is one of the most
| important reform proposals now I'M
/ der consideration, were some of the
! points made by Louis Wallis in an ad-
dress to a crowd in Spencer Square
/ last evening. Mr.. Wallis is doing
propaganda and organizing work for
the Joseph Fels Fund Commission Of
! America, and IN the last few years has
| spoken at various points throughout
| the northern states. He will speak
! Friday evening at a labor mass meet
| ing in Moline. He is chairman of the
| Illinois Single Tax league. His books,
| THE Struggle for Justice and so
| Geological Study of the Bible are pub
lished by the University of Chicago
Press.
Sixty per cent of the property IN
America" said the speaker, lis already
owned by only two per cent of the peo-
| tle. This is not a theory. It is a fact
revealed by United States government
| statistics. Home owning is on the de
| cline in our cities, as everybody knows.
| The same is true of the country dis
| tricts, as government reports make
| plain. Back in the year 1880, % per
| cent of our farmers were tenants.
Ten years later. in 1890 the proper
ton had swelled to rs per cent. BY
1900, the figures had leaped up to 35
per cent 1910, 81 per cent of the
farmers had become tenants. This in
| crease continues at the present time,
until in many places from 40 to so per
cent of the farmers have no landed
property of their own. And the vast
majority of these tenant farmers are
native Americans These plain and
simple facts prove to us that America
is rapidly becoming like Europe. and
separating into two classes, an upper
and a lower class. Social conditions
are becoming harder and harder all
the time. Our wage earners and small
business men are finding it more diff
cult to make a living. Various meas
ures Of reform are proposed, one of
the most interesting and important be-
ing the single tax on land values"
1.-The single tax is not a mere change
in the laws regulating taxation. 1t
stands for a great philosophy of hu-
man rights, and it has a deep religious
meaning. It approaches the social
problem in a way that seems strange
at first; but its rational nature comes
out clearly into view as the PROPOSE
ton is turned over and examined from
various standpOints.'
Do Not Reach Root.
Everybody is dissatisfied with our
present way of collecting government
revenue-except a small fraction of the
people, who profit by it. Our present
system of taxation reaches middle and
Iaboring classes more nearly in pro-
portion to what they possess than It
does the wealthy classes. Thus, the
power of the government is making the
rich a little richer and the poor lit
tie poorer every year. And what is
more, there is no escape from this I'M
der our present system or under any
modification of it. The increasing de-
mand for income taxes and inheritance
taxation shows that the tax problem is
pressing. But these measures do not
go to the root of the trouble.
THE single tax on land values
would make everyone pay taxes in eX-
act proportion to the advantages which
he derived from the government the
most valuable land being located where
the cost of government is highest,
while the least valuable land is where
{ taxes are low. Since everybody has to
use land, nobody could escape the sin
gle tax. If you don't own land, you
rent it; and the tax is collected from
the rent you pay the landlord for the
location which is made valuable by the
1 presence of the community and the
1 service of the government Moreover,
the tax on land values cannot be added
to rent; because the tax rests on the
value of unimproved land as we'll as
upon improved property, and the sin
gle tax would have the effect of bring
1 ing more land into the market at lower
prices to compete with land on which
the rent was unduly increased.
Foundation OF Business.
This consideration brings into view
1 another aspect of the single tax, its
| business or Industrial side. We all
| want good business. But what do we
mean by business? Most people will
I agree that when we are making good
| use Of the world in which We live,
| times are good. Real business is
| founded upon the actual production
l and distribution of goods, and not up
/ on speculation. or market manipula-
| ton, or high finance. This is recog-
4 niZed over and over again by cities
which offer taXfree locations for a
1 term of years in order TO attract man
| ufacturing capital Cities are not in
the habit of placing tax-free locations
at the disposal of bankers, architects
/ doctors, lawyers, etc. Such profess
| sions come of their own motion and
/ without special inducement. Good
| business depends, first of all, upon
| putting the earth and its resources tO
| use. In order to operate factories
| farms. stores. etc. it is necessary tC
| use land The production of all good
| things whatsoever involves the utiliZa-
| ton OF the earth on which we live.
But people observe that the devel-
/ oDment of business increases the de
1 mand for land. Consequently. more
/ and more of the unused surface of the