The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1916-10-19
SINGLE TAX

The poor, says the Scriptures. will
ever be with US. Oregonisns now know
that we have been having U Renism
before Us at every general election for
the past decade and longer. U'Ren
stands for single tax and his most re-
cent effort to secure single tax bill is
veiled by the so-called Full Rental
Land Tax and Homemakers Loan Fund
Amendment.
That the owner of land will suffer
the confscation of bis property, while
the man who rents. land will not be
benefited by the adoption Of the Full
Rental Value Land Tax and Homemak.
ers' Loan Fuhd Amendment" is one of
the points emphasized by Henry E.
Reed, assessor of Multnomah county.
BY analyzing the results of this single
tax measure Mr.. Reed proves that
should it be adopted. all land rentals
must be paid as at present, with the
state as universal landlord. He also
shows why, with this amendments re-
markable provisions enforced, land will
not have any selling value.
In speaking of the certain results of
this measure. which is on the Novem-
ber ballot. Mr.. Reed recently said:
"The value OF land, wnen not specu-
lative, is only its net product-or rent
capitalized at the rate per cent which
the community regards as fair return
on real estate investments. The
amendment aims to take, through tax
alton, all of the rent and pay it to the
state treasury.
when such special and exclusive
permanent tax as this is imposed, the
present value of it falls for all time to
come upon the present owner. The
capital value of the land is at once re.
duced to nil confiscated by the taking
of the entire ground rent. Manifestly,
if there be no ground rental. there can
be no capital value remaining in the
hands of the pOssessor of the title, no
matter what the extent or value of his
holdings.
"The total, or use value of the land,
will neither be increased nor decreased 1
by the tax; it will remain the same
whether the tax be high or low. What
will occur is that the total value will
be transferred to the state; the owner
will retain the shell and the state will
take the kernel.
Land will not have any selling val
ue. Rent will not cease, but will be
paid to the state as universal land
lord"
G. E. Spence, Master of the state
grange, has taken strong stand
against the single tax measure, named !
on the ballot the Full Rental Value
Land Tax and Homemakers' Loan
Fund Amendment. In an interview
the other day he said:
"This measure would not benefit |
the farmer in the least. In fact it
would injure every enterprising farm
er severely.
ut amounts, practically, to confisca-
tion of all land by the state. Now, if
they start in to confscate land. the
next step will be to confscate i'm.
provements on the land.
What recourse would there be for a
farmer, renting land under the prov-
sions of this bill, if he found himself
unable to keep up his payments on the
land after he had spent his money and
labor for many years in improving it?
"He would lose the land, of course.
but how could he save his improve
ments? He couldn't take his barn
with him, nor his irrigation bitches nor
drainage bitches, nor even his fences.
''This bill is another form of single
tax. The people have rejected single
tax in this state repeatedly.
"All farmers who have their own in
terests and the interests of the farm
ers as class at heart should vote
against this bill"
Many people still confuse this "Full
Rental Value Land Tax Amendment"
with the state rural credits measure.
The land tax amendment is Nos. 306
and 307 on the November ballot.