The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1916-11-03
LAMM LAND BANK SINGLE TAX SCARE.

Tndoe 1amm. Republican candidate for Governor, is unater-
ably opposed to the establishment of a State Land Bank which
promises the Missouri farmers cheaper interest without outrageous
commissions they are now paying.
Judge Lamm says the Gardner Land Bank bill is a step toward
Single Tax"
MIR William Eirth, the careful, brany editor Of the Missouri
Farmer" a highclass agricultural periodical, and the most uncom-
promising enemy Of single tax in the state, through whose efforts
more than any other one man in Missouri, the single tax amend
ment was buried beyond resurrection, referring to the "Lamm
Single Tax" scare, in the issue of his paper, October 10, says:
on a final and supreme effort to scare and confuse the farmers
Of the state. the charge has been made that it s a step toward the
Single Tax AS a prominent critic recently put it, / am told that
and Tins the subtle poison which is expected to prove the final
knock Out IS injected into the veins of this splendid measure. Who
the wish is father TO the thought The Missouri Farmer was the
first publication in this state which raised its voice against the Sin
Ifargelv responsible than any other single influence for the conven-
ton Of land owners which met at Jefferson City and which planned
wrote the lions share Of the ~anti-Single Tax literature which was
used throughout that campaign and hence this publication would
merit in this charge. Now what are the actual facts? Under present
conditions, the farmer pays taxes on his farm whether he owns it
outright or whether it is heavily nortgaged. Likewise, the man
who holds the mortgage is supposed to pay taxes upon the money
thus loaned-athough in thousands Of instances he never says any
assuming that both the farmer and the man who holds the mortgage
make an honest return, you have two men paying taxes on the same.
fundamental inve~stment-whle under the Land Bank plan the
holder of the bonds 1.-THE equivalent OF the mortgage Under present
conditions) will be exempt from. the payment OF taxes and while the
obtain his loan at a lower rate of interest because the land bonds
are exempt-and hence will receive a benefit which II is impossible
~ nm ~ oOam WWi nc uouDN y I 80" pl
walls at the present time. So, as a matter OF common sense and
fairness the Land Bank plan is right-and instead Of shifting the
burden upon the land as is the purpose of the Single Tax, it actually
relieves the land Of the dual penalty which + is paying at the pres
ent time. Finally. has it not occurred to the reader that the Single
Tax can never be fastened upon the land owners OF this state with
out their consent-that it would require a specific constitutional
amendment and that every voter will be given a chance to vote
upon it, if it is ever again proposed? The recently created Federal
Land Bank not only exempts its bonds from the payment Of ordi-
nary taxes, but also from the payment Of income taxes-and during
the exhaustive discussion Of this great measure in Congress the
scare crow OF the Single Tax was never once suggested by any
Democrat or Republican whose practically unanimous support it
received upon final passage. Unless land bonds, whether state or
federal, are exempted from the payment of taxes, low interest rates
and long time loans for the farmer are impossible-and all discussion
on this point is therefore a mere waste of time. The Single Tax cry
has been raised only to defeat the amendment and the sooner farm
ers realize this the better for their own interests. In this connec-
tion, we also wish to state that the idea that the farmers of Missouri
don't need a Land Bank of their own because of the Federal System
is not true-for in substituting the new methods for the scores Of
millions Of dollars for the farm loans which are now in existence
we will require the aid of the two systems to their fullest capacity.
Again, inasmuch as the Federal System requires farmers to invest
5 per cent Of their loans in stock in the different Federal Land
Banks, we believe that to this extent at least the Missouri plan is
preferable