The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-02-16
FIRST SKIRMISH
 OF ONCOMINC
 TAXATION FIGHT
Hearts of Single Taxers Made Hopeful By
 Government.


 The first skirmish of the oncoming ! fight to establish the safe and sane principle of taxation in Ontario has just taken place in Ottawa, and all concerned are trying to appraise the result.
 After long years of waiting, the hearts of single-taxers were made hopeful by ;the action last year of the
 Ontario Government in granting Ot- tawa permission to free improve
 ments from taxation, subject to a
 referendum of the property owners in
 the city; Ottawa being the only place
 in the Province to be given the op-
 portunity. The city council at once
 arranged to present the question to the voters, in the form of a tax re- form bylaw, under which, if passed,
 present taxes on improvements, in- comes and business would be entirely transferred in the course of four years time to land values. It was considered by many that Ottawa fur nished perhaps the most favorable chance in Ontario for such a change
 from the present method oftaxation, to the sanity and justice of payment for services rendered.
 In the early days of the campaign
 it looked as though the proposed re- form might recommend itself to the better sense even of the land-owning element, when suddenly a local news
 paper campaign was launched against it. To be sure they had only the old standpat arguments, 'tit hasn't been tried before in Ontario,' and i've don't know how it will end"; but the big idea-onIy too successful-was to create an atmosphere of doubt. Then a few fo the land spectators called a hurried meeting and raised a large fund to combat "this mad scheme.' Needless to say their propaganda was both humorous and illogical. One day the tax reformers were mem bers of the Millionaires' Club" and the next day saw them branded as having practically no property or other interests in the city. The Citizen the chief daily newspaper, as usual was in the fore front of the engagement through out-a veritable tower of strength to the cause. Much might be recounted here of the yeonan service of the Citizen suffice it to say that the Messrs. Southam again added to clte 1 debt of gratitude which all forward looking men and women in Ottawa 1 owe to them for their fine and fear | less standards of citizenship. The figures of the vote are rather
 
 
 l Total number of voters in Ot- taWa Sl,S92 Number who went to polls on January ....-.......... 13,570 | Total number of property owners in city .......... 11,725 Number of votes cast on Tax reform Bylaw ........ 6,332 Against the Bylaw ...-.... 4,795 For the Bylaw 1897 While these figures reflect an aIl- too-genera1 apathy and Ignorance re- specting the issue in hand, yet the outstanding fact is that only about i one-third of the voters in Ottawa are property-owners, and only about half of these actually voted on the by law-one-f1fth of the total electorate Moreover. under our archaic, mul- tiple voting system if a hostile mem 1 Der of the small, privileged, land owning class happened to hold prop i erty in each of the wards it was pos l against the bylaw! Fancy some A. l 900 property owners presuming to
 settle the incidence of taxation for a i city of over 100000 souls.
 1 A few years ago MT. J. A. Ellis, | former Mayor of Ottawa, published ! figures which clearly showed that 1 during the twelve years between 1893 | and 1905 the increase in land values l in Ottawa paid all the landowners 1 taxes and gave them a very substan- 1 tiaI bonus over and above. Behold i then the anomaly of the tenants ! who are thus shown to be the real 1 taxpayers-not being allowed single l vote on this tax bylaw, while many l of the landlord class were allowed 1 to vote several times. What wonder 1 the cause Of tax-reform was lost be- 1 fore this packed jury.
 1 To read the future we need merely q refIect thai thA nrurv GovernmAAk at