The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1921-09-09
FAIR TAXATION.
Written Especially for The CONNER
cial by Lowe Shearon, 225 East
18th Street, New York.

City Commercial has a knack of get
ting down to fundamental principles
underlying industry and taxation
that are causing some of the politi-
clans to sit up and take notice Your
recent editorial showing why cities
have the advantage over rural COM
munities in matters of State taxes
was very calculating, and a nice
study of the subject is presented in a
recent deal involving the site of the
old New York Herald building at
35th street and Broadway, New York.
The site is owned by an estate and
when Munsey bought the Herald and
moved it down to the old A. T. Stew
art building, Chambers street and
Broadway, the old Herald building
was leased for twenty-one years by
! Nicholas C. Parties, head of the Par
| tola Company, at an annual rental
of $150,000. Six weeks later Mr..
Partos succeeded in subletting forty
percent. of the space in the old Her
aid building to the Rogers Peet Com
pany, retail clothiers, for twelve
years at an annual rental of $685.
600.
Forty per cent. of $4,000 is $780,
900, and thus it is seen that Mr.
Partos makes a clear profit of more
than a million dollars altogether in
deal for which he has rendered no
service to anyone. This is a so-called
unearned increment which must nee
essarily come from the pockets of
those who buy clothing from the
Rogers Peet Company. The million
dollar toll imposed by Mr.. Partos is
wholly an artificial creation made
possible by legal fiat, and has no
basis whatever as a true property
right. 1t would make the barons of
the middle ages turn green with en-
Wy. They never had such easy pick
ings as that.
If all of the stores of New York
City tax the consumers on the same
principle-and all of them are COM
PEELED to do it to a certain extent
the consumers who buy in New York
are out many millions of dollars each
year through landlord profiteering in
store renetals to say nothing of the
tolls exacted for the use of dwell
ings, factories and offices. The Single
Takers estimate the amount at $400,-
100000 annually, and they are not
far wrong, so why should the hold
ers of city property kick on paying a
State tax when they mulct the GUS
toners for so much?
Thus it is seen that the unearned
increment is merely form of prof
iteering-the power permitted by a
system of unfair competition by
which one person may arbitrarily i'm
pose tax on those things which he
has to sell in addition to that which
he should reasonably charge for his
services.
The unearned increment is not
something that should go to the gov
eminent, but something that should
never be permitted to come into be-
ing. 1t is an economic monstrosity.
If we had fair competition, the rules
of which must necessarily be made
in advance, there could be no such
thing as an unearned increment or
If the prices of all things, services
as well as everything else, were de-
termined in advance in free and
open public competition, and fixed at
such figure as would reasonably
guarantee against loss with the un-
derstanding that surpluses were to
be returned to the consumer in pro-
portion to the amount of his pur-
chases the whole problem would be
solved Then a single tax for the
privilege of using land, just enough |
to cover absolutely necessary govern
ment expenses, would settle the prob |
lem of taxation in way that would |
be fair, to all.
If all imports had to be contracted |
for in free and open and public |
market a year in advance so as not |
to upset home markets by the sud-
den dumping of cheap foreign goods |
notice there would be no |
need of any tariff whatsoever. All |
things under fair competition, which |
necessarily requires intelligent fore
sight, that help lower prices gradual
Iy would be benefit to all. It's the
cut-throat competition that |
we have now that permits the ar
bitrary raising or lowering of prices
notice that causes all of the
and if the politicians don't
stop it very soon the people will put
statesmen in their places who will.
Bar Clara Smith Film.
Con Erapnisco Cant UE.ota >,