Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1921-11-16

Veteran Advocate of*Economic Reform
Does Not Hesitate to Attack Appli:
cation. of Henry George Theory
Under Present Conditions.
AN ARTICLE so 5FAR Refused PUBLICATION
By big PAPERS! WHICH POSE AS Liberal

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pay taxes, neither can building nor
anything else on which taxes are lev
led. We pay our taxes out of the re-
suits of our labor, or, as in the case.
of the trusts, out of the results of
somebody else's labor. We are inter-
ested mainly in the amount that we.
have to pay, we don't care whether
it is levied on our buildings, our land
or our cats. We . submit to being
taxed, to having parts. OF the results
of our labor confiscated, in order to
make the rest secure as private prop
erty and. government functions mainly
for that purpose. It naturally follows,
then, that a just government levies
taxes according to the amount per-
son is protected in matter in
what form the property. is held. No
one enjoys being. made. to pay taxes
and the history CT civilization has been
largely an endeavo1 on the part of
some to shift the burden to someone
else. TIL, wealthy classes. have al
ways escaped paying their just share
and whenever the producing classes
start in with exemptions, the TAT boys
will beat them to it and get all the
benefit,
Levying and Paying
Taxes are paid by labor, altho they
are levied on property. The single
taxer takes agricultural, mineral, and
forest land, building and power sites,
Jumps them all together under the
term Land and proposes to tax them
all alike, that is. taking their rental
yo1, DrHf hi 10 All Il
all of them alike, for the different
kinds present different problems.
Farm land in the United States today
is a commodity in the markets and
goes up and down, is bought and sold,
the same as all other products and
too's of production. One-third Of the
products is the usual rent for farm
LANDS. But taxes must be paid in
money. Then if taxes are levied when
the land is high, the currency inflated,
and government expenses increase,
now can taxes automatically adjust
themselves to the changed conditions
of a period Of dehation? If they are
not they will confiscate even more
| .';lar the renta! value. The agricul-
turist cannot shift his taxes and the
| results would be the ruin Of agricul-
ture.
Taxing, Breaking ana Making
Mcnopoties
The holder OF monopoly can shift
such. tax because they control both
the output and the price of their prod
ucts. How will the land values tax
break trust---say the coal trust? And
who will pay the tax? The mines will
still. be privately ow,ned, and the own
, er, will hire .lahorers- to mine the coal.
! Ii it costs: him about IS a ton to have
it mined: he will sci it, OF course, for
litt'o (?) more. And out of this
difference, out of this profit, he will
pay the tax whether the tax is levied
On the values Or the venti!ators. And
! if the land values tax would take all
of his profit when coal sold tor $40 a
ton he would either reduce the wages
! Of the miner or raise the price of coal,
or both. In any case, it is the pro-
/ Queer and consumer, it is labor that
finally pays the tax. A profits tax
after the sale is made could not be
shifted and it would limit the profits
Of trust but the Keller bill would
abolish such a tax Mr. Lord says
that it is impossible to break the trust
by legislation, for Congress has been
trying to bust them for the last 80
:. years. Mr.. Lord is charmingly, naive
! Congress, has by legislation created a
monopoly thru the Federal Reserve
system. Think Of such Congress
trying to bust trust. A Congress
that passed the Esch-Cumn1ins rail
road bill. But by heavy taxation OF
land values" says Mr.. Lord in effect
1--WE will restore that glorious competi
tion'-which resulted in and created
the monopoly.
Monopoiies
Not all monopolies are based on
holding land There are the packers
and the grain and milling combines
who control the nations food supply
In controlling the nations food supply
they have more than d monopoly o.
iand-they have a virtual monopoly
of all the land it took to produce the
foo6-plus the labor value expended
in the process of production. And the
greatest, most powerful monopoly O.
all, the monopoly CT money and credi
J. does not rest on the holding of land
THIS monopoly thru the, liquidation
of credit can control can make O.
break almost any industry in TIT
United States. But it would be I'm
, touched by the single tax.
!. Town Lots and Landlords
J., Then there is the town lot Ian.
:: which every single taSer uses TO illus
trate the "unearned increment" /
certain piece Of land is plated an,
called a town Site. It; :is boosted a
MUCH as: possible and some. Investor
make a lot of money, and some los
. a great deal. After a while those VIII
failed to Inv become single takers
SUPPOSE that no land had been bough
!, in advance of use, how would the rea
builders have been able. to pay tn
, taxes for the public utilities and edu
.. cational requirements 7z.&*sS,t, !
According to single. takers, if :. W
!, tax city landlord, say, $500 and tel
him that the tax is on his buildings
! he wit! mersly smile wichs*dl y IAN
add SIZES 70 what would otherwise b
his rent But if we tax him $3.50 an
, say we, are taxing the, land value
Il and, the tax You pay: is an, "unearne
i incremen he Will gnash his teeth i
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