Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1922-02-15

I wish to offer short comm ent on
Mr.. MarshaH''s article, not in crit
ical, but in a ..get-together" spirit.
AS the space. for my article in the
Leader. was limited, it was devoted:
mainly to- showing the. injustice and
economic .unsoundness OF the. single
tax. z;z. # e ~ :
!: HAD no space to state fully my
views OF. taxa ton, but wrote that the,
graduated land and income tax,
which is substantially tne-s same as
Mr.. .MarshaH's= plan;--Was the only
Just and scientific method of: taxation
to prevent dangerous entrationz Of
wealth and industrial! control. Attic /
consider public ownership of public
utilities and natural mo31opolies the.
ultimate and necessary goal Of indus
trial and economical reform, i agree
with Mr.. Marshall that the: graduated
land and property tax Will cause the
big fruit combinations to. break up in
to smaller concerns, thus permitting
a fairer competition, and bringing a
more even distribution OF wealth and.
:. : - =
industry. -. 49, %.
1.think it will some time be; possible
to have the benefits Of large organ
izations without the evils caused by
present autocratic control-it VIII; be
possible under cooperation, or public
or government ownership. But at
present, Mr.. sMarshall's. plan is, one
that every progressive can and, oDght
to support, will venture ITO say, how
ever, that, Mr.. Marshall will not be
able to get the support of the Manu-;
facturers and Merchants assn and Mr..
Lord, their publicity agent, Mr.. Eug-
enc Frey, Mr.. Jorgenson. MI. Keller
and all other hackers of the single tax
whether completely applied, Or par
tally, as in the Keller bill. The two
theories-the single tax theory and
Mr.. +Marsha1's- are entirely opposed,
their principles are irreconcilable.
The single tax, completely applied,
would be equivalent to confscation of
private property or land: the rental
value of all land would be taken in
/ taxes, thus making the title worthless.
It would be new form of feudalism,
the man next to the soil paying the
whole cost Of government, while an
| other. class would be practically ex-
empt.
Mr.. Marshall's plan would preserve
and protect moderate holdings Of land
and improvements as private prop
/ erty.
Tho basic principle Of til single tax
is that land values, and land values
only, are created by society as a whole
and rightly can be taken by taxes;
that all wealth other than land should
be exempt wealth such as improve
ments, bonds, money, etc, no matter
how much an individual may have, no
matter how. acquired or used. ! -
Mr.. MarshalFs theory is that: tex
cess profits subside into overproduct-
ions. and become inutilable."
II entirely agree with him. The ex-
cess profits; are that part of created
wealth which is the difference be-
tween the social value OF, labors pro-
duct and the purchasing power Of Ia
boris wage. - >5
If Mr.. Marshall can get any single
taxer or single tax advocate to admit
the truth of that theory-or rather self
evident, fact shall be greatly sur.
prised, for in that admission, the sin:
gle taxer would have. given up his own
idea that land rent absorbs, almost all
labor value and it is the only cause
of our social evils. III, -
s.. J.. B. BOSCH. =