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About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (May 14, 1903)
MAY 14, 1903; THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT. 11 Foundation cf Independence (Written for Henry George Edition of The Independent,! Single tax is a simple, fiscal plan, proposed by Henry George as the eas iest and readiest means for accom plishing a grand purpose. The, plan simply provides for ex empting buildings, improvements, and all personal property from taxation; and for substituting for all the vari ous methods how in use for raising public revenues a single tax upon the values attaching to land locations, ir respective of improvements. Business Locations: The value ' of the business building would be de ducted from the total valuation, and the land or. location value alone as sessed for taxing purposes. "If a ten story , business building on a New York city business street were esti mated at half a million, and the value of the bare location at one million dollars, the owner would be assessed there only on one million; all his im provements being exempt - The manufacturer using a water privilege of- other valuable natural advantage, or valuable location, would be assessed only on the fairly esti mated value of "the location, exclusive of the value of the dam, the buildings, the machinery, and his other improve ments. ' The holders of mineral lands and coal and oil deposits would be assessed on all the lands held, whether used or not, at a value indicated by the annual rental they "-'would yield, if leased to mining companies on twen7 ty, thirty or. fifty-year leases, but no tax would, be levied on mining ma chinery, or other improvements. The farmer would be assessed only on the value indicated by the annual rental his farm would likely bring if entirely stripped of its improvements. That is, his farm would be assessed at the value it would fairly be ap . praised at, after deducting the value cf , his ditches, his fences, his orch ards, his buildings or other improve ments, and his implements and stock. That's all there is of the single tax plan. It does not propose anything else; it doesn't change anything else. It proposes no changes in deeds or titles, or our present methods of hold ing land. Titles and title deeds would be held exactly as . they are now, and land and homes would be bought and sold, and willed and be queathed exactly as they : are now subject only to the payment of this rental value , tax. That's' all there is of the plan. . Now, what of the purpose: The purpose is as grand and -jhlgh as was that of Washington and Jef ferson in planning to bequeath lib erty and independence to the people who should " come after them. The two primal necessities of life are the right to breathe, and the right to produce. So obvious is thi3 that if we would conceive of a body of men having every ot her right accord ed them except the right to breathe we could see that they would be. at the absolute mercy of the man or men who had the power and the undis puted right to shut off their breath or to force them to stop breathing. It is exactly the same with the second essential to life. " Because, it is', as impossible for a man to continue to live without pioducing as it is for him to begin to live without breathing unless some one else produces for him. Therefore, any man in any country who is entirely dependent upon some other man for permission to produce, is nearly as far from independence a if he were dependent upon some fellow-man for permission to breathe. The right of self-employment is the foundation of independence, the ver pedestal of liberty. Where tyranny and servility exist their foundation? vrill always be found imbedded in the forceful or legal denial of man's uni versal right to self-employment. If man cannot live without produc ing; of what avail is it to men tfc.it they are - allowed to educate ; them selves and make laws for themselves and think for themselves,. if they are denied their fundamental natural right to produce 'for themselves? Isn't H obvious, that the. man who can give to, or withhold from them their equal, natural and primary right to produce, can make them exercise all their other rights exactly to suit him? Every man i3 born with a right to earn1 a living; 'and is therefore not bound to beg for it or ask for it, as a privilege,' and any government which ignores this right to work for him self ; Is ; robbing him and his family; and is morally responsible before God and' man ' for the ; ; deaths, sfckness; hardships or anxieties whicti rhe or his family are thereby made to suf fer. . .. Every American boy is born with as good a right to stand on this earth and use its resources as Adam had; and no man-made laws can ever act ually take that right away. Any man- made law whfch ignores hi3 right to stand on this earth and to work for himself upon the richest resources and choicest locations of his native land, is in the highest sense, unconstitu tional; because it conflicts with and outrages nature's laws, so plainly as would any law which ignored or de nied his right to breathe. If our gov ernment withholds from him the ex ercise and enjoyment of these, his primary natural rights, It' honestly owes him the value of them; and should honestly pay him. The purpose of the single tax plan is to recognize that obligation and to arrange for that payment " . The change would not upset things. Though the universal right of men to seir-go vernment is recognized In America, and though the right of every American to make laws for him self and construct his own rellgiom cieeds is recognized, the average citi zen does not actually make laws or construct creeds, but he helps select representatives to do both. So thj legal and open recognition of tha equal natural right of all Americans to use America's richest resources and choicest locations, would not in.this scientific age result in all the peo ple trying to actually use our veiy richest resources of production and our very choicest locations of ex change at one and the same time. The legal recognition of the right of every man to work for himself would evi dently have no more disastrous or con fusing effect than had the legal recog nition of every American's right to govern himself. " In the one case as in the other, the right would be exer cised mainly indirectly. And we can readily seJi that if. the full annual val ue of America's rich resources and choice locations were distributed equally to each family in proportion to the number of children, every man, woman and child would be as fairly dealt with as if all could actually oc cupy the very best locations at the same time. Because, each child would get, either directly or indirectly, an nually or regularly, the full value of its equal natural inheritance in the land of its birth. , ' The Effects: ' Whether these values were collected and. apportioned di rectly, or were gathered or distributed indirectly by the plan proposed by Henry George, the main effects would evidently be the same. No child would go hungry, half housed, half nour ished, half clothed, half educated oi half developed; and no man or, wo man or boy would be obliged to ac cept labor which he or she was not fitted for, at any wages an employer pleased to offer, in order to get money to pay for standing room or living room on the earth; but each would Lave leisure to look about and select such employment as he or she was best fitted for, and would be most likely to be most successful in, and would demand and receive fair pay ment for work performed. Imagine an enterprising manufac turer of today, with his big building and effective machinery, projected backward across the intervening cen turies and into the circle of one of the primitive American communities. He fires up his engines, starts up his machinery and calls for help to turn out axes, saws, planes, guns, plow3, hoes and other such needed pioneer equipment Don't you see that no one will move off his farm and rent one of the manufacturer's cottages and go to work in his big mill unless the employer will pay him such wages, either in products or cash, as will after paying . his rent leave him enough to live better and easier, working for him, than he can live working for himself? The ever .pres ent opportunity for self-employment being close at hand, the wealth that the man can produce working for him self will fix the minimum of wages he will accept when working for oth ers. That ready alternative easily acts as a natural regulator of wages. With that alternative at hand the only real natural law of wages will oper ate, and no trades union will be nec essary to maintain wages. But re move that alternative and you at once remove the' man's independence. Experience in Europe and America proves that neither political nor re ligious liberty can be safely grounded or permanently established except upon a foundation, of Industrial in dependence; nd that the corner stone of individual independence without which free competition never did and cannot possibly, exist is the legal, full and practical recognition of man's primary right to use the earth. Such recognition must be followed by the adoption 6f either the single tax or some other plan for securing to all the people the values actually belong ing to them and now withheld. The right to self-employment is as primal, as universal and as essential as the right to self-government But we can always more clearly discern important truths by going back to ooooooooooooooioooooooooooo o o o FREE CATALOGUES V - w- ! y $ ;. ) ;: M .. . J of Refrigerators, House Furni- ture, Kitchen . Cabinets O o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o O o o o o o o on Request We Pay Freight Guarantee Safe Delivery We Have Special Values in OFFICE DESKS Ask For Catalogue Visitors Welcome When you come to Lincoln visit our store. You are always welcome, Never asked to buy. Nebraska's largest stock of Carpet, Hardware, Drap ery, Furniture. RUDGE &GUENZEL CO. 1118-1126 N Street, LINCOLN, NEB. o o o o o o o o o o o 0 o o s o o o o o o o o o o o z o o o o o o o o o o o o o first principles; and if we do that in this case, we see that the right to jei:-fmployment originated when the fii st man appeared on earth; while government of any kind could only originate after several men appeared. But we also see at the same time that the first and chief reason and rurjose of the first just government ever established must have been to prevent the strong, the shrewd and the. cunning from trampling upon or ignoring the natural rights of the weak, the innocent and the trusting. Government since then has been so much improved upon that at seem now almost as if the chief purpose and business of most governments Is to assist and encourage the strong and cunning to safely and easily de spoil the weak. My conclusion Is that liberty can not long exist without actual inde pendence. That the foundation of in dependence is the honest and open recognition of the right of self-employment side by side with the right of self-government; and that neither pcpular independence nor popular self-government can long endure where the right to self-employment is either Ignored or denied. JAMES BARTLEY. Amsterdam, N. Y. 1, 5o Acre Hog Ranch No. 709. The owner of this prop erty is old, a widower and desires to retire. 1,500 acres all In a body, 400 acres of fine timber, entire ranch un der fence; this timber is a never fail ing source of income and will sell for half the price asked for the ranch. A small stream runs through the ranch j -1 600 acres, Including the timber, is in pasture; 200 acres of 'choice bottom land; over 80 acres in splendid stand of alfalfa, remainder all . under ' culti vation; the ertire 200 acres of bottom land will produce the very best alfal fa. Good frame house, bearing orch ard, large barn, granary, cribs, lots, etc. Also a tenament house; four and a half miles from good railroad town. FRUIT GROWERS... TRUCK FARMERS'.. INVESTIGATE THE 40-Acre Tracts FOR SALE ON THE LINE OFTHE IN THE CELEBRATED Peach Belt of Alabama? This is a rare opportunity for profltablt Investment, if you nave idle money; a bettei opportunity if you are looking for a good borne and steady Income in a healthful elk mate and pleasant environments. To get in touch, write . J JNO. M. BEALL, Iss't Gen'l Passenger Agent, II. & O. K. B ST. LOUIS, MO. Right in the heart of the very best country In the Republican Valley. Price of this ranch and farm complete; ?18 per acre.. This is a money-maker7 and will be sold on easy terms. This is a great; opportunity for a farmer who has several boys, or for several " farmers ito buy this tract cf land to-' gether. It is also an excellent Invest ment '.Weber & Farris, Lincoln, Neb,' f 1 li You-furnish! the: list of names 'we furnish and mall the ' Henry George Edition for $1 per hundred. Paga 6 "The Philosophy of FwV dom" weekly hereafter. Five months trial trip, 25c