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About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 1903)
6 THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT OCTOBER 15, 1903 The Philosophy of Freedom An Open Forus for Single Tascers TAX LAWS IN MANITOBA. Independent readers well know of the enormous migration of settlers, from the central west;, into Canada during the recent years; 5.791 went in 1900; 18,000 in 1901; 37,000 in 1902, and 44,980 in 1903 over 105,000 in four years. The vast majority of these went into Manitoba, and practically all of them are homeseekers. Ener cetic young meji and ambitious farm hands and tenants, they were among the best citizens we had, and their go ing was a distinct lossto us. More over, next year's loss bids fair to ex ceed thfs year's, and when the next panic comes, the movement promises to be less like an exodus and more like a stampede. While most of our readers know of this, few are aware of the Inducements Manitoba is offering. These are due, not to better natural conditions, but to better laws. Manitoba lies imme diately north of Dakota and Minne sota. Its soil is very similar to that of those two states, and its climate is ' much more vigorous. It does not have nearly such diversity of products as Icwa, Nebraska, 'Kansas or Ohio, but Us laws more than compensate for all . defects of climate. - Her land is cheap. Cheap land means a nation of home owners and . dear land means a nation of tenants. A nation of home owners is better than a nation of tenants, a thousand to one. Manitoba knows this, and the centraLdesign of her laws is to keep land cheap and thus invite more home seekers, and, at the same time, to en courage production and to discourage speculation and land monopoly. To this end, she has enacted into law a greater measure of the single tax idea than any other place of equal size on earth. Except a few Australian towns and the village of Fairhope, Ala., there is no place where citizens enjoy such exemption from taxation as the farmers and gardeners of Manitoba. She assesses farm and garden land at it unimproved, or prairie value, and frees from taxation all the im provements which the settler makes. Houses, buildings, fences, orchards, grain, flour, clothing, furniture, books, etc., pay no taxes whatever. In other words,, no farmer is pun ished for building a beautiful home place on a piece of bare prairie land, and no speculator Is rewarded for holding land idle and out of use. In this way is production encouraged and land speculation made unprofitable. There is thus no inducement, for any but actual settlers to acquire title, and no Incentive for a settler to take more than he can use. ; . .. . The cities do not enjoy such com plete freedom yet, but they have more than any cities in the United States. In Winnipeg, the capital, all personal property is exempted. This system has been in force for eleven years and has given complete satisfaction to all but the land-grabbers. The annual tax for a quarter section of land averages about $12, and that is all the tax the farmer has to pay. When we consider the unjust prin ciple beneath our own tax laws, and the inquisitorial and expensive meth ods of levying assessments, is it any wonder that the people prefer Mani toba in spite of its drawbacks? One lesson at least is plain. The central west offers greater natural in-? ducements to immigrants than Cana da ever can. If our legislators had done what Manitoba's have, this great stream of home-seekers would have flowed into our state instead of out of it and out of the country. These people have been crowded out not for lack of vacant land, but for lack of access to it. Had our last legislature provided a tax law like Manitoba's instead of the infamous revenue meas ure they did give us. not only would these thousands of people have settled among us on our vacant land, but we. who have always lived here, would have been given tin advantages which bo manv are now leaving the country to obtain. It everv farmer think of this, and exert his strongest influence. (1) in the coming ele:tion to, elect such men as onpose the false principle underlying the nresnt revenue law, and (2) next year to elect legislators who will re peal itat law and frame one founded or. the just princinloa of taxation in proportion to benefits, instead of in proportion to honesty or industry or ability to nay. There is no other anes tion. so important as tlia land o'eq tion. It, underlies all others monev. tariff. temperance, divorce, and the " rest. Thr is no othr aeMon whoee proper solution is of so ereat import ance to farmers as the land ouestfon. and none other whose solution would so simplify (and where solved has so simplified) all other social problems. Let Independent readers once grasp this great truth and the experience of Manitoba will soon be ours. DISCIPLE OF HENRY GEORGE. Lincoln, Neb. THE LAND AND THE PEdPLE. If there is no land there will be no people! , The land is just as necessary to the existence of the people as is the air, and the light, and should be just as free to all mankind, and is so under natural conditions. The principle of simple justice which Is contained in this natural condition instituted by the Almighty is incontrovertible and should be carried into ..the artificial conditions under which society exists today. The principle, that private rights must not be interfered with any far ther than is really necessary for the greatest good to the greatest number, is also Incontrovertible. Where are we to draw the line be tween the rights of the individual and those of the community? Clearly the rights of the community are para mount r the community, therefore, is authorized, by the individual (for con venience) to administer individual af fairs collectively, in so far only as, the community as such, is hindered or pro moted in Its welfare. The community then is the guardian, not only of its own rights, but, of the rights of the individual also. v Now, what are the inherent and God-given rights of every man? Noth ing less than life and liberty, which cannot be had without free access to earth, air and light sufficient for his every need, and as air and light are ; movable, as it were, and can be free ly used, anywhere and everywhere by all without hindrance to any individ ! ual or community, no legislation or human arrangements are necessary to the fullest enjoyment and use of those two elements, but with the earth it is necessary for tin community to deal wisely and justly, in order that there may be no conflict of interests, and that no one individual should encroach upon the rights of another. The com munity then should allot to each appli cant a sufficient area of land for his needs, and which he must occupy and use. or forfeit his claim thereto, and for the privilege of occupying any par ticular location to the exclusion of other applicants, he should be assessed a yearly rental which would be a cer tain percentage on the actual selling i or rent value of the land according to its location or its quality, or for the value of the timber or minerals which i. contained, without regard to any human improvements whatever, as the improvements belong to the one who maes them. This vearly rental could be arranged, say, every five or ten years in the same way as ordinary leases are now. While the population was sparse the rents would be low, and as the popula tion increased, the rents would in crease as they dj now, for without an increase of population there would be no Increase in the value of the land or what it contained, excepting where a railway or other road were built, which would bring the land in ques tion more in touch with a populous place; but there is nothing like peo ple for increasing the value of the land for qccupancy. As the people make the valuo, to them the value be longs, and should be used for their benefit in supplying all the necessary roads, sewers, water and light, street cars and even perhaps music halls, library, etc. The lss expensive the management of the community, the smaller the percentage of rent value which would be levied upon each oc cupant. . v Landed and other wealthy, men de clare that such a system would not work, and single tax on land values would be unjust to them. There can be no injustice in withholding or with drawing a privilege which Is not paid for according to its yalue, and how much easier it would be to settle and collect a tax or land, than upon the . many things which it is now levied and which are ft difficult to get at. And why should a man be taxed upon bis jndustry and endeavor to beautify the town, while" the one who holds the land without improvement is not taxed? That is not common sense. Single tax may not be a cure-all for ills, but it would go far toward remov ing the discrepancy between the wealth of the landlord and the pov erty of the tenant. It is customary to call the landlord the taxpayer, but he never navs the taxes upon any prop erty which he rents; his tenant al ways pays the taxes. He pays only on the property which Jie occupies, or which is vacant, and In case of a va cant house the landlord gets a rebate on hi taxes until he can get a tenant tc move In, and pay the full amount again for him. We know also that a man who owns anything less than two acres is charged a higher rate of taxation than the one who owns two acres or more within the city limits. All these things are in favor of the rich and against the poor. We wait for the single tax as the only way to kill land speculation which is not for the benefit of any but the real estate agent and a few favored ones in the community. But it is said we will never be able to secure such a system. Certainly not from the ordinary grit or try, nor from democrat or repub lican; we must ignore the old party cries which seem today not to mean anything but subserviency to private and corporate pggrandizement to the detriment of the public. We must vote "ORGANIZATION AND CONTROL OF INDUSTRIAL CORPORATIONS." Last week The Independent quoted a paragraph from the Medical World, Philadelphia, regarding this book, and Incidentally chuckled a little over Dr. Taylor's advocacy of spelling reform while using the obsolescent past par ticiple, "gotten." The Independent holds no brief against either spelling reform or obsolescent past participles, tut simply cited the fact as showing how an earnest reformer on some par ticular line might overlook kindred reforms of no little importance. However, spelling eform is only one of Dr. Taylor's avocations. His vo cation now is doubtless editor of the Medical World, probably one of the best medical journals in America. But he is also, as The Independent said last week, "One of the best populists In the United States, and no one has done more to advance the principles of populism." Another of his avoca tions is the publication of The Equity Series of books on politico-economic questions. We have sent out a good many copies of Prof. Parsons' "City for the People" one of this series. Dr; Taylor sells all his publications at such a low price as to raise the sus picion that he publishes reform books not for the purpose of making money, but to advance the political principles ht- believes will inure to the benefit of the people of the United States. Per haps that's the way he manifests his "egoism," -although it is rather hard to. explain by using the formula used by the socialists for solving such problems. In any event, when populist de mands for reform in "money, land and transportation" are finally accom plished and there is every reason to believe they will be in fthe not dis tant future no man will deserve greater credit than Dr. C. F. Taylor, although it is highly probable that many others will claim and reeeive much greater, because the doctor is one of those modest men who work all the time and do but little horn tooting on their own account. The "Organization and Control of Industrial Corporations" is the result of three years' hard work by F. E. Horach, a teacher of economics. It contains 208 pages; bound in paper, only 25 cents. Address: The Equity Series, 1520 Chestnut st, Philadelphia, Pa. A better insight into the con tents of the book can be had by read ing the following copy of a letter sent by Dr. Taylor to 90 United States sen ators and 385 representatives: Dear Sir: The most intricate ques tion that has ever come before the American congress is the corporation and trust question. ; That wonderful being, a corporation, which can be born and grow to maturity in a day, and which may last during dozens of generations of men, is a most wonder ful invention. It combines under a single management the money, prop erty, activities, lives and welfare of hundreds, or thousands, or millions of men, women and children. It is "a person" in the eyes of the law, but it has no soul, and it may live forever. Its powers for good or ill are almost boundless. This wonderful thing is a creature of law; it is created by law, regulated by law, and may be killed, by law. It brings into our midst and among our industries the most puzzling questions of modern times. Particularly in this country, where we have 45 sovereign states, any one of which may create a corporation that may do business in any or all the other states, is this question difficult and anomalous. This feature of the question comes peculiar ly under the cognizance of congress, which has the "power . to regulate commerce among, the several states.'.' Hence It is the duty of congress to for a single taxer and one in favor of public ownership against all other po litical names whatever, until we ob tain what we ask for; and we know that the producing classes are num erous enough to elect whom they will (in spite of the privileged class) if we will pull together and not be led by a few demagogues who sell their birth right for a mess of pottage to those who think that the people should be made a prey for them. Then let us pull long and strong and altogether . and our aim will be accomplished, but in the meantime our legislators, who are really our servants and are paid by us to do our collective political or municipal business, take upon them selves the role of . masters and treat lift with contempt, KubKidiaing whom they will, and regulating what pay, we, tneir masters, shall give them T. E. RAWTSON. Toronto, Canada. - protect-every state from unreasonable depredation by corporations created by other states. I have just published a-book entitled "The Organization and Control of In dustrial Corporations." A brief . his tory of the development of corporation law is given, and then, under .various headings, the chief features of the cor poration laws of the various states are given, in analytic comparison. Such a task, as you see, was stupendous. It was done by a teacher of economics, who has spent years in the study, com parison and analysis of the corporation laws of all the states. Out of such a study must come certain principles and conclusions.- These are of special, value to members of , congress. My object in publishing the book was not profit, for I expect the book will have only a limited sale. But I wanted to help congress to grapple with and master this important and intricate question. Hence I will be pleased to forward to you, compli mentary, a copy of this book. I only wish to know th .t you want the book and will give it attention upon its ar rival. As soon as I hear from you to that effect, it will be my pleasure to immediately forward it to you. Cool weather has come, and you will have just about time to give the book at tention and consideration before con gress convenes. After scanning through the book, your interest will doubtless center in the conclusion, pages 168 to 173 (not long you see.). I have added an ap pendix (pages 191 to 207) giving the anti-trust legislation to date, with, comments. See particularly the plan, given on last page, to further extend the consideration of, this question by those most competent to do so. Very sincerely, C. F. TAYLOR. After the election this year the work: of organizing and enrolling the re ' united people's .party will be carried on vigorously. Evei now the good ef fects of the Denver conference are ap parent. Chairman Edgerton has held successful state conferences in Colo rado. Kansas. Missouri. Indiana dhin and Pennsylvania. The populists of South Dakota are waiting for him to come there. JDuring the campaign of 1900 Prof. 0. Vincent, editor of The Nonconform- ' ist (afterward the Central Farmer, and now merged into the Farmers Advocate, Topeka), prepared and pub lished ' . - THE PLATFORM . TEXT BOOK. This valuable work contains" every national party platform ever written, from the earliest days of the republic down to and including 1900. Besides the platforms it contains a succinct po litical history, including the vote at every, presidential election. Every Populist Interested in the Work of the Denver Conference Should Have a Copy The Independent has purchased of Prof. Vincent his entire stock of The Platform . Text Book and purposes placing them in the hands of Indepen dent readers at actual cost, Bound in paper; original price, 25 cents. Our price to close out the lot. 15 cents. . THE INDEPENDENT, , v . Lincoln, Neb. Independent School of Political Economy I