PAGE 6.
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT
OCTOBER 6 1904
The Philosophy of Freedom
An Open Forum for Sing! Taxers
SINGLE TAX AND WAGES.
Editor Independent: One of the
strongest arguments in favor of the
single-tax is that it will enable every
man to employ himself at that occupa
tion for which he is best adapted.
Every man will not become his own
employer, but the single tax will give
him the opportunity to do so. Will
give it to him by making free to the
public the unused gifts of nature the
unused land from which all wealth is
drawn. Right here is where tx many
people make a mistake. They can not
understand what making the land
free means to humanity. Slate the
proposition to them and they at-xmce
answer "All men can't be farmers."
forgetting, that in every industry of
life, in every recreation men must have
land. ...-,
It is not true, however, that all men
can not be farmers. On the contrary,
it is the one occupation which ah men
can follow. But it is true that all
men can not be equally good farmers,
neither is It desirable that they should
all follow this calling. Agricultuie is
the occupation upon which the -acrid
depends for its food supply. It should
be,, and under uaturaLconditions would
be the m??A remunerative of all the
great ind oles. Today 'HirofiuT
least rem. irative, because, under the
guise of ' taxation,-its followers, are.
compelled p pay tribute to ail forms
of monoj it.
Now tKbrBingle tax will practically
abolish; aJf monopoly with the possible
exception of, that created by the patent
laws, B'ft s the monopoly caused by
patents ' only temporary and does
not cove; ihose things necessary to ex
istence if can not vitally affect the
welfare MTf the people though it may
be detrijf?tal to their interest.
In: all fcj je" different industri,a there
are .-'flier with a natural aptitudb for
agrtcultjf . and a desire to farm but
who ardrrevented from following this
occupat.fc.' by the inability to secure
sultibleftnd and the pressure of pres
ent ne' iities. The single tax will
no on H , destroy land monopoly and
) tbifi access to the land but by
rcrzovijall taxes from the preuuets
of libc-f rill enable them to use ior
thtir 4t a j purposes every dollar of
wcilthfcHcji they produce. '.. .
But Lis is not s ail, sin the world
there o thousands and thousands of
acres k;1 unused coal, iron aad ether
minenj ands held out of use for the
purpose pt preventing production, but
to.-;,whf the single tax will give the
labore access. To both the ma.erar
and tlse Agricultural lands the laborer
will ffi lwhen the opportunity is of
fered. vory man who ceases to be an
employ fe"aiuti: iownjEmpl oy
er lo that extent" relieves thenSu7t5
on the labor market.
Today in every occupation of life
there are more men seeking work
than there, is work to be performed.
The result of this competition among
men for an opportunity to earn a liv
ing is that wages the reward of la
bor is constantly tending downward
to the lowest point consistent wirn ex
istence. 'Under the single 'tax there
will be a sufficient number of men,
now working for others, who wh! seek
the land, becoming their own empioy
crs (possibly employing others) to re
verse this order, and prevent '.his com
petition for a chance to pay the "Di
vine penalty for sin." We wil. then
see the employer hunting the employe
with the result that wages vlli tend
upwards until the workman obtains
the full reward of his labor, because no
maa will work for another for loss
than he can make working fur him
self. When this day arrives the labor
problem will have been solved, and
labor unions will no longer exist, as
one of the disturbing factors n the
industrial world. God speed the iy.
j. c. pouteuhlld.
Houston, Tex.
THE MAXIMS OF TAXATION.
The hingle tax mcst closely conforms
to the essential principles of Adam
Smith's four classical maxims, which
arobe;-t stated by Henry (1 orp. in
book VIII, chapter 3, Tro;;, and
l'owrty," hu follows:
The be-t tax by which publk rev
enues inn to mined I evidently that
whhli will louit conform lo ilut fol
lowing conditions;
"I. That It lnr io lightly n.i pm
tdble lijimj production -io an least to
li'k tli luina"'? of that fund Irom
whlih u II t.ixi4 must be uiUl un I the
community tnatntaltn A.
"2. That it b vastly and hcapty
collnnd, and full a. 1 1 w 1 1 ru it, ay
be upon the ultimate payers so as to
take from the people as little as pos
sible in addition to what it yields gov
ernment , ...
"3. That it be certain so as to give
the least opportunity for tyranny or
corruption on the part of the officials,
and the least temptation to law break
ing and evasion on the part oi tax
payers. "i. That it bear equally so as to
give no citizen an advantage oi put
any at a disadvantage as comiared
with others."
Interference with Production. Indi
rect taxes tend to check production
and cause scarcity by obstruccing the
processes of production. The) fall
upon men as they work, as ihe do
business, as they inyest capital pro
ductively. But the single tax, hich
must be paid and be the tame In
amount regardless of whether the pay
er works or plays, or whether In in
vests his capital productively or wastes
it, or whether he uses his land icr the
most productive purposes or not at all,
removes all fiscal penalties from in
dustry; and thrift, and tends to leave
production free. It, therefore conforms
more closely than indirect taxation to
the first maxim quoted above.
ffteapK--cjQpUectlon.--lnairect
taxes are passed aiong irom yr-vr-r
ers to final consumers through Euany
exchanges, accumulating cocipcund
profits- as they go, until; th -y take
enormous sums from the people in ad
dition to what the government re
ceives. But the single tax takes noth
ing from the people in excess of the
tax. It therefore conforms more eiose
ly than, indirect taxation to the second
maxim. "
Certainty No other tax, direct or
indirect, ' conforms so closely to the
third maxim. "Land lies out ot doors."
It can not be. hidden; it can not be
accidentally" overlooked. Nor can
its value be seriously misstated. Neith
er under appraisement nor over ap
praisement Xo any important degree is
possible without the connivance of the
whole community. The land values
of a neighborhood are matters of com
mon' knowledge. Any intelligent resident-
can justly appraise them, and
every other intelligent resident can
fairly test the appraisement,' therefore
the tyranny, corruption, fraud, favor
itism and evasions that are so' common
In connection with the "taxation ot im
ports, manufactures, incomes, personal
property, buildings, etc., the value of
which; even whe,n the object itself can
not be hidden, are so distinctly mat
ters of. minute special knowledge that
only! experts can fairly appraise them
would be out, of the question if the
single; lax were substituted ' f'r exist
ufc TR.l-9thla , ''
" Equality. In respect rtf7tffoT5ftft?rt
maxim-, the single tax beais more
equally that is to say, more juntiy
than any other tax. It is the only tax
that falls upon the taxpayer in pro
portion to the pecuniary benefits he
receives from the public; and its ten
dency, accelerating with the increase
of the- tax, is to leave to every one the
full fruit of his own productive enter
prise and effort. From "Out'ines of
Louis F. Post's Lectures."
THE SINGLE TAX NOT A TAX.
Editor Independent:
In the ordinary sense a tax is an
assessment whereby a man pays an
nually a certain percentage of the
value of his land, buildings or other
property for public expenses. Tho sin
gle tax is not a tax in that sense at all.
It is rather a simple matter of bargain
and sale. A certain article has a tor
lain market value; the. man buys that
article and pays that price. Ths article
sold in this rase is a land privilege,
a monopoly of the use of a certain por
tion of the earth, a legal title whereby
he Is protected in the exclusive pos
sesion and use of such portion ol the
earth.
Tho earth, like the sun, moon and
tdars, H imt private property. It bo
lonsd to all. It U .strictly the property
of the whole popl the public, and It
can not eea.su to be such. Hut ;iin
tiic.U have the exclusive t. o" certain
portions of the earth to cany on Itl
itcsHi and heetire tho juixlu t (.f their
own labor. Surh eAtiu,lve use iu v.wrt
ease- bat a vnhio &u In tow. arul
ctnM 'dully in eltles it olh tt hfri
a very Rrvut value, ruder the mule
t.ix m;n buy !! jrlvl!u an i p,iy
the public for tlseni lu the !An:e man
ner an tto-v buy of rn h otlier n hoti.e,
a hor te, a pleie of tna I.liu ry or it nr
mnt. The publle rerelvrn ti)- e p.tv
iiKtt! and uft the fnnM an oltalu.!
to meet public expenses. The indi
vidual purchases what the public has
to sell.
All men must have land. They can
no more live without it than they can
without air. In many cases iand is
free, like air, but in most cases it has
a value and where it has a value it
must be bought. At present it is
bought of a t private individual and is
called private property, and is gen
erally paid for in a lump sum Under
the single tax the land is not bought,
but the exclusive use of it is Dought
and. this exclusive use is paid for year
by year.
Under the single, tax, as every one
must have land, every one wou'd have
to pay the tax. He would either pay
the government directly, or if he used
land that was paid for by another he
would have to pay him.
Land includes all things not pro
duced by labor. All things produced
by labor are private property. .Land
is a natural "product. The public has
its own property. It has no right to
private property except as it buys and
pays for it. The public has no right
to give away land or any portion of
it' to a private individual for that
would be an injustice to the rest. Nor
has It any right to take away the pri
vate property of an individual or any
portion of it without payment, simply
because it is not its own. The taxa
tion of personal property, or o the
products of labor in any form, is un
justifiable for this -reason, and'.'-it 'is
uuuecjssaryhecause the public has
jforr&aaiwjObfi .land."- -?.. 'w-
luxation unuer ine singietaai i-u
tax .only in the sense that payment for
any article of use or pleasure is a tax
and it is called a tax only because it
is payment made to. the public or gov
ernment instead of a private , indi
vidual. - C. HARDON.
Contoocoolr, N. H.
Endorsement
Editor Independent:
As a single taxer I endorse every
sentence in the editorial wrUteu by
your associate editor, Mr. Qutnby
No single taxer can give a good rea
son for voting for Parker, and the
reasons Mr. Henry ' George, Jr., gives
are lame ; and ridiculous : to say the
least - . - -
While as single taxers wo must let
it be known that we take exceptions
to the foolish income tax oronosal. we
can in good faith and with en'.liiisi
asm support Populism and its .ctam
pions, Watson and Tibbies. But. to sup
port Parker, well, we might aa veil
proclaim loudly , to the world that we
had abandoned our faith and gone over J
bag and baggage to the camp infested
by political tricksters and - land mo
nopolists ' ;.- H. W. NOREN. K
Allegheny, Pa. ..
(While it is true that "as single
taxers,' we must let it be-known that
we take exceptions to the. foolish in
come tax proposal," we may even 'sup-
porn the income tax as, an object lca-
spiij just as' we may as single, taxers
uunues as an oDject lesson,:. How
much better off are the people of
England where .the income tax is ap
plied than here? How much better
off are the people of Glasgow, where
municipal Ownership . of public utili
ties has been carried to its utmost ex
tent than are the people of this coun
try? Ther are many who believe that
the income tax would solve the econ
omic problem, just as there aie many
who believe that public ownersnip
would' also bring about the difed
economic state, and just as the co
cialist foolishly thinks that the public
ownership of everything would make
the ideal state. Single taxers ma con
sistently support all of these li.ings
except socialism, not alone because
mere are so many people educated to
the Idea that they are "tho wnolo
thing," but actually -fo afford to the
world an object lesson in this: Tlmt
so long as private monopoly controls
lami vaiue, the people will sulY-r just
the same, no matter what other super
ficial referin i accomplished.
It will become more and more ap
parent, every day to any one v ho will
seriously think nhout It that reforms
that do not touch the source of all
economic injustice tho private monop
oly of land values will nevtr be r.r
"any permanent value to the .oi!.
Suppose the Income tax were adopted.
Land - uiotti'puly would b" reliivrd of
at h a.st that tumh burden i,f taxation,
find would become more potent j ist to
that extent. The In-line tut 'ivouni
not free the land- the rcat ; torehnu.ie
of nature that labor tnmt rc.uh in
ord r to iTihi e wealth Ti e ,:Mle
owtnrship of public utllitl. t would be
the wni, Vbaf,'ir lol.-nntA -e there
would " lu that r fnrtu wo-ill l.' te-
ll'vtcd hi the V,',( t.f hind, Ij,,.
t viii'M of that lAttd Would j,,.
I so ftt. They Hou'.J ( t the l itw f.t in
higher rents and if they sold it then
in higher prices. Whatever benefit
there may In honest administration of ,
public affairs, the landlord would se
cure, because it makes the spot of
earth in the vicinity, of that honest
government more desirable to live and
work upon, thereby increasing the 'de-
Lmand for it. Whatever economic ben
efit the world may get from the pres
ence even of a genius or intellectual
giant will result in the same thing ,
the increase in the value of iand.
Whatever advantage the people may
gain even in a more sensible a;id just
currency system would redound above
all to the land holder. ' " '
Primarily the strength and source of
every monopoly is its grip upon the
source of all supplies the earth. And
until the people discover th:s great
fundamental truth, .there will not re
sult to them any permanent benefit
from any reform.
Notwithstanding all this, the course
of every single ' taxer seems clear.
Though the people's party has not
caught up to him, by a very large
per cent, it; is nevertheless going in
his direction. That cannot be said of
either the two wings of plutocra-; ; of
either Roosevelt or Parker. So long as
you are traveling any road and see '
others coming in your, direction you
may feel certain that they hate the
same destination in view. But if they,
turn off into another path, as the dem
ocratic party this year has done, or
if they go into a contrary direction,
as the republican party has done, there '
can be no consistency or wisdom ex
pressed in the proposal. bp follow them.
"Ncfsihf tiSfe?1 why he is
a single taxer can, follow eTOIef or these''"
two paths, but 5e can consistently and
should pursue the people's party path
because it is on the road to the same
heights toward which his gaze ia fixed.
L. J. Q.) . .. :
PERSONAL
LADIES Are you aware ' that in
France women use a monthly regu
lator more than the women of all
other nations combined? Dr. La
Rue's French regulator is used every
. where; thoroughly reliable; absolute
ly safe; better than Pennyroyal or
Tansy. Price $1; three for $2.50.
RiggsV Pharmacy Co., American
Agents, Lincoln, Neb.
IF YOU CAN'T SLEEP, take Trilby
Sleeping Powders; absolutely harm
less, easy to take, no bad results;
four sleeps for 25c.- Riggs, the Drug
Cutter.
PERS-PIRO POWDER Guaranteed to
destroy, odors of perspiration; dust
the powder where the odor arises;
on arm pits, etc.; by mail 25c. Riggsr
the Drug Cutter. , , .
HAY FEVER AND ASTHMA CURED
We have cured hundreds. We can
cure you. Guaranteed cure .$1.50.
Money back if it fans. Riggs, the
Drug Cutter.
NER-VO-INE Those suffering ; from '
ii . t . .1 l. A gr' ' J mm
will work wonders.' Has more re
juvenating and vitalizing power than
any medicine in the world. S'ent by
mail, large box $1; 3 for $2.50. Riggs
Pharmacy, American Agents, Lin
coln, Neb.
TRILBY had no corns. She removed
them with a Trilby' Leaflet; absolute
cure; 10c by mail. Riggs, the Drug
Cutter. ,
RIGGC GUARANTEED PILE CURE,
the remedy that cured Mr. Hemroid;
50c; salve or suppository. Riggs, tho
Plug Cutter. .
WILL tnt lat lady who passtd our
i-tore jesterday buy Dr. Pasteur Obe
sity treatment? One month $1.
Treatment reduces 3 to 5 pounds
per wctlv. Riggs, the Drug Cutter.
RIGGS ECZEMA CURE, 50c; guaran
teed to do tho work; will tell you
many it has cured. Riggs, the DTvs
Cutter.
GLAU FOOT 1'OWDEH-CurcH Itch
ing, lun.hig, sweaty feet; remove!
oflensivt odors; cools the skin, "5a
by tuuil. RigAs, the Drug Cutter.
Printer Wanted
Pleady 4oslMon for lady eompo.si- 9
tor who ha.i bad two or three j ears
expoi U ni e. Address
THE INDEl'KNf nNT,
Lincoln, Neb.
Kim to READ en SOCIALISM
A k i ( thirty i tiiJ t r, tl n. iK i, ti, li
tftnt m k i k'IiiIUiii ih t b jr llil (lit On 1. ri
n t'ti.f j j (ml l Im . Irnriixl Ir"n h A
tl.Of.lM'l! r f t Y I liOt K hrrf lH M
(! IhtHf 4 it fl(lilM," Iv h '
t'm I r -t too i.iiii' ,f In . i v r. Il )4iiity
1 . 1.. i,. I fn rtu i t. ik Mir l.ft k,iuiI ut Mirl,
I . lliiih'l.l, fmlt rl I. l'iiittttr, WkiW
, li't-it-iit. t.nn hI other hiik, !Ui,4
sr. t'l xr a r t i It a h.it.tr-t.
UttOi H klKii 4 IU., r.M II link .. tUiUlt.
