5he Nebraska. Independent
iJAGB 18
APRIL 13, 190$
The Single Tax Discussed
Editor Independent: Your issue of
March 23, in which appears a letter
from Mr. A. Freeland of Mt. Pleasant,
Tenn., to my self, will say to Mr. Free
land that if I were a merchant and
was selling protection (that Is what
wo buy from the government) that I
would most certainly charge the man
that wanted protection for two mil
lion dollars worth of valuables a high
er rate than I would tho man that
wanted protection for only two thou
sand dollars worth of valuables, be
cause the former would be receivirig a
far greater amount of favor to get
"himself" (his valuable protected, al
though he might be physically a much
smaller man than the latter, because
he has already got an advantage over
the latter and should be charged in
proportion. according to his ability to
pay, more than the latter, because the
government or protection is a great
er favor to him than the latter. , It
would'nt matter a snap with me if
his wealth was all represented In im
provements (which you say should not
be taxed) and the latter's all in land
as he owned a greater rfce of per
centage of the wealth he would have
to pay a greater rate of percentage for
the protection of same.
You say also "Single tax catachism"
eays that a person should not pay any
tax whatsoever .on improvements. You
say that If a man buys a lot of land
for $500 and puts $5,000 or $5,000,000
worth of improvements on same that
be should never be taxed on any part
of his property except first cost of his
land, valued at $500 in its unimproyed
condition, yet you say that railroads
and other public highways should be
taxed on the full value of their land
these highways and you are consid
ering them at the present supposed
value in the improved state too, for
you don't say they should be taxed
only on the original cost of their high
way lands in its unimproved condition,
or that they should be taxed only on
value equivalent to the present value
of similar unimproved strips running
parallel with them in same sections
of country (at a sufficient distance for
the improvement of one not to en-
Lance the crude value the other). You
seem to want those improvements
taxed, but you don't want it called Im
provements, you want it called "grown
in value" such an Idea! For instance,
suppose that the original old Astor
had bought all the land now occupied
by Greater New York, for say, $1,000,
000 and cleared it all as a farmer does
land that he intends to grow grain on.
It would then already have been im-
t proved and been' more valuable be
cause the improvements made it more
, valuable.. Suppose he had kept con
centrating improvements on, under
and above the area of that entire lot
until he had put $1,000,000 worth, of
improvements on every second acre
of that entire lot (in stripe or squares)
the entire area of the entire lot would
, then be improved at the rate of a half
million dollars per acre (although but
half the surface would be absolutely
covered with improvements, in the
sense you, at times, want to apply
"improvements," the entire surface
area would be improved and all the
value above the original cost would be
directly caused by improvements or
would therefore be within itself im
provements, nothing else. At one stage
of the game you tell us that the Astors
(all purchasers) should never be taxed
only on the original cost of the crude
land, although, the .concentrated im
provements . has caused concentrated
population, everybody being willing to
pay high . rates , for. the privilege of
living in , such . well , improved parts
ot our country, while not one s acre of
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box 1, 3 lor 82.50.
IF YOU CAN'T SLEEP take Trilby Sleeping
powders, absolutely harmlesa, easy to take; no
tad results. Four sleeps for 25c.
TRILBY had no corns. She removed them
with a Trilby Leaflet; nbsolrte cure; 10c by mall.
RIGGS' ECZEMA CURE, 50c: guaranteed to do
the work; will tell you many it has enred.
: RIGGS' GUARANTEED PILE CURE, the rem
edy that cured Mr. Hemrold; 50c, salve or sup
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. IF YOU ARE TOO FAT take Dr. Tasteur's
obesity treatment. Costs Jl per month. Re
duces you tnrce to n ve pounas per wcex.
:LAD1EP Dr La Rue's Balloon Spray Syrlnpe
is the world's best. Cut to 11.99. One box ol
vaginal antiseptic tablets free.
, 'LADIES Are you aware that In France wo
tnen use a monthly recu.'ator more than the
women-of nil other nations combined? Dr. La
Rue's French regulator is used everywhere;
thoroughly reliable; absolutely safe; better than
1'cnrij roTal or Tansy. Price Jl; 8 for 52.5a
RIGGS THE DRUG CUTTER
1321 O St.
Lincoln, Neb.
it is absolutely producing one dollar's
worth of what we have to live on nor
what we have to wear. At another
stage of the game you tell us that the
Astors (the owners) should be taxed
on the full value of the' entire Greater
New York in its improved state, but
you don't want It called "Improve
ments." You want it called "grown in
value." Such complexed ideas! A
man's building does not have to cover
bis entire farm for his entire farm to
be improved, so it is with New York
city. .What values there are attached
tc New York city, Manhattan borough
and all, wos fostered there by concen
trated improvements which you say
should not be taxed, yet again you say
tax them. Where is the practicability
of such preaching? You say tax the
mining lands of the different kinds of
mines and mining companies to the
full value of such lands, and you say
aon't tax improvements. Pray, . tell
me what mine and where it is that i3
of any value whatsoever to the living
public and it unimproved? Take the
crude stuff of those mines, and what
value is it until improved? It is only
the expectant value of it improved
that causes it to be extracted from
the land. But you say all natural
things external to man is land and
you want all land values taxed. That,
of course includes gold, silver, iron,
brass, copper (all metals and miner
als), coal oil, gas, pig-ware, . bricks,
marble, timber, roots, herbs, etc. All
things extracted from the land and
sea. The sea being land, well, if they
are land before they are improved
they are land after they are im
proved, and hey must be taxed after
they have "grown more valuable" (im
proved) to the full amount of their
value, but we must not call them im
proved for we don't pay tax on im
provements, we must call them "grown
more valuable" for we pay a tax on
the grown more valuable goods used
by the living and desired by the liv
ing. Well, Mr. Freeland, if you say it
is so it must be so, and why not just
drop the poll tax out of our present
system and say we have single tax
now? When anyone got to grumbling
about having to pay taxes upon their
brick or marble structure, their steel
or iron structure, their gold, silver or
copper wares, their coal oils or miner
als, etc., you could just tell tnem that
that was some of the most valuable
parts of the land they had gotten hold
ot and must pay the land tax on the
value of it. If they should say that
that was paying tar on improvements,
you could say, no, not an improvement
cn "grown more valuable land." If
they refused to pay the required tax,
tell them to move out on parts of the
1,708,000,000 acres of the unused, un
improved, undesirable, ungrown more
valuable land, and, thus move the in
habitants of all the cities and all the
farms from old region to new region,
from the "grown more valuable" land
to the "ungrown more valuable" land
until you have the entire area of over
2,108,000,0000 acres of land well im
proved, and then, what? Let them
take back track and reach out after
them all the time as the presently used
portions become more , productive,
more desirable "more valuable"? Right
practiocable method isn't it, Mr. Free
land? If the present owners held their
present locations they could shift the
single tax off on consumer as easily
as they could ony other tax as long as
transportation lines stayed in the
hands of private individuals, under pri
vate control. Without public control
of these public utilities we will never
know absolute fairness and freedom.
If they moved to new localities, ac
cording to one trend of your talk, the
tax: would drop, to a mere nothing at
the old localities (cities, towns, farms
and all) and would not rise at the oth
er, the consequence would be we would
not have a sufficient tax to run the
most economical government. For in
stance, a few days ago a colony opened
up a litle town in a fertile region near
here around ; which . population was
sparse. That town, with railway and
water transportation facilities prom
ises to soon grow to be a city. The
colony owns several thousand acres
in ' one body. The offered upetaoi
in one body. The opened up the town
at $10 and $20 per lot, business and
residence. lots. According to one way
vou nreach single tax, if the entire
business and improvements of Great
er New York was moved to this lo
cality, or a similar one constructed
here and Greater New xorK deserted,
the tax would fall to nothing in New
York while the tax. would never rise
here above tho cost value of unim
proved lots, $10 and $20. If such as
that were the case, of course, the new
towns and cities would absolutely
draw away such concentration of pop
ulation, such concentration of wealth,
such concentration of improvements,
as would take away the tax value of
the old towns and cities and would not
increase the tax value of the new ones
unless they pay tax on improvements.
BREECH-LOADING SHOTGUN 5 OUTFIT.
SEND US $3.93
and art will end you
thla It-fauga, SO
Inch aingla barral
breach loading ahoU
fun and the complete
outfit a ahown, with
the nnderntandlng It
tou do not find it ver-
3 f e c 1 1 y satisfactory,
I one of the strongeHt
pans made, equal to
any in mioounir Qual
ities, and if yon da
not find the outfit
complete and hltfti
grade, yoQ can return
the goods at our ex
pense and we will im
mediately return
your money. Tnegaa
Las a fine steel bar
rel, taoer ehoke bored, plain shell extractor, top map break, pistol a-rip, patent bott
iilate, beautifully finished. Guaranteed one of the best single barrel breech loaders ever produced. The outfit
includes 25 hlKh ffrade paper shells lo-wled with No. 8 shot, one take-down Victoria canvas grin cover, leather
handle, nicely bound, 1 good reloading sot consisting ot seven pieces: One graduated powder and shot
measure. 1 shell crimper with expelling pin. 1 decapper and loader with base block, 1 loading block, i recapper. t
rlnar shell extractor, 1 cleaning rod with wool swab, scratch brush and wiper and 1 webbing shell belt. We bought
H,lrX of the breech loaders at a forwi sale, and while they last will make the ridiculously low prioo of $3.98
FOR THE CUH AND THE COMPLETE OUTFIT. If you don't send $S. 98 for this bargain gun and outfit, don't
fall to write for our free Gun Catalogue full of price surprises. $10.90 for one of the best double l.arrel hammer-less
breoeh loading ehotsruns ever made; $1.89 per hundred for the best 12-gauge loaded shotgun shells
made; 19 cents per 10O for best caliber cartridges ever made: $16. OS for Winchester repeating shotguns;
$17.80 for Remington double barrel shotguns with steel barrels; $16.16 for Martin take-down shotguns; best
five-shot automatic;, self-cocking revolvers, $2.75. Liberal terms, easy conditions wonderfully tfberal offers.
rVW.", SEARS, ROEBUCK 6 CO., CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.
& w 112 Bushels an Acizte
right here in Nebraska. Always ahead of other varieties in
yield and earliness. This is the record of the wonderful new
Khersoi Oats Tes.
j7 7 ...7 at Lincoln, for extra early
and hardy. Not only did it prove to be so but its prolific yield astonished
everyone. Has been tested for three years with great success. Heads often
contain more than 100 grains. Straw, strong, tall with broad leaves:
doesn trustor lodge. Stands our winds. Fully two weeks earlier. Our
seed guaranteed genuine. See catalogue for very low Drices.
Bulletin Free Wehave reprinted the Neb. Exp. Sta. Bulletin No. 82
, v with the addition of many letters from our own custom
ers reporting their experience with Kherson Oats. It's full of facts.
Worth many dollars to you if you sow oats. We send It free. Write
for a codv todav.
Latflre DIllS. CatalnSflP desriNnsr all our seeds sent on request. H
JJlUi. UlUUUgUC special Prices on Garden Seeds, Alfalfa If
ana omer r orage riants, corn, etc, uei wese oilers Deiore buying.
GRISWOLD SEED CO., 149 So. 10th St., LINCOLN. NEB
THE 050,000,000 VORLD'S FAiR, T-1h82's
BOUGHT BY THE CHICACO HOUSE WRECKING CO. Millions of Dollars' worth of material will be placed
on tbe market far quisle sals by us at prices tbatwill mean an enormous saving to purchasers. How is your
opportunity to put iuto execution your long contemplated improvement!. .
100,000,000 FEET OF HIGH GRADE LUMBER FOR SALE
The time to boy Lumber is today. Even If you do not need any Lumber today, it will pny you to purchase
It now and store it for fatnrs use. it's better than money in the bank. Bay quick, because the price at which
we will offer this material is bound to sell it as fast as we can make delivery. The finest grades of Lumber were
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SEND US YOUR LUMBER RILL FOR OUR ESTIMATE
VOU CAN SAVE FROM 30 TO 60$ IF VOU BUY AT ONCE. This is yonr opportunity to build or Improve
your Home, Barn, Warehouse, Church, Elevator, Tool Shed, Granary and Crib, Store, School House, and
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CHICAGO HOUSE WRECKING) CO., EXPOSITION GROUNDS, ST. LOWS, MO.
Of course improved properties are
more desirable, more demandable,
than unimproved properties, and con-
trated improvements makes the prop
erties still more desirable, still more
demandable, therefore concentrating
population. But if we haye to pay tax
on improvements and concentrated im
provements we would as well pay it on i
those already -established as to es
tablish new ones to pay ., the same
taxes on, and that would not be sin
gle tax. You may preach single tax
but will never practice single tax, for
a real single tax is . impracticable,
credit for sincerely trying to conceive
some plan for lightening the burdens
of the oppressed and hoping that we
may yet all get together in the com
mon cause, I remain -as ever, yours
very respectfully, G. S. J.
, Ga.
The Pass Evil
Now that the legislature is winding
up its business, a , final word on this
much discussed subject isjn order.
The bills affecting the railroads
have furnished the storm center at
Lincoln this winter. They have occu
pied more attention than all other
bills combined. There were three
freight rate and three or four anti
pass bills. What will be done with
them? The commodity rate bill was
a very mild one. It could not be ob
jected to on the aground that it was
radical and likely to injure the rail
roads. ' '
But the bills are all dead. Why
are they dead? What influence killed
them? The - ansyer is plain: It was
the influence of the railroad lobby.
What means did the lobby use? The
answer is equally plain: They used
the free pass. In the light of the
events at the state capitol this winter,
any man who will defend the free pass
system as it prevails in this state and
insists that the pass is not a bribe is
either proof against, all evidence or he
is Himself corrupt and willing to take
bribes. This remark may hit Senator
Wall pretty hard, but in view of the
speech he made in defense of his vote
for the pass evil, he must inevitably
fall under condemnation. He .has made
his record, he has chosen his friends,
he stands for the railroads and against
the people. And Representative Knox
and Davis stand with him on the pass
question. New Era-Standard.
OLD
TRUSTY
In First Heinle
tne First Yea.r. .
Incubator JohDson's 12 years making 50,000
other incubators put it there.
40 DAYS TRIAL.
0 YR. GUARANTEE.
The Incubator Man has new patents. He'll tell '
you in a personal letter what "Old Trusty" is.
His big Catalog and Advice Book handles
poultry raising in a practical way. And it shows
what Johnson has done to high incubator
prices. Ask for it. It's Free. -
HI. M.-JOHNSON CO., Clay Center, Mtb.
SO DAYS TRIAL To nrove It.
I EO 14. 50 1008.50 300 4-13.75
t&'fS.OO ks40.5O Ebb 'PI 5. CO
Self regulating; Automatic moisture. Brooders.
all sizes and kinds, 83. OO "P- 60,000 in nso. CaUlogtis f RES.
Buckeye Incubator Co., Box io Springfield, O.
$ I O-80 por
I 200 Egg
INCUBATOR
Perfect in construction and
action. Batches ererj fertile
egg. Write for catalog to-day.
GEO. H. STAHL, Quincy, 111
n m I & I O CULTIVATORS with harrow
Ullliril Attachment for listed corn,
fll II I 111 If Cuts the Weeds. Cultivates
IliyillU and Harrows all at one oper
ation. Price $6.00. Catalogue free showinff
cultivator at work. New Process Mfg. Co.,
Lincoln, Kansas.
Hawkins Bros., a new real estate
firm for Lincoln, has made a great
growth since beginning business, and
with their energy and ability are sure
to win. They will be pleased to serve
you in an honorable way. They deal
in farm and city property. In the
next issue of The Independent will be
seen a list of their farm bargains. ;
How to Tell Good Shoes
There are many ways of testing
leather, and the quality of the .ma
terial that goes into shoes, but one of
I he safest and surest ways of knowing
that you are getting well and honest
ly made shoes, is to look for the trade
mark of the, Mayer Boot & Shoe Co.
of Milwaukee. This concern has a
high reputation for making reliable
goods.' They make' the well known
"Honorbilt" shoes for men and "Weeb
era Lady" shoes for women.