Conservative
of the visit of the Workmen to this
'
heautiful section of Nebraska. THE
CONSERVATIVE , in behalf of the tree-
planters , thanks the Workmen for the
interest they have developed in arbori
culture and the adornment of homes.
The meeting at Nebraska City will prove
a blessing to all the state by bringing
about a more general tree planting for
1902 than ever before experienced. It is
a blessed good thing to remember the
democracy of trees. They will grow as
luxuriantly and symmetrically beside a
cottage as beside a palace. They will
flourish and flower and fruit for a poor
man as quickly as for a Rockefeller or a
Vanderbilt. Plant trees 1 They will rise
up and bless you and those who come
after you with shelter and fuel in winter
and shade and fruit in summer.
TO END THE STRIKE.
I have noted with pleasure the "vol
untary relief" system practiced by rail
way men. I have been thinking of a
plan to do away with strikes , by doing
away with their cause.
If each corporation would , eaoh year ,
issue a certain amount of preferred
stock , to be sold to a certain class of em
ployees , it would soon bring within the
corporation quite a number of the most
temperate , skilled , intelligent and relia
ble men in the business.
It need not be known who has taken
the stock. The man who has no inter
est in the corporation might be working
by the side of the man who has taken
stock , and the latter would always use
his influence in favor of the corporation.
A railway corporation might begin
with their most reliable skilled laborers ,
and gradually extend to others. Thus ,
they could have a sprinkling of stock
holders in all the shops , and all along
the line.
This would benefit the corporation , by
doing away with the "eye service , " and
attracting a better class of men. It
would infuse a spirit of hope and energy
among all the employees.
JOSEPH MAKINSON.
Holdrege , Nebr. , May 20,1901.
THE PEOPLE AND THE PHILIPPINES
The President said to the people of
Santa Barbara that "we are in the
Philippines and we don't mean to come
away. " On the contrary , the purpose
of the American people , as interpreted
by their chief extcutive , is to "give to
those distant peoples what we gave to
California more than fifty years ago
the blessings of security and liberty. "
We doubt whether the American people
have really reached a settled conviction.
Certainly they are not so sure as the
president is that they "don't mean to
come away" from the Philippines. The
subject is one concerning which much
may be said , and concerning which
much must be said before a final con
clusion is reached. Indianapolis News
( ind. )
THE SINGLE TAX.
The power to tax is the power to de
stroy ; it is also the power to conserve ,
and upon the wise or unwise exercise of
this power , depends the welfare of na
tions. Histories of peoples , once power
ful and great , and their subsequent
degradation and downfall , tell but the
tales of intelligent or stupid uses of the
power of taxation.
While the subject is thus one of para
mount importance , its correct solution
as presented by the Single Tax , is never
theless so simple , so evident and just ,
that it should entail no difficulty to
make the truth clear to all. And yet it
seems that because of this very simplicity
and justness , it is with the greatest
difficulty that anyone can be brought to
investigate it , endorse it , believe in it
and work for it. The night , with its
gloom , its obscure noises and its twink
ling lights , is more impressive than the
day. How quickly one half of this great
nation took up the doctrines of the silver
expansionists ; how many ore captivated
and lured by the incoherent , inarticulate
demands for protection , paternalism ,
socialism or the speculative decrees of
what is mis-called "Christian Science. "
So I affirm that it is hard to get anyone
to look squarely at the Single Tax
philosophy.
The Single Tax is , first of all , a
practicable proposition ; next , it is a
theory. First , then , we will consider
the proposition itself.
As a fiscal measure , Single Taxers pro
pose to abolish all taxes except those
which fall upon the value of laud and
special privileges granted by law. Those
who are called "Limited Single Taxers , "
of whom was the late Thomas G. Shear-
>
man , of New York , do not propose to
levy any higher tax upon land values
than may bo necessary to support the
government. Others , who are some
times by way of centra-distinction called
"Unlimited Single Taxers , " propose to
appropriate the whole of economic rent
as nearly as possible by taxation. To
do this satisfactorily would require
some system of assessment or appraisal.
To this end , two plans are presented.
One is to let every occupier of land be
his own assessor , and if he values his
land so low that others would pay more
for it , to have some system by which a
local jury could finally pass upon the
matter. Another plan is to make the
tax equal to the selling price of the land.
Thus we may suppose that six per cent ,
represents the current rate of interest on
safe investments. Then , if the total rent
from a piece of land is $1200 , the un
limited Single Tax upon that piece of
land would be $1182.075 , ( twelve
hundred , one hundred and sixths )
which would leave to the present owner
or the tenant under the Single Tax , the
sum of $07.925 as his annual compen
sation , for the risks of occupancy or for
. his services as a promoter in securing
tenants and collecting rent. In this way
the right to control this site would be
worth to him the sum of $67.925 per
year , which is exactly six per cent , of
$1182.075. Thus the site would then al
ways bring , on tax sale the amount of
the Single Tax and the government
would need give no further concern to
the matter. Thus when the selling price
of locations exceeded the tax , a simple
calculation would determine the amount
by which the tax should be increased ,
and vice versa. The Single Tax and the
selling price would thus keep watch
over each other.
The Single Tax is not a tax upon land ,
but upon the value of laud. An acre of
land in western Nebraska and in the
city of Omaha differ greatly in value. A
tax upon land , as such , is a tax upon
area. But a tax upon land values rises
and falls as the value rises and falls.
Because the Single Tax is a tax upon
land values , it is not proposed to levy any
tax whatever upon the improvements
which are placed upon the land. Thus
the farmer would only be taxed upon the
value of his land , as it would be , if all
the improvements which have been
placed upon it were removed. He would
pay no tax upon the value which drains ,
grubbing , breaking , fences , stock , ma
chinery , buildings , trees and crops have
added to it. He would be taxed exactly
upon the same basis as the idle speculator
later in vacant lands. But as no man
could afford to hold land idle and pay
the Single Tax with no prospect of gain ,
the Single Tax would compel all mere
speculators in land to let go of all land
which they did not want to use. This
would immediately throw upon the
market all unoccupied lands and as a
result the value of land would fall to a
minimum. This would still further
lower the tax. Whenever , in any town
ship , there remained vacant , indefinitely ,
any land which was as good as the
average farming land in use , then no
value at all would attach to the right to
use such land , since. anyone could , as a
common right , take up and use for
nominal fees the vacant and unused
lands. Thus a very great portion of the
fertile farming lands of the western
states would have no selling or rental
value under the Single Tax although
its utility would be enormously increased
by the cessation of all taxes. The Single
Tax would be the greatest of all boons
to the working farmer ; for the first time
in their lives the majority of them would
be able to make farming pay well
enough to live in comfort and to enjoy
all of the luxuries of life.
Not only would the Single Tax lower
the price paid for the use of land , and
for many farmers entirely abolish all
taxation , but it would lower freight
rates and increase the facilities of trans
portation. Less than one-half of the
market value of the railroad property of
the United States represents the capital
