numerous public services, and, in summary, would carry civilization to yet nobler heights. functions which are now pressing for recognition. Government could take upon itself the transmission of messages by telegraph as well as by mail; of building and operating railroads, as well as of opening and maintaining common roads. . . ... There would be a great and increasing surplus revenue from the taxation of land values, for material progress, which would go on with greatly accelerated rapidity. . . . This revenue arising from the common property, could be applied to the common benefit. We could establish public baths, museums, libraries, gardens, lecture rooms, music and dancing halls, theatres, universities, technical schools, shooting galleries, play grounds, gymnasiums, etc. Heat, light, and motive power, as well as water, might be conducted through our streets at public expense; our roads be lined with fruit trees; discoverers and inventors rewarded, scientific investigations supported; and in a thousand ways the public revenues made to foster efforts for the public benefit. . . . [In summary the application of this remedy to the problem of poverty would] raise wages, increase the earnings of capital, extirpate pauperism, abolish poverty, give remunerative employment to whoever wishes it, afford free scope to human powers, lessen crime, elevate morals, and taste, and intelligence, purify government and carry civilization to yet nobler heights." The single tax doctrine has attracted world-wide attention. 64. The case for the single tax1 The doctrine of single tax, as expounded by Henry George, has attracted the attention of social reformers the world over. Thousands of articles, pamphlets and books have been written upon the subject. The doctrine has been lauded by a small group, condemned outright by a larger group, and accepted in part by a considerable number of thinking people. The following extract from the Debaters' Handbook Series gives in compact form the various arguments which have been advanced in favor of an acceptance of the doctrine of single tax: 1 From the Debaters' Handbook Series, Selected Articles on Single Tax. Compiled by Edna D. Bullock. The H. W. Wilson Co., White Plains, New York, 1915; pp. xiii-xvi. All public revenue should be raised by a single tax on land values, Affirmative because arguments: I. The present national, state, and local taxes are fundamentally Defects of defective, for our present A. They are taxes on industry and improvements, and industry and improvements should not be taxed, for 1. Taxes falling on the products of labor discourage their 2. Taxes falling on improvements lessen the amount of improvements. B. They are unjust taxes, for 1. They can be easily evaded. 2. They can to a considerable extent be shifted. 3. They bear heavily on the poor. 4. All taxes on the products of individual labor are unjust C. They are expensive, complex, and cumbersome, for 1. They are levied on a great variety of objects and require tax system. II. The single tax on land values will do away with the defects of the The single present system, for A. It will exempt industry and improvements from taxation, for 1. Land will bear the entire burden. B. It is a just tax, for 1. It cannot be evaded, for a. Land cannot be concealed or carried off. b. Land values can be easily determined. 2. It cannot be shifted, for a. It will be paid out of rent. b. Landlords cannot pay the tax from an increase in (1) Rents depend on supply and demand. c. Economists are agreed that the single tax cannot be shifted. 3. It is a burden on no one, for a. The fund upon which it draws is created by society, for (1) All land values and all increase in land values (a) If society were not there the land would have no value. (b) Individual labor or improvements do not tax would do away with these defects. Social benefits of the single tax. b. It merely takes from the landowner the unearned increment of land due to presence of society, which increment is a social and not an individual product. C. It is a simple tax, for 1. There is one object of taxation, land values. 2. Little machinery is necessary in order to assess and collect a tax on land values only. D. It is an adequate tax, for 1. It has a large fund from which to draw revenue in the annual rental value of land and in the increase in value of land from year to year. E. It is an elastic tax, for 1. The amount of revenue raised by the tax can be automatically raised or lowered by changing the rate, for a. The fund on which it draws is much larger than is necessary for all governmental expenditure. III. The single tax on land values will bring about desirable economic and social readjustments which will be beneficial, for A. The condition of the laboring classes will be improved, for 1. Land will be comparatively easy to get, for a. Idle land will be forced into the market and prices will fall, for (1) It will be taxed at its full value. (2) Speculators will not be able to hold it out of use and pay taxes on it. 2. The slum problem will be remedied, for a. Owners of cheap tenements will have to build better b. Vacant land will be available at cheap prices. building. 3. Wages will be increased, for a. Employers will be obliged to pay workingmen the equivalent of what they could produce on the land, for (1) Land will be available to anyone who will put it into productive use. b. The opening up of the vast areas now held out of use for purposes of speculation will give a great amount of employment to labor. B. The farmer will be benefited, for 1. The products of his labor, such as crops, his improve ments, implements, stocks, etc., will be exempt from 2. He will actually pay less taxes than at present, for İV. The single tax on land values has succeeded where it has been The single tried, for A. It has greatly benefited Vancouver, Victoria, Edmonton and B. It has worked well in New Zealand and Australia. C. Taxes with some single tax features are being used success- 65. The case against the single tax1 tax has succeeded where it has been tried. In opposition to the above claims, numerous arguments have Negative been advanced against the single tax. These negative arguments arguments: have been summarized as follows: Public revenues should not be raised by a single tax on land values, because I. The present system of taxation is not inherently defective, for 1. Property taxes form the basis of our system of taxation. 1. If any injustice results from one tax, it is apt to be equalized 2. A diversified system is a more certain source of revenue, a. If one source fails, others can be drawn upon. 3. It affords greater elasticity. 1 From the Debaters' Handbook Series, Selected Articles on Single Tax. Compiled by Edna D. Bullock. The H. W. Wilson Co., White Plains, New York, 1915; pp. xvi-xix. The present tax system is not inherently defective, and its specific de fects can be remedied without overthrow ing the entire system. Defects of the single tax as a system of taxation: injustice, 4. It requires some contribution from practically every citizen. 5. It permits the application of taxes for social or political purposes. C. The specific defects in the present system can be remedied by specific reforms without overthrowing the entire system, for 1. The greatest evil of the present system of state and local taxation evasion can be done away with by the classification of property for purposes of taxation and by the taxation of different classes at different rates, for a. If a low rate is placed on intangible and other personal property, the tax will not be evaded. b. The classified property tax has practically done away with evasion in the states where it has been adopted. 2. Injustices in the present system can be remedied by the extension of progressive inheritance taxes in the states and the adoption of a progressive income tax by the federal government. 3. The separation of state and local taxation will secure greater simplicity and effectiveness in the taxing system. II. Viewed solely as a system of taxation, the single tax on land values is defective, for A. It is unjust, for 1. It fails to conform to the canon of taxation that all should pay taxes in proportion to their ability to pay, for a. It taxes individuals only in proportion to the value of the land which they own. b. It taxes the poor men's land and exempts the rich men's personal property, mansions, skyscrapers, and factories. c. It takes no consideration of income, productiveness of property, or any of the evidences of ability to pay. d. It exempts nearly all monopolies and trusts. 2. It discriminates against a certain class in society - the farmers, for a. It compels them to bear an undue share of the burdens of taxation. 3. It discriminates against one of the elements of production, for a. Labor and capital should also bear some of the burden of taxation, for |