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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (April 11, 1908)
THE OREGON DAILY TOUIWAU rOKTtAND, SATURDAY CVrail.'O, APRIt II. MM, ' ' " Matter Prepared by Oregon Tax Reform Association A i .in 1 i ,. : ' ' - ' - -7 "IT- . DOES TAX ON LAND VALUES BURDEN THE FARMERS? Exempting Manufacturing Plants and Im provements Does Not Increase the Far mer's Tax Burden, but Greatly Reduces His Taxes and Kills Land Speculation Editor Journal-Th court of Th Journal la uoourgln th pressntatloa of both eld of th a"' tlons before the peopl under indum and Initiative provisions of th Oregon constitution, la WlMr thousands of tta ctttsen. and haa ben nd will ba producUve of greet good. Tha pubUepr. ahould glv Informa tlon coicriUn. matter, of lntrBt to tha peopl. Fully Informed tha poop la ir Mcompatant to daclda aa tha aver age leglslstur. They may mak ral takes. but ao hava Hrt"" the peopl find out a mlstak they can rlghtlt. which la mora than legislature Jin do7 or ar willing, to do vary fr- QUTbal3rilnla Ux mendmnt a' H la called, has xcltd wtda attention la tha Stat and from studente of. ot" the world over.- It la aafa to ; amy ttamt except tha referendum and Initiative or fJ;- i; i,V. .v.rtled tha stat fur- ti.er and wider thatf any amendment aver proposed. s e,n.. , r able, honest and lnflu- ... r nnnftMd to It and are doing everything In their power to de feat It. That la their right aa cltlsene, and tha discussion of Ua provisions la one of tha object, of Its aponsors. Bo far. however, tha opposition hasj ur- ilata their contentlona agalnat It. Tney re possessed of acceea to public Infor mation the sam aa Ita supporters, and it Mroi strange that their chief re liance ao far In the cam pa Ira la on tha ignorance ana prejudice o - The objectlone to the proposed amend ment Mem to be three. First, that It would put all tha taxes on tha farmer, or double th taxes on tha farmer. Sec ond, that It would allow the manufao. ...... aarfAla tha tlieS lUStlV dUO OB his plants on tha farmer. Third, that It would tax the small home-owner ao heavily on his land tn city and country, v, v.. i.nlil ha iomielled to Bell OOl to wealthy monopolists who would gob ble up the entire state. . . . Point out to theae objectors that the ,i.-. r,r rvrairnn da not own the state. .i. t,.. in r nr values, the tillable landa of tha etate being Msessed for 75.000.000 out of over 184.000.000 of land valuea, and nothing is said la re ply. Not a figure ! given, or a fact. In refutation. Considering that much of and rented to tenaata it la a liberal con. ...nn tn tma tha farmers of Ore tha tmabla iana IS neia tor pbicubuub gon owa even 76,000,000 of Ita land val ue". , .- Tha vala of the Improvements oa farms, livestock, Implements and tha furniture will amount to mora thin one third this aum. - - T.mH sa Wo Ova X,aaA Talnea. So the farmer, do not own tha land valuea of Oregon. To Increase tha taxea on land would rest mora of tha Increase on othar land than tha farmers. The first onntantinn. that it would double the taxea of tha farmer, or put all tha taxea on tha farmer, is as aDsura as io aay that twice two is seven, and maybe mora. In county after county aa ex amination of the asaessor'a returns shows that tha exempted classes of property would Increase the taxes on land val ue, from one elgntn to one xourta, ana In every . case that tha farmers have more Invested In exempted classes of property than tha proportion of. raise would amount to. : Assuming that the raise would be as much aa ona fourth on land valuea, tha farmers of any oounty la tha atate would find that tha vaiue of their livestock, Implements, buildings, lmprovementa and furniture mora than equal, ona fourth of their land values. - Our objector. Immediately reply that the farmer' lives In the country and that taxea are levied and collected by coun ties, so that estimates of land valuea for the atate at large are misleading. Tbi. la m poor objection, but any farmer can aea how he stands in any county by subtracting from his tax receipt, the aum paid on his liveatoclc, lmprove menta, implements and household fur niture and adding from ona algum to ona fourth to the land value, asaesaed to him. In some counties tha exempted classes of property are a larger pro portion of the whole than In others. If wa consider that much of tha value of the- tillable land. In reality consist, of lmprovementa, orchards, eta, and that such land, ahould not ba assessed for mora than the unimproved lands ad joining, tha farmer who would under this amendment have his taxea on his land Increased more than one sixth would ba exoeptlonat . . ob: Vol Exempt AH Vroperty. -' It ahould not ba forgotten by the In vestigating cltison that the proposed amendment does not. exempt all classes of -property except land values, but only such classes or kinds as are spe cifically mentioned, business blocks, merchandise stocks, corporation sharea, rolling stock of railroads and many other klnda of property, too numerous to mention, are not Included in the ex emptions proviaea ior. Tn rnlumbla count v the property ex- .innM would 'not exceed in all prob ability $2,000,000 out of a total assessed value of I16V78M66. . If all improve tnanta mi land were exempted the total exemptions would be I2.29M80. - Let us aHum that the taxea added to the land !,... of the farmer would be 12.S per cent, or one eighth, and that the tax is now 18 mills on tha dollar. It ia clear nousrh that on thla aupposition --a. a basis that a farmer with a piece of land . -ri at 12.000 and .improvements. livestock, furniture, and Implements as sessed for li.000 would pow pay a total ..f tt i,r Under the amendment he would pay $36 tax on hi. land alone and nothing on the remainder. t If hi. 'ex amined property waa greater than J,he ImuI value, and, on the average In Co lumbia county suoh 1. tho case, his tares would b18 mill, on his land and nothing on hi. lmprovementa. tc ao that with ., exempted property worth e moon aa the land 1.4 v aim v nav if but $36 Hes and nothing where he would now lay $32 on land and $S2 oa his outer i ronerty. It is a simple matter to cal culate just, what It would be if given tne tax ret,- tha property taxed and tha aiomntlnna the law would allows itoiiirum county has a Jarge propor tion if Its asuenRmenta resting on man- lifacturlnr marntnery. uounims; ; m nmmhoats, which-wottM - not be jsx-inM-r-l, U foots tip to $268,185, The - r rcS i'Ucpa tf the farmer. Is .ought to ( a aroustd by the declaration that the taxea of tha" rich manufacturer to tha farmer. A gUace at tne Mwnrami n of the county wlU aufflo. hew hew feeble aa argument It amounts to. Im provements oa Xarma, farm tnaohlnery and iroplementa, and liveatock foots i up ?o the total of $8$.4W. la ddtjon come lmprovementa on unwanted and undeeded lands, amounting to $701,741 and the furniture of which the farmer la probably aeaessed for half of it, amounting to a total of , 8K6.440. The farming community would be relieved of taxation on all tneae and at tha ""je time tha manufacturing wu,u escape. Which would be tha greater galnert 'm,.Lt ; t. v. auUHnnBI jrMa i - At-aln. aoroe. of . tha manufacturing plants are largely owned cy 'J"r If a $200,000 cannery, creamery, ch;Vse factory,' tool factory, or other Industry waa established la Columb! county tha demand for farm producta an J the In- Km mark at would receive a tremendous impetus. in a community adds. It 1. estimated by experts, fully $60 an acre to every acre of tillable land for mUea around, and tha population gathering, around ere ataa :rlt-.iot valuea tor possibly aa much mora as me increase i i.u- .walnaa Tt,. nt Rajtlmora exempts fully $100,000,000 worth of manufacturing plants and ha become the chief manu facturing city of .tha aouth in pur suing this policy for the last 18 yeara. Thla aingle city haa more manufactur ing capital Invested la its limit, than , .hit ia in all Oreron. Ken- aamnt all manufacturing Plants for the first 19 years, and Pennsylvania haa for many yeara maintained her su premacy as a manuiaciurina- y sweeping exemption.. - Alabama and Georgia are attracting more wealth in a year than Oregon In a decade for In vestment la manufacturing enterprises w . . . . annti avamntinna. - Again the objector will urge that Co i..nki. Miintt ia i. axemcHonaL that much of Ita land la untillable, nndevel- oped and held by timber speculator.. Clackamas county haa a greater propor i.. TnonnfaY-turlnr values and t much greater proportion of tillable land uaiaa mi untn. - It appeara. how ever, that the farmer owna less than ona third tha total iana values oj uio cuunir, and haa property that would bo exempt ed exceeding the valua of hi. landa, and almost four time, tne-vaiue v w u-r Thla goea on with varying proportions from oounty to eounty, but alwaya and ever - clinching with undleputable fig ure, that the farmer la alwaya gainer by exempting rrom taxation in no. of property proposed la the amendment Twice two Is four the world over, and In Manitoba, Alberta, New Zealand. New South Wales, and other . countries ex perience over a number pr yeara na i that tha i agricultural clHsaea hae greater 'valuoa In imprne menta, implement and liveatock than in land.- - - ' ' Our objectora, finding themaelvea worsted In county figures and factawiu Jump to the cities and towna, were the noma owner, with hi. one or more lota, tha manufacturer, who ia not more land .peculator than actual manufae- . .,. Ik. mar-hsnlo with hi. kit of tools, a rented house and a little fur-j .tn,. la in the same class a. tha farm er who actually work. hi. own or an other1, farm.. In Portland the rate on land valuea will .increase . under this amendment about ' two. possibly three mills. The man with a plor of tend worth 1500 and a house worth $1,000 would now, pay about $14 on tha. house and $7 on the land, estimating on a -mill tax. Under the proposed amend ment it would bo n tha -land -and nothing on the bouse. If the owner nut a number of improvement, on and madfth. total $2,005 it would still be the aame tax of $0. The poor man unable at present to build ,'could very well afford to pay tha allghtly Increased tax on his lot in view of the fact that when he did build ha' would have no fine, annually levied on him for doing so. - J ". - Tha real anlmua of tha objection, to the amendment 1. thl.. Tha asaesBdV. would - hayot - fewer .v..- A aaaaaa the , orlnciclo thing being iana values. .,.. i " teoila would ba concentrated on the matter of aasessmenta on idle tracts and they would be In.istent that .uch land, be raisea xo w iv proved lota. The - tread would Imme diately go in the direction:, of ellmlnat i ..Jr.. ion. vaiuaa in land, leaving only (the utility value.. - The worker, would then approach a condition where i.ntu r havinir to eive of their prod uct more to the epeculator than to tha . , , . 1 la aw urti, I A ' na elimtnated a. a parasite on society, ana only the necessary expenses wi. ment would remain. Such a condition would necessitate noma very useless but wealthy citizens hunting a. Job of honest labor ana create a largo ui lnhor nrnilheta and constructions to -the euminatton or tne man vuv ui ju ai! In ahnrt. establish . a Condition Ol society intended by tha Creator to pre vail, wnere no mn wouio mi um produced useful product to society at rg-. . . .. . , i aucn na oeen tne invituuw to the extent taxes . have been - taken from the kinds of property propoaea for exemption by this amenamen vui " Is hardly necessary - to say that ' the wealthy monopoliat would not be Invest ing an jana. , ii bo wnj. -awn . itw . uuj hnv n Mow Tonlanil wher tne land In over 80 cities , and '-counties beare all the local taxes, and where tramps ar unknown and land speculator un- neara 017 mere is a ciaes 01 wjwwra who assert that to tax land value, more and lmprovementa less would result in iana navtng' no vaiua wnaiever, - nu therefore no taxes would be possible for the support of local or utate gov ernment. They are generally found on the next corner to be declaring that the same proposition would result in the poor man being compelled to sell to the monopolist, who would raise rents and inflate values based on tne rents.. The two objections devour one- another. Ex perience shows that land is just as productive if more of Its values created by the community ar taken by the com munity for public Use. and that cap ital and labor will desire it for use, not peculation, and bo willing to pay its utility value to. the owner or tha state as now.-f Experience In many lands the world around is demonstrating that the ohiActors to limtice in ' taxation are childish ia their reasoning and not with hardly be pointed out, that hla tool, and future aavlnas in- furniture, vested In homa are exempt, y ia limited load or two of rnitura owned by the renter in tne city, on the llvestooa ana imp.--.- possessea oy i" "Tv IVkli with greater severity than many other statea in tha union, ana ""?":: ment ehould rail the assessors wi ---especial delight In coming down auil harder on tha landlesa vlcllma of land " Justfcr la taxation rrtean. mora tt i 1.,.. , tha loafara. Tne richer the loafer the harder It H if his riches consist of lands rented or eased to Ubor and capital wherein the End owner does naught bat get out of the way that the one may aweat and the other risk. FRED C. DENTON, v TOJILJOII TALK TO .!.! an aiMraaa dallvered bT Hon. Tom U Johnaon. mayor of Cleve r,ir hafara an audience oompoaed almost axcluslvaly of farmara.) After .peaking on th Issue, la' atate and oounty for aome nan nour, mayor, as la bia custom, called for Ques. tlona. A venerabla gentleman, with long white wnisaers, arose aim Bpeaker. I have a suspicion, from what Iave.read In -tha papers, that Mayor Johnaon deslrea to placa all Uxea on K the audirnc. then called out: "Tell ua about tha aingle tax." RfPyn tha elderly man. the mayor Bald: 'Most emphatloally. Nol" , H Paused for a moment, then continuing, aald. But If you mean that 1 hava a deslr to i .11 ..aa m land values. " I an- lei Ih a"HMTI f nUUIB UUV vti- awer most decidedly, yea! If you want to hear about the alngl tax, I will etay with you ana jet my wm inwiwi the city wait, while I aay .that ff t were not. for this k Idea, ca led alng a tax. I would not be here tonight. Chi. Is the reason I am what I am, and mak ing tha fight which we are now in. A tax on land would be aa unjust and in nitiiAtia at vit Am. nun m iai uu iouu values would be the best and fairest auatam that tha world haa ever known. 7 . ,hinh wnuid brlnr about tha tax ation of land value, wouia 09 service to numanity uuui vat anartad - Farmers are large owners of land, but not of. land values. W have land in our city that sells at th rate of $5,600,000 per acre; have any or you xarmers .oauu t uable sit that? In New York city there U ' find that 1 sella - for $15,000,000 pe? acre; la there any land In thla neigh borhood at that PfloaT To nw' friend's quasUon. I willrelat a little talk 1 had on day with Congressman Hereon of Tuscarawas oounty, when w war in Washington together. Pler.on aa a fanner and he Mid to me on Ha. "Turn, t cannot to your single tax. as it would be a hardship on th farJnera, and they already hav mor than their ahara of tha burden f tax ation,' I aald: 'Look here, Pleraon. If I thought th ingle tax would Increase the farmer's burden I would not stand it f nna mfnutA. In fact. If 1 did not know It would b th greatest hiaaain to the farmers and to tha work- inrmui in the city aa well. I never would advocate it again. ; I caa show you that th single tax wlU lighten th farmers' burden aa compared with tha present method. Let me ask you soma questions, to see if we can get at th facta of the mattr. Hjw. much. Mr. plerson, of th present tax burden do vnn think th farmers bearr 'WelL' h ,nn.ni -tha farmers constitute over half the popuUtlon of the United BUtea. and I ahmifa say that they pay at least 60 per cent of all taxes,' 'Very well, w. ali it KO nar rent to be safe.' No, noZ-aaid-Pierson. 'thafa too low. They nay more than 0 per cent, rather thaa less.' 'All right,-but to b aare, let .n it ka nar nant. Now. Mr. Plerson, I want you to tell ma how much of tha value of land the farmer hav in th vunitea . oiaiesf lake into consideration " all th ... 1...V.1. .a,i imHi tha iron, silver. Mtiiwr and other valuable mlnea --th waterpower privllegea, th rail roads and their righta-of-way and ter mlnala, Including street railroads, tele phonea and telegrapha, , f oe thes ar buUt on th most valuable lands; ail the s-as and electiio lighting rtghta- nf.wav. built on land of great value; all the city lot., , .oma of which are worth more man a wnoia sunmj u f aiming land. I want you tn take, all these into consldratlon, , and then teU me how much of these values In th United States th farmer bave.' Mr. Plerson rep Ued : . "Well, I should aay less than a per cenv. .'-i" 10 per entloAbe ., tnat a entirely '"t mv v WeU. wo will call It 10 per centany way. Now. don't you ae that - If the f.nara ara navlns SO per cent, that If all the taxea were raisea uy , iubu .. V. land values tha farmers, sine they have but 10 per cent of thes val ues you Bay B per raui jtvu v-i less: that their taxea would b reduced five times That inatead i of paying one half aa now. they would, under that plan, pay but on tenth?' , " 'i declare. Tom, I never looked at It In that light, and X guess you nav go?i say to you famr her to night that this single tax. of which I am proud to be an advooate would ba to the over-burdened farmers i and work lngmen the greatest boon, the greatest blessing, th greatest Godsend I jftati an country ever knew. .1 wish you goo6r night.'' ": v- f" ''' Vclfiwn of Portland halved th tStt-& t&Zt-trad ot Ed monton' Alberta, which j vtor rf the present . discussion a th Wct .of taxation a In Oregon - mayv, b o? Intereat e"The city of Edmonton' Alberta, Cah .rdoesnot tax the improvements a. - 1 . i.,ra rrnm a. nH.11 iduii, ad. .o.Proptr ,tn , , o ai rat this year la; II W mills on ax T,1!-.1' w thla' method haa been W""".?.', k7. ,ii T think tha fol I hanafit to this city, I r7o- atatistlcs WlU prove tnnulatlon. . Bu ulldlng Permits. 10,(1 1 26 ..1 l.sns, uov.vu 2.280,210.00 6.000.000.00 "of which ll.als.M0 war -were taken out in Wr JhllS Evince. -I farm impl- ..ir- r stock are not taxed. , The tax is levied against the land for road lm 11 " .i ..a , . !,M,atl(vnal oumbses, h local Improvement district, or local iil-irHi.trt.Vi- . fix the rat of taxation ind it runa about $7 per quarter sec tion for school district purposes ana iu .riAF saction for road lmprove- mimoaes.. In new districts the It need NSON'S FARMERS TAXATION iNiMKDA . . -Q- ;.&..'-!'.- ; . :c .-- ; tax does not exceed 18 f or both pur poses." .'" . . - -" fc ' , " ' NEED SINGLE -TAX IN -SUNNY. OREGON Tha Oregonlan. March II, had th fol lowing adltoiial lamenting tha fact that too much good land was halo a howl ing wlldarnaaa, right in th vry su burb of Portland. Bo w hav rprlnt d It with th answer, to each para graph - following. Thl w hav don for th benefit of th dltorial depart ment of that paper which think bull calvft hava an unearaed value. , Za aa Tndlaoovrd Country, . . . Portland business men who went to Salem, a few week ago, to join- in celebrating tha complatloa Of the Ore gon Electrlo railroad wr astonished at th scenes they witnessed along the lin. and particularly along that portion of It between Portland and Wllaonvllla, dlstano of 2S miles. Surprise waa not occasioned by views of highly culti vated fields, thickly Battled agricultural communities or otner ttiarocn ad vanced farming conditions. On the con trary, It waa the panorama of undevel oped country that caused amaxement and made th visitor wonder that with in ao short a oistanoe xrom a r merclal center ao much . fertile land should b lying Idl. , Xeld for peonlation, aa tn tax .u tnaii, b4 th ohanoe fox profit ar While no accurate xigure are able showing what proportion of land In Impression gained by those who hav traveled over th lln la that at least 7 per cent of tha aotl that could b mad to bear annual crop ia still cov ered with treea. bruah or stumps. Land anawerlng thl. deecrlptlon piotloally h miavi trtMTl 1 1 1 in a ti i tbi, uutuiou in nnnr tiasturag. ' n will remain c wu w pi w slaal It stands ther today bcaua no n haa been ready to clear tha Und and raise cultivated crop. rrox th fact that tney wotua naw 9 pajr th IBM SPCUlar m ua prlo t .rl out of th! way, aa 1st tnnt ffo to worh. ,.v , - . f On may ride th entir x miies irom Portland to Wllsoavlll, where th road crosseB the Willamette, and see no com mercial orcharda, and. Ip1',"0-.0! chards of any kind except th old fam ily orchard common around pioneer totMa . a Mmoitlon Moallax to all lamA h14 by speculator, a they are too wlaa to improve, and pay tax tnlx lm provmatfc - ; Mention is maa or ines hot for th purpoa of presenting an unattracttva pictur nor with an ln ?enUonto rsftsct upon th "terpri. of th people who hav lived all the year Inth section so rontly Uppd toy; a troUey Un. . ' ' . ' A. this land has 1114 passaa ln t th hand of th land pirate, who 1 rer ready to allow hi neighbor to do th Improving, whll h take th profit. Th' deir la. rather, to call attention to th vast latent reaourcea that He within easy reach awaiting th home-r-eker. Here, within hall an hour-; rid of th metropolis, ls a stretch of country that would easily aupport a popuUtlon twenty time a large as that which finds sustenance In It now. Per haps inadequate transportation facllltlea explain th low development of grl oultur la th ctlon referred to. but. SINGLE TM MD THE PtifiDUCER How the Proposed Constitutional Amend ' ; ment Would Affect, the Laborer . ; , and the , Tha- slncrla tax would raise wages by, opening .up land so th people could em ploy themselves and thereby 'relieve th labor market. Th single tax wouia re duce rent by bringing mor land Into uae for . homes. , and ancourag build ing of houses by exempting them from taxation. Th singly tax wouio. areas up land monopoly and glv th man who works with his hands a chanc to have a home of his own. Th single tax wouia s him who works, to; him who makes wealth. Instead of - th landlord who taKes an tne weaitn " . "L " W. . Th men who labor with their hands t,aa rnaa ail tha land values of Port land and everything els worth having, and what? have they to ahow or all a.Tnna.'all iV.a man who own no land wexe to leave Portland, what wouldVthe land then be worm to n wi ,y will get the benefit from the building of the great Swift packing plant? Will It not be the land owners, who hav now advanced th prlc of ; lota near th sit 100 per cent In expectation that many men who work vvltfi thelrhands will need this Jand to llv on, and, raise their, chlldrent ' ' ' -The slngl tax would mak this land cheap to the man who wanted to make use of It, and the aordld land speculator could not well afford to hold it out of use as he does now.', and 1 mak labor com to his terms. ' - - - New Tork has had a rent strike In the tenement district, and the landlord and his court ,have evicted the poor workers by the thousands, Had the ingle tax been In vogue In New York those workers would not now be In pov erty, but would own the homes now rented at exorbitant! rates. -' The aingle tax would settle the child labor question; No father-or .mother would send their children to work In th milla if they could eopport;. them with the wages of the father. Th single tax would give th tsMl dren of 4h laboring hian their playtime,- with- better schools snd better clothes to wear .to schooK v ' ? One Portland block, 200 feet square, bounded by- Washington, Alder, Third and Fourth-Streets, Is worth 3,200,000. This would buy. 64,000 scree of farm land at $50 per acre. That amount of land would make a atrip ona mile wide and 100 ' mile long. The ownership of this city block is the 4me aa the If that b th case, thejjomlng of th trolley lln hould mark th beginning of an era of Improvement which would soon place that region wher It belongs among th well-known and denaaly-pop-ulated portion of th state. it it were aot for th foreataHsr, or th dog In th manger, kmowa as land specsjato. '.--' In no other locality can ottr rnfej- Ing facilities b louna, ana, wnu might ba tru. and la not """JJ; ? say that this Js th most fertile region "Oregon; It may aafely b asserted that tha soil is at east aa good I the average ia tne niimmtiw ..., - that la good enougn ior ni - What's her, aald In behalf ol ! on email aectlon of th tat need not b fook.dVSon a prejudicial to th. inter est or th advantagea of any other sec tion. All over tha atat ther are rich agricultural region awaiting saUstao tory tmniiportatlon facllltlea or, jom newoomir. who will "dlaqovar-, them anew. ,'' " ', Tea, thy w all U tha gam hoat, t speak, la th grip f hint who work sot, (tor will allow thoM wh ar wliunff to tmprov and proaac to work, oattt thy pay hint w gi i 01 Th'prt1cuU locality dlrotly affect ed is nbt alon Interested In th work of oivslopment.. Industries along th Or i'n Kleotrio lln cannot 'rJ'"10 Mas. strike add vain t th land lm Portiaad, th city . landlord cam e ma, tad get r rat for th land x4 valnabl toy other man's work. Th slagM tax jaadmat wonld mak It nprofltatol for th land gpwndator t hold land Idle, so h would hav to Ut ro. and thaa y would home ud ohootton with happy toildrB U thm, last. of th wUarai on out thr ow., TTot y o. aa. - tote No.'822 op: the ballot, A COMPARISON Bttiretnthe Assessmtnt of tht Farmers and the Railroads Livestock, furnltar and farm Im plement art ftssetsed for $3339,f8. All r aOroadi In Oreor $3242U61 Farmers py morg by $1-53820 thsn sU th raHroadi in Oregon, on hla liveatock. household furniture and farm implements. The larmer ia as sessed for about four timet at much aa they would sell for, while the rail roads pay big dividend on five timet as much as thev are assessed for. Tht railroads hav passes to give while the farmers have to work. Vote for tht tingle tax amendment, No. 322 on tht ballot f STATUTES OF MANITOBA, 1800, PAGE 406. . AH land in rural municipal itlea improved for farming and gardening purposes shall be assessed at tht tamo value as such land would bo as sessed if unimproved. 'V.- 1 Farmer owninr of many shares, as It takes an army of workingmea to pay th ground rent. On prominent class of opponents to tha so-called sinarle tax amendment Is those Who know nothing of th slngl tax pbiioaopny, out tninx 11 is some thing bad 'because they hava - - heard someone say that It means to tax land only. .. That, they -think, would put all the taxea on the farmer, when, in fact. the alngl tax would benefit tha farmer mor thaa it ; would any other " class. Th farmer' haa not much ' land ' when you measure It with the dollar, and, sine the alngl tax .: proposes to tax land according to ita value, the most taxes would be levied on th land In the. cities.' v-':,'", -,... -f . .. Portland has mor dollars' worth of land than all tha rest Of th state. This is about toe way you find iana values: Portland and suburbs" .1... 82 per cent. Railroad iana ana rrancnises 8 per cent. Timber and grazing land .. S per cent utner cities ........... per cent. Farm land .... 10 per cent. Under . the Single tax Portland and the other cities would nay 77 oer cent of the taxea; railroad and timber 'land 15 ner cent:1 farmers, 10 per cent. ; When you hear a man or a paper say ing tne single tax is sometning to nurt the farmer, you can put htm dowa aa a man who knows nothing about the sin ile tax or he is a knave who IS In terested in perpetuating the land monop oly and Is trying to fool 1 tha "poor rarmer," wnom tne iana monopoly nas ensiavea tnrougn ail tne agea. - - -The land monopolist thlnka the farm er can be fooled all the-time, and Is now- banking on the Ignorance of the farmer by telling him that th object Is to exempt the rich manufacturer from taxes. The facts of the case are that every land monopolist and , all Who are fighting thla amendment would b whooplng-it-up for , exempting manuf ao turers rom taxation If that alone were submitted, because ' they know . - th growth of manufacturing would boom their land around th plants. . p. Don't be afraid of the bogl man, Mr. Farmer. He haa alwaya been , used to scare the Innocent children. : , Just think with your head little and you will e that those who ar now rushing to defend - you ar the same crowds who have profited off 'the rail roads and other monopolies, while those earn a railroads and monopolies have been. fleecing you for the. past genera tion. Labor Press. - WHAT DO YOU KNOW V ABOUT THIS -TAX-. You Are Going to Vote on It Read This . and You Can Vote Bom eminent JurUta and local etatea- mn ar prof eaalof deep anlty lest th farmer and th worktngmaa b led astray and Induced to vote for that aw ful alngl tax amendment proposed y th Oregon T Reform aasociatloa. It obtained th required number of signa ture to ntltl It to a plac on th mi lot la la time thaa any of It aaao olat patiUon and had a greater tor plus ovr th rqulrd number.; i .. The Peoples Press called attention to th work of preparation of the amend ment from time to time last fall and Ita article attracted wid attention.. It waa supposed that It would b impo sibl for th aasociatloa to secure tha namea required and not until It-we accepted by tha eecretary of- otata did th owner of big tracts of city and county landa,1 which they ar holding Idl for peculatlv purposes, begin to sit up and take notice. The fact ia that tha POpl OI treSH tnnn forming themselves of th prpgrs to ward Just methods of taxation going on ia other countrtea. Many of them hava kept themselvea Informed of the methods by which. New Zealand ha re lieved th farmere of taxation on Im .u..rti.nii mnA livcatook. . taken tax ation from local manufacturing plants, encouraged Homebuilding ,1a the cities and towna by relieving . improvements from taxation and broken up pecula tion In land and monopoly holding of land aa an incident arisin. ui w w -new methods of collecting of public ..mi Manitoba haa dona likewise. and many German citlea hav Increased th Uxatlon on vacant lota several fold and relieved Improvement ntirely or almost so. These and many other facts have peen aiscusseu "j . i" " Ppl In Oregon. It Ji becoming ,wn that New 8outh Wale, an Im portant and wealthy state of the Aus tralian commonwealth, has swung into lln with a tax tot that puta aa high aa a io-mlll tax on land valuea la some cities and axempUd aU personal prop erty and lmprovementa from local Ux atlon entirely. ,1 , , ' - -.;,V;.--.a4f atlpra. -For theaa reasona th Oregon Tax Re form aaaoclatlon found ready- helper In all parte of th atat anxious to help along a Just caua In our absurd, an tlauated and essentially unjust methods of collecting pubUo funds., Aa opn as tha battri?aFof the land speculatora could b unllmberd they awn to let fly an sorts OI mriirTOiiMi.. a armmanta. nearly every on based urTon th ..sumptlonj t th peo. pi of Dragon did not know Mythlng. could not rina out mjhi " selves and would believe any assertlona in, facta to accompany them If the assertion wer only mad often nough and pooltlv enough. , On4 of th oldesrand most powerful papers In th tat; ha over nd oyer gain mad, th declaration- that -th adoption of th proposed amend ment would doubl th taxes on th fame-rwoJld increa.. th taxea ot th. farmer, would mak th farmer pay ill th Uxes. Any farmer can obtain tha figures for himself, either from the oounty - assessor, or th aecreUry ox tle7 and aasily calcuUt Just wher tha farmer would get off ahould th new amendment b adopted. Th pro visions of th proposition ar as fol lows: ' r ' , ' ' TS Sizeinvuua. "Excepting that all dwelling houses, Kama, sheds, outhouses, nq ail ovner appurtenances thereto, all - machinery and buildinga used exclusively for man ufacturing purposes and th appurt nanc thereto, ,all fencea, farm machin ery and appliances usea fruit trees, vine, hrub and all other lmprovementa on farma, all livestock, all houaehold furnltur In uae,, and all tools, owned by. workmen and In ua. ahaU be exe mpt from fcMtionAAr- in umauiia coumr w . n.,M mnunt tsYbout 14 Per cent of the entlr property asaessed now. Any farmer would pay 14 per .cent mor on hla land valuea and . 100 pr cnt toss I THE PROPOSED pENDMENT ii j: , opthb oreoon tax' r j;f REFORM ASSOCIATION , ; j . '" . r .'. v ' , " ' ' - 1 i'T4 ''ExceDtine that all 'dwelling houses, barns, sheds, out- J ; houses, and another. appurtenances thereto, all machinery and j; buildings used exclusively , for manufacturing purposes, and ; J "the appurtenances thereto, "all fences,- farm machinery and appliances used as such, all fruit trees, vines, shrubs and all j; ; other improvements on farms, all livestock, all household fur- ; j niture' in use, and all tools owned by .workmen and in , use, ; i shall be exempt from taxation's t Would th slngl tix amendment re duce house rents? Would mor houses reduc house rents? If so the amend ment will when passed reduce h rent ThUexertptIon from taxation of dwell ing houses with much other labor pro duced articles would necessitate more taxation on land values. - With land val ues bearing a . greater burden of tax ation It would be harder for tha non user of land or the land speculator to hold land out of use. It . would force more land on the market at a cheaper ?rlce. Cheaper land makes it easier or th man seeking a horn site'to ob tain what he desires, - - H has more money left after the purchase with which to build his house. . He would pay taxes according to th site value of 'his , land. He would have no taxes to pay on his house, furniture or per sonal property.: - 4 There would b more money made in building houses to rent under single tax than In holding land out of us so that others cannot build. ' . With the incentive of cheap land and n taxation on improvements, dwelling Would LAW? Understandingly ; ; 7V idV on his maohlnary. livestock, farm build Ings, furnltur. orchard tr, to, Un-; less th value of his land exceeded th' value of theaa thing xmptd about six times he would not be hurt, -la proportion as his land values decreased relaUvely to hla Improvement and other exempted ' property b would b' benefited. ,, . .t ,w-, , . ,,, ... ;- Xaa Caty, . .. ..- , . Ia Lana county tha proportions would b th same. In Linn oounty th pro portion of oxempted Property Is about Si per cent In most of th farming , counUea of th stat It rune about ll An raal liva farmer that would be hurt by thl proposuipn would bava too much land and ahould lt Of om Of It. , concentrate hi capital on fewer acrea cultivate hi , Und beu . ter and make tuore. In other word, b is lthr land poor or a land ap"10-. Any man with education ufflelent t... wo?k a almpla aum In addlUon and Sub traction can see lust how It would fit him by looking at hi last titit scelpt., . ltaauf aotuxM. : Another "bugaboo trttd Mt It that this 1 li a Vile scheme to make th man--ufacturer rich at th produoing classea In both city . and country. All tha manufacturing planta In the aUt ar not assessed for a much aa th housshold furnltur nd firnT machinery by over two mlllioa doUarIn Maflonfcounty th. value of -sit th manufacturing plants, clualv of tn land under them, doe hot near y equartha valu of theorses, mule and cattle, and la only about ona fourth th!rPenou?h "of .'"famer. V How V woBu1d ltnXct the thousands upoa ; thousanda of horns owmrs 1 and utld! on th east aid of Portland T Any man can Blly flgur that out' tnn While th propoaed amendment would Sot kempt Va'hn. taxation, we can assama'that all lm- . provemeiite would b exempted and then' Ft would onlyrals th tax n,ta ' no-lmJllir A WlM ihed about II 4. and If h had a $1,000 hoosU. would b. paying le tas by nearly is " T .5,1 1. values, difference would go o th land values. f ind a there ar about aeven lot he d for BDecuUtlon to on In use, th Idl lots would absorb th taxea now paid -by th man who bullda and beautrflea do-omen.ak. Portland , r;.d f.g-r itoTt ttgzgt&i: iiamntsd property would be-about . t hi entlr. 4 Vlt., J?rMuUnomah. county. .. 4 I . . : Bmpty loU do nothing or PrtlM. . L."" ii .,h to mak street-building. toVtV rtoT mak, watrplp. ran m mil past mpty lota to get to one mile S oocupled home. to compel to horn , builder vto rid alX' miles .patb ,. o every mil of used iota. AnPmpty lot build, no church, or schools, bur no ?rit AH'f ?t" VrnfPo factory wh, builds fjt ; rffowers. theatr Ueatt. ..r aa "mptyjot. aa aucB, aaslst in making yEEv.. nSVS U'rmaln.d?t iff'&yTrJ V; nd J .r a cltv In tea thouaaad ffiraK7 Wft- 518 v- W.Vfro'm oeVn thand'th glftl nature h monopollre Ilk th .aofvj mail bitter" for aught Ahey do.f Th, working hoWbulldlng, .oneJt . man' oodgeT' ThJy aPr aW t take par. at. thFlglrr out for youraalf and Mt a riv.People -Vress. MMM MIIMvi , . V - .i 4K Reduce. House Rents houses would be built In great numbers. Houses then " would be competing for t tenants ' Instead of tenants - competing-, for- houses.;;: What is the effect of many men out of work competing for Jobs? hovr wages. ?' Then many houses out of tenants would mean lower rents. , Why do men - and their1 families : ltv along the bottoms in scow houses? Be cause rents are too high in good local ities. - A - '. Why do peopla llv In housekeeping rooms? Because the rent - of a whoa -bouse Is more than they can afford. v: Lower rents would mean higher- " ' wages; Wages are figured by th amount v left after expenses of living aro paid.-- If w had lower rents, we would hav i more money left to purchase clothing for ourselves and the , children. - We -might purchase better furniture, or bet- ' ter still, we would save th dlfferen,: and buy a home of our own. i,. , , ; Vote No. 322 on. the ballot; ,4 amendment, wouia anus out guue, either, to tne anai
