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