498 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



terms than present owners offer. But this the state could not do 

 without sacrificing the fundamental principle of the single tax, 

 which is that the occupier shall pay the full economic rent. 



It is the testimony of all observers that, of two men of equal 

 endowment cultivating land, the one being the owner and the 

 other only a tenant, the owner makes the best use of the land, 

 gets the largest crops, has the best cattle and the best orchard, 

 and in all ways takes the best care of the property. The reason 

 is very simple. It is because all the labor, skill, and economy 

 bestowed upon the land enure to his own advantage. The net 

 results belong to him, and this is sufficient reason for the employ- 

 ment of his best powers and for the practice of the utmost frugal- 

 ity. Capital arises from the exercise of industry and frugality. 

 It is for the interest of the state that capital should be created. 

 The system of land tenure which offers the greatest inducement 

 to the creation of capital is the one most conducive to the public 

 interest. 



Again, the private ownership of land tends to stability in in- 

 stitutions. The ideas which gather about the word home are the 

 most precious, both to the individual and to the community, that 

 we are able to conceive of. A man will ordinarily undergo 

 greater hardships, practice more self-denial, exercise more of the 

 virtues which go to the upbuilding of the commonwealth, in order 

 to secure a home, than to accomplish any other object. This is 

 what his mind is first set on, and when he has gained it his efforts 

 are equally enlisted to keep it. The single tax threatens to pro- 

 foundly alter the meaning of this word as we understand it. It 

 is not consistent with the idea of home that somebody should take 

 it away from us by bidding at an auction. If it be said that no 

 such auction would take place, but that the state would fix the 

 tax at a rate previously ascertained as sufficient to take the eco- 

 nomic rent, differing from the present tax only in amount, then 

 we say that there is no means of ascertaining what the economic 

 rent is. It would be possible to form an approximate estimate at 

 the beginning by taking as a standard the rents paid by individ- 

 uals for the use of land as a matter of bargain. But the standard 

 would only serve for the first renting. What about the second ? 

 Land values change. It is the aim of the single tax to gather in 

 the values that grow with the progress of society. A large part of 

 Mr. George's argument is addressed to the coming time when all 

 available land shall be appropriated. Renting by auction is the 

 only process that will enable society to collect economic rent 

 surely, equitably, progressively, and scientifically. 



I have no apprehension that the single-tax theory will ever 

 get beyond the argumentative stage in this country, or in any 

 country where small ownership is the characteristic feature of agri- 



