34 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE 



Tenure Reform Association," one object of which was "to claim for 

 the benefit of the State the interception y)y taxation of the future 

 unearned increase of the rent of Ian 1 (so far as the same can be 

 ascertained) or a great part of that increase, which is continually 

 taking place without any effort or outlay by the proprietors, merely 

 through the growth of population and wealth ; reserving to owners 

 the option of relinquishing their ])roperty to the State, at the market 

 value which it may have acquired at the time, when this principle 

 may be adopted by the Legislature." Mr. George's merit is that he 

 has shown how the unearned increment in land can be appropriated 

 by the community by a sound system of taxation^ but he has need- 

 lessly weakened a strong case (1) by u.sing words vaguely — a fault 

 which he severely condemns in other writers ; (2) by allowing him- 

 self to be influenced to some extent by considei-ations that belong not 

 to sociology but to natural theology ; and ( '») by assailing certain 

 economic doctrines which, propei-ly regarded, not merely support his 

 main thesis, but are absolutely necessary as a foundation on which it 

 must rest. His position resembles that of a man who not merely 

 draws a sound conclu.sion from wrong premises but actually goes to 

 great trouble to demolish the right ones. This points to the jn-oba- 

 bilitv of the conclusion having been suggested to him by circum- 

 stances, and of his having gone wrong in his search for reasons, and 

 there is good ground to believe that this is the real history of his 

 mental development. Heniy George's "main contention" above 

 referred to may be summed up in these propositions : 



(a) There is an unearned increment in land in every progressive 



community ; 



(b) This unearned increment is caused by the growth of the com- 



munity, and should belong to the community ; 



(c) A practical and equitable means of securing it for the community 



can be found. 



This means is what Mr. George calls " taxation of land values," a 

 kind of taxation which would be exemplified if our municipal assess- 

 ment system were reformed by abolishing the tax (1) on income, (2) 

 on personalty, and (3) on that portion of realty which is in its 

 economic nature akin to personalty. Sucli a .system of taxation is 



