122 LAND AND LABOR. 



use, must pay double, triple, and quadruple the 

 amount of taxes that were imposed before the im- 

 proving of the same. This custom tends directly to 

 the encouragement of the speculator, and serves 

 equally to discourage occupation and improvement. 

 Illustrations of this matter exist everywhere. 



A remarkable case in point may be found in New 

 York City, where the ancestor of a well known fam- 

 ily, when the city did not extend above Canal Street, 

 buried some money in the lands miles away, in the 

 interior of the island. As time passed population 

 advanced northwards until it began to gather around 

 those lands. Neither the original purchaser nor his 

 heirs would sell any portion of the property, nor im- 

 prove it. They were waiting for a still greater in- 

 crease in value, paying nominal taxes upon unim- 

 proved property, and in no way contributing to the 

 general welfare, till society had completely surrounded 

 the land, advanced far beyond it, and given it fabu- 

 lous values. Then it was improved, the rents now 

 derived from it being princely. By that operation 

 a speculation in direct opposition to the welfare of tho 

 community and which society pays for that family 

 is possessed of the power of plutocrats, and an income 

 of millions. 



This system of taxation is not equitable. It is 

 against public policy, and is a direct attack upon the 

 best interests of the community. It exempts the 

 speculator from the burdens of state, and throws 

 tin-in all on that portion of society that does the most 

 to contribute to the general welfare. It legalizes and 

 protects the dog in the manger principle in the most 



