855 CO-OPERATION 



IN OPERATION 



houses of the working people are assessed up to 

 about 80 per cent, of their real value. 



As Shearman shows in his "Natural Taxa- 

 tion," taxing things that people make hits the 

 farmer hard, though he does not know it. Lit- 

 tle of his property can be concealed from the 

 assessor, and he pays directly and indirectly 

 much more than his due share of taxes. But 

 that is as nothing compared with the indirect 

 injury he suffers by being forced out by the high 

 prices of suburban land to a distance from his 

 customer and from the opportunities and advan- 

 tages of city life. Isolation and the cost of 

 hauling are bad enough. But far worse is the 

 waste of energy and decreased production re- 

 sulting from the holding out of use of these lots 

 that are near the markets. The farmer is forced 

 out to the wilds, and his customers are forced 

 into the cities, and between the two is this desert 

 of speculation. 



A millionaire consumes but little more food 

 stuff than a mechanic ought to consume and 

 would consume if his opportunities of earning 

 were not cut off by the holding of land out of 



