230 THE HIGH COST OF LIVING 



materially burden the speculator, it is true, if the 

 tax rate were inconsiderable. But if the tax upon 

 the land was increased to 2 per cent, on the actual 

 value it would become such a burden that the owner 

 would seek some means of escape from it. A tax 

 rate of 2 per cent, on land valued at $100 an acre 

 would amount to $2 per acre. On a 10,000-acre 

 farm the taxes would amount to $20,000. On a 

 100,000-acre farm they would amount to $200,000 

 a year. Quite obviously men would be driven 

 either to sell their land or put it to productive use 

 under such a tax. They would either cultivate it 

 themselves or dispose of it to would-be farmers. 

 They would cut their estates up into small holdings; 

 they would accept easy terms of payment; they 

 would offer generous terms to tenants; they would 

 pay higher wages to farm-laborers. 



About our cities, even in the Eastern States, mil- 

 lions of acres of land are being held idly, indifferently, 

 and by inertia just because it costs little to so hold 

 them. The owner hopes that some day he \^1 be 

 able to realize a profit. And a slight increase in the 

 taxes on land would bring much land onto the market 

 while a very small tax upon the great ranges of the 

 West, on the plantations of the South, on the mil- 

 lion-acre estates of Texas, California, Oregon, and 

 Washington would lead to their being broken up 

 for settlers. 



And if the lax upon the land were made suffi- 



