18 THE THIRD POWER 



turbed at the thought that perhaps the farmers may 

 decide to control their own business. In a recent 

 number of Harper's Weekly, which is supposed to 

 be dependent on certain Wall Street influences for 

 its existence, there was printed an article entitled, 

 "The Twentieth Century Farmer." It was, as all 

 such articles coming from such sources invariably 

 are, exceedingly flattering. We are assured, not 

 only that the farmer is a good fellow, but that he 

 has things pretty much his own way. "There are, 

 for instance," the writer says, "scores of school dis- 

 tricts in the thinly settled portions of the plains 

 where the entire tax is paid by railroads and eastern 

 corporations, and farmers' children attend the 

 schools so supported." But the school tax is a tax 

 on property, and if railroads and eastern corpora- 

 tions own the property in these districts, is there any 

 reason why they should not pay the taxes assessed 

 against it ? How can this be considered a bonus to 

 the farmer? Further, we know — if we know any- 

 thing about taxation — that corporations shift the 

 burden of taxation whenever they can possibly do 

 so. If, in order to pay this school tax, the railroads 

 raise freight rates, which are paid by the farmers, 

 the farmers after all pay the school tax. At the 

 very most our case simply is one in which the farm- 

 ers find a chance to get even — pass the tax along; 

 there is no gratuity involved in it, yet this movement 

 means more than is yet evident. The tax will not 



