THE SINGLE TAX. 1 47 



What are the single-tax arguments ? They may be di- 

 vided into two principal divisions, namely : those which 

 maintain that all taxes must finally rest upon the con- 

 sumer ; and the opposites, which maintain that taxes fall 

 altogether upon production. The first may be repre- 

 sented by the following quotations from Mr. Edvvard At- 

 kinson's " Distribution of Products " : " It will be borne in 

 mind that, with few exceptions, all taxes are distributed, 

 wherever they may be first imposed, and ultimately fall 

 on all consumers in almost the exact ratio of their con- 

 sumption." (p. 103.) "The writer is of the profound 

 conviction that whenever the subject of taxation is re- 

 duced to a science, taxation on real estate will become 

 the source of nearly all taxes." (p. 115.) It is true that 

 in these quotations Mr. Atkinson does not pin his faith 

 to the single tax, or one upon the rent value of land 

 only ; but they serve to represent the opinions of many 

 leading students and publicists upon the subject of the 

 final bearings of taxation. 



As regards taxes upon land (or real estate) and the 

 cultivator, it is argued : Every one must consume the 

 products of land. Every producer must go to the land 

 for his raw material. Consequently, where land is taxed, 

 the one in possession of it is enabled to charge this tax 

 to the consumer, who is obliged to purchase his products. 



On the other hand, Mr. Henry George contends that 

 " a tax on land values does not add to prices, and is 

 thus paid directly by the person on whom it falls ; where- 

 as all taxes upon things of unfixed quantity increase 



would have had to pay $100. Since the unearned increment, or rent 

 per farm accruing to value of the bare land in the United States, does 

 not reach 40 per cent, of this amount, such a tax would certainly have 

 encroached either upon the farmer's labor or his capital. 



