THE SINGLE TAX. I 55 



ing. It is not reasonable that the lands of a great country 

 should have an aggregate value higher in cities than 

 in its country. Consequently, our aim should be, not 

 merely to establish a system which only promises to serve 

 a condition which must continue false, in order that the 

 system may be maintained, but to look for something to 

 bring about a truer state. 



However, the procuring of a system for laying a just 

 direct tax is a matter of grave importance. This neces- 

 sity has been heedlessly evaded by economists, as well as 

 statesmen, under whose province it comes for treatment. 

 Every thoughtful publicist should know that its solution 

 must become the base on which fiscal reforms must 

 rise ! without which that many-headed monster — indirect 

 taxation — must continue to hold sway. 



