326 THE QUESTIONS OF THE DAY. 



invested in its purchase; that, in particular, all the land of 

 the United States, whose title was once vested in the people, 

 has been solemnly conveyed by the people to individuals; and 

 that the state can not question the title conveyed by itself; to 

 which the rejoinder is made that one generation has no right 

 to attempt to bind succeeding generations by any such promises 

 as this, and that none of ns are bound by any such engagements 

 of our forefathers. 



To this it is rejoined that, even conceding the last conten- 

 tion, which is not conceded because it would destroy the power 

 of defending national life by creating national debt, it is still 

 expedient and for the best interests of society, that private 

 ownership of land should continue, because only under such 

 stimulus will land be put to its best use, since no one would 

 properly improve land which he did not own. To this, 

 however, the single taxers reply that he could retain it so 

 long as he paid a just tax upon it, and would be entitled to 

 all profits from the use of his improvements which he could 

 sell, as he does now. 



The arguments for and against the expediency of the 

 single tax can not be condensed into a single chapter. I 

 therefore do not go further into the merits of the question, 

 but shall confine myself to some inquiry into the probable 

 effect of single tax upon farmers. 



It is contended by some advocates of tlie single tax that 

 labor devoted to commerce and manufacturing yields far more 

 profit to individuals than labor to the same extent directed to 

 agriculture; that this increase of profit is due, mainly, to the 

 special advantages of location which enable the operations of 

 commerce and manufacturing to be conveniently carried on, 

 and that proper investigation would disclose that the majority 

 of agricultural land, not including improvements, yields little or 

 no profit after defraying costs of living and wear and tear of 

 improvements, and would therefore pay little or no tax ; and 

 that under the operation of the single tax, only the richest 

 and most favorably located agricultural lands would pay any 

 considerable tax, and they not in excess of what they now pay 

 on land, improvements, and personal property, and seldom so 



