American Agriculturist, February 16, 1924 
Abolish the Property Tax 
Wanted — 100,000 Farm-Signers Demanding Land Tax Reduction 
O F ALL the farmer’s problems, excepting 
none, taxation has become by far the 
worst. The annual national and local tax 
bill equals or exceeds the entire value of 
agricultural production for a year. The tax bill 
has multiplied itself four times since 1913. Tax 
exemptions continue to grow so that more 
and more this increasingly heavy burden of 
national and especially state and local taxa¬ 
tion falls on farmers* real estate. 
In 1913, the farmer’s share of 
national, State and local taxes was 6£4 
million dollars. In 1919, this had in¬ 
creased to 1,232 million dollars, and to 
1,436 million dollars in 1922. The 
farmer is least concerned with national 
taxes, but is most vitally concerned 
with State and local taxes for these 
are the ones that eat into his income or 
into his savings, whether he has an in¬ 
come or not. Most national taxes fall 
only indirectly on the farmer but the 
FARMER BEARS THE BURDEN 
OF STATE AND LOCAL TAXES 
DIRECTLY ON HIS LAND. 
The producer of non-agricultural 
articles can shift the tax to the con¬ 
sumer, but THE PRODUCER OF 
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
MUST ALWAYS PAY THE TAX 
HIMSELF. In 1922, the ratio of 
taxes to income for the farmer was 
16.6%; for the remainder of our people 
it was only 11.9%. In spite of this, 
the farmer receives the least for his 
tax money. He has few, if any, paved 
streets or sidewalks, electric lights, 
public water systems, sewerage, drain¬ 
age systems or public libraries. He 
pays the most and receives the least 
for the education of his children. 
In spite of all this, HEAVY 
APPROPRIATIONS CONTINUE. 
Thousands of clerks put into govern¬ 
ment positions under the stress of war 
are still there, now when the war is 
over. The politician with his hand in 
the taxpayer’s pocket has shown 
little tendency to practice the same 
economy in public affairs that the 
farmer has had to practice in his. 
Thousands of farm people this year 
do not know how to meet their tax 
bills. They feel that they have worked 
all the year for the tax collector and 
that the meager income for months 
has all been needed to pay the tax bill. 
Think what the billions of tax 
money would have done for our 
country life, if it could have been spent 
FOR SOMETHING CONSTRUC¬ 
TIVE, NEW MACHINERY TO 
RUN THE FARM BUSINESS, NEW 
COMFORTS FOR THE FARM 
HOME. Is it not about time to call 
a halt? Is it not about time for some 
real tax reduction? Farmers do not 
want any reduction of income taxes 
until direct taxes have been re¬ 
moved from property. Is it not time 
to make the politicians feel the heavy 
hand of the American farmer? Farm 
people are slow to arouse, but when 
they are once on the job, history 
proves it is time to watch out, and 
this year’s taxes are just about the 
last straw. ic«* 
American Agriculturist is going 
mto this tax battle without gloves. 
WE ARE ORGANIZING THE 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
TAX REDUCTION LEAGUE. 
OUR MOTTO IS: ABOLISH THE 
PROPERTY TAX. IT WILL NOT 
COST YOU ONE CENT TO JOIN 
1HIS LEAGUE, not even the sub¬ 
scription price to American Agriculturist. 
But we want the name of every farm taxpayer in 
the State of New York to the following petition 
and resolution, and we will use these petitions at 
Albany and Washington in such a way that our 
representatives will know just where the farmer 
stands and why. We will make what progress we 
can this year and keep at it until land taxes are 
abolished. Read the petition carefully, sign it 
yourself, get all of the other voters in your family 
to sign it, get your neighbors to sign it, and send it 
to us. Sign your name and address plainly on the 
blank line at the bottom of the petition. Paste on 
to the petition a piece of blank paper for additional 
signatures. Printed petitions for signatures will 
be furnished on application to the American 
Agriculturist, 461 Fourth Avenue, New York 
City. Farm people are going to be given a chance 
to express themselves on this great 
problem and we are going to see that 
their expression is heard in the land. 
The petition is in the center of this 
page. _ 
Where the Dividends Came 
From 
{Continued from 'page 151) 
dividends.” Accordingly, when they 
wrote to the company asking why their 
money _ was not coming, they inquired 
about interest. This gave Mr. Nidi an 
opportunity to give them an illuminating 
legal lesson and he would write explaining 
the difference between “interest” and 
“dividend.” A typical letter written by 
him is as follows: 
“We note in your letter that you speak of interest.. 
Interest is an item which accrues when money is loaned.. 
The relation of stockholders and corporation however, 
is that of investor rather than thatapf 1 ender and, borrower',' 
All the stockholder is entitled to are dividends, when 
conditions warrant their being declared.” 
Of course, this instructive information 
must have been a great satisfaction to the 
stockholder, but perhaps it did not com¬ 
pletely satisfy him. Accordingly, many 
of our subscribers have written to us, as 
we have in our files many complaints 
about this Company. 
These cases divided themselves into 
two classes; the first, which involved the 
largest amounts, were from men and 
women Aho had bought stock and wanted 
their money back; the second, from stock¬ 
holders who had tried, under the agree¬ 
ment in force at the time of purchase of 
stock, to obtain carbide and had en¬ 
countered delays and failure to deliver. 
The latter either wanted the carbide, or 
asked that orders be cancelled and their 
money returned. In both events, anyone 
who wrote the Farmers’ Standard Car¬ 
bide Company experienced great diffi¬ 
culty in getting any response whatever to 
letters, and when an answer did come it 
was apt not to have much bearing on the 
facts of the case. 
Meanwhile, however, there were glib- 
tongued salesmen still canvassing the 
field, and these men seemed to have 
developed particular skill in reconvincing 
original investors to the point of getting 
from them cash, checks, Liberty Bonds 
or gilt-edged securities, in payment for 
additional shares of the carbide stock. 
The salesmen usually gave some sort of a 
receipt, but it often seemed as though 
they did not work in very close accord 
with the home office, for when certifi¬ 
cates arrived at the home of the investor, 
THE AMOUNT WRITTEN ON THE 
FACE DID NOT ALWAYS COINCIDE 
WITH THE AMOUNT PAID IN BY 
THE BUYER. 
For instance, Mr. M. of New York had 
an extremely confusing time between the 
promises of the salesmen and the per¬ 
formance of the company. He first 
invested in preferred stock, then upon 
being notified that a dividend would soon 
be declared, signed a subscription agree¬ 
ment for one share of common stock, 
turning over in payment, a Liberty 
Bond. Six weeks later he received the 
certificate for this share, and two months 
later a dividend in the form of 1 share of 
common stock in the Standard Acety¬ 
lene Co. 
^ Then a salesman called and said that 
if Mr. M. paid $250 for stock already is- 
{Continued on page IQS) 
TO THE GOVERNOR, THE LEGIS¬ 
LATURE, AND TO EVERY OTHER 
PUBLIC OFFICIAL IN STATE, 
COUNTY AND TOWN GOVERN¬ 
MENT IN NEW YORK, PENNSYL¬ 
VANIA AND NEW JERSEY. 
WHEREAS, first, taxation has increased in this 
nation more than four times since 1913, and in our 
State and local governments more than three and a half 
times, and 
WHEREAS, second, this burden of taxation, par¬ 
ticularly for State and local governments, falls heaviest 
and directly on farmers and farm property, amounting 
to 16.6% of the farmer’s income in 1922, stopping agri¬ 
cultural prosperity and fast becoming absolutely 
insupportable, and 
WHEREAS, third, the general basis of taxation is 
INCOME and not PROPERTY, and 
WHEREAS, fourth, our national, State and local 
governments have made little real progress in cutting 
out unnecessary officers, government departments and 
appropriation bills since the end of the World War, 
therefore be it hereby 
RESOLVED: First, that we, the undersigned, are 
unalterably OPPOSED TO THE EXTENSION AT PRES¬ 
ENT OF ALL NATIONAL, STATE AND LOCAL GOV¬ 
ERNMENT ACTIVITIES. 
Second, that all of our national and local officers 
should give immediate attention to THE GRAVE 
NECESSITY OF LARGE REDUCTIONS IN ALL GOV¬ 
ERNMENT EXPENDITURES, to the reduction of 
government personnel, to combining and simplifying 
government departments and activities, to the need of 
short legislative sessions, to smaller expense accounts 
for public officials, to passing fewer laws, and in short, 
to the necessity for practicing the same economy in 
public affairs that farmers are constantly obliged to 
practice in the production of the necessities of life. 
Third, that we as farmers are not interested in 
credit or any other unsound farm relief legislation, 
BUT IN TAX REDUCTION. 
# Fourth, that taxation, both State and national, be 
maintained on all luxuries, as for example, chewing 
gum, tobacco, motion pictures, etc. 
Fifth, that tax reduction be made TO ABOLISH 
DIRECT PROPERTY TAX. A REDUCTION OF IN¬ 
COME TAXES IS NOT SATISFACTORY. The farmer’s 
income is from his property holdings and therefore his 
assessed valuation, particularly on paper, is high. 
The reduction of income taxes, while government ex¬ 
penditures are still so high, will inevitably result in 
greater taxes on property, chiefly FARM REAL ESTATE. 
Signed eventually by 100,000 farmers. 
Name (write plainly) 
Address. 
{Paste blank paper to this petition for additional names.) 
