THE  SINGLE  TAX

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tax  more  burdensome  or  more  continuous  than  that
borne  by  every  man  that  has  lived  in  a  house  since  a
house  tax  was  invented.
The  gross  ground  rent  of  the  land  of  the  City  of  Boston
is  by  careful  estimate  more  than  ....  155,000,000
Of  this  amount  there  is  already  taken  in  taxation ­
  more  than  .......  10,000,000
Leaving  to  the  landowners  of  1916  a  net  ground
rent  of  .......  .  $45,000,000
The  fact  that  this  sum  amounts  to  $75  per
capita,  or  $375  pet  family,  will  help  the  mind  to
grasp  its  magnitude  as  a  factor  in  the  distribution ­
  of  wealth.
State  and  local  taxes  upon  improvements,  buildings,
personal  property,  and  polls  amount  to  much  less
than  $15,000,000
If  this  additional  amount  were  taken  from  rent  there
would  still  remain  to  the  landowners  a  balance
of  $30,000,000
or  $50  per  capita,  or  $250  per  family.
Coming  to  the  consideration  of  the  means  by  which
more  revenue  may  be  gradually  raised  from  the  land
and  the  burden  of  taxation  made  more  proportionate
and  reasonable,  choice  may  be  had  from  a  variety  of
methods.  The  one  most  frequently  suggested  is  that
of  appropriating  by  taxation  part  or  all  of  the  future
increase  in  land  values.  If  Boston  should  decide  to
start  to-day  and  take  in  taxation  her  future  unearned
increment  above  the  present  value  of  $722,000,000,
the  case  would  be  exactly  the  same  as  that  of  some  new
community  where  no  value  has  accrued,  a  situation
in  which  the  ideal  justice  of  the  single  tax  is  so  frequently ­
  conceded.
If  Boston  had  decided  ten  years  ago  to  take  in