52

THE  A  B  C  OF  TAXATION

tion  of  ten,  twenty,  or  thirty  years  hence  are  very
slightly  discounted  to-day.
Therefore,  the  assertion  that  the  above  programme
"would  visit  the  whole  burden  of  the  reform  upon
present  owners  ”  is  erroneous  and  confusing,  especially
when  the  burden  of  a  three  hundred  dollar  thirty  years’
depreciation  is  offset  by  an  appreciation  of  perhaps
more  than  $1,500  (as  is  the  case  in  Boston)  which
offset  is  rightfully  a  part  of  the  economic  situation.
Many  laws,  tariff  laws  among  others,  do  not  pretend
to  insure  against  sporadic  cases  of  possible  injustice
but  the  universal  law  remains  that,  with  civilisation,
the  value  of  land  increases.
(c)  The  statement  of  the  book  on  this  point  comes
far  short  of  covering  the  actual  condition.  The  facts
that  the  “selling  value  of  land  is  an  untaxed  value”
and  that  “the  burden  of  a  land  tax  cannot  be  made  to
survive  a  change  of  ownership”  have  indeed  so  increased
the  demand  for  Boston  land  that  in  value  probably
more  than  three-quarters  of  it  is  to-day  in  dead  hands
or  in  the  hands  of  trustees  and  syndicates  which  cannot ­
  die,  all  of  whom  refuse  to  loosen  their  grip  upon
this  “preferred  stock”  except  at  exorbitant  speculative
prices  which  would  yield  income  far  under  other  lines
of  investment.