g6

THE  A  B  C  OF  TAXATION

Coming  upon  Spencer’s  lost  field,  Henry  George
formed  a  new  line  of  battle,  changed  the  war  cry  of
“equal  right  to  land”  to  “joint  or  common  right  to
rent,”  picked  up  the  shepherd’s  sling  of  taxation,  the
familiar  weapon  which  had  escaped  Herbert  Spencer’s
attention,  and  gradually  dispelling  the  mists  of  the
old  conflict,  won  the  day.
It  is  my  opinion  that  few  men  have  been  more  misapprehended, ­
  misinterpreted,  and  hence  misjudged,
than  Henry  George,  and  this,  too,  not  infrequently,
by  zealous  friends.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  interpretation ­
  of  his  ultimate  views  regarding  land  tenure.
Few  people  know  of  the  distinction  made  by  Henry
George,  by  the  science  of  economics,  and  by  statute
law  between  private  property  in  land  and  private
property  in  the  things  produced  by  labour,  or  between
the  private  ownership  of  land  and  the  private  possession ­
  of  land.  Therefore,  if  you  say  that  private
property  in  land  is  unjust,  or  that  private  ownership
of  land  is  unjust,  the  tendency  is  to  close  many  minds
to  further  consideration  of  a  statement  which  to  them
savours  too  strongly  of  confiscation.  One  may  attack
with  vigour  the  private  appropriation  of  ground  rent
(what  land  is  worth  for  use),  and  be  easily  understood,
while  an  attack  upon  private  ownership  in  land  is  very
apt  to  be  misunderstood.  Able  men  sometimes  assert
that  the  aim  of  the  single  tax  movement  is  the  complete ­
  subversion  and  overthrow  of  the  institution  of
private  property  in  land.  This  confusion  arises  partly
from  a  lack  of  clear  understanding  as  to  the  meaning
of  terms,  and  partly  from  applying  to  land  the  theory
of  ownership  which  in  law  applies  only  to  other  things.
Coming  to  an  analysis  of  the  different  terms,  posses ­