LAND ECONOMICS 
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case of forest land. With present practices of taxation, forest 
land is usually taxed under the general property tax, like agri- 
cultural land. Since forest land produces an income-yielding crop 
only once in from 50 to 150 years, every inducement is offered to 
cut the timber and get rid of the land as fast as possible, thus 
avoiding an accumulation of taxes while the land is yielding no 
income. Except for fast maturing trees, land suitable for grow- 
ing forests is not reforested because of the heavy tax burden on 
private owners. This situation has prompted many economists 
to recommend a revision of forest taxation policies and a greater 
amount of publicly owned forest land. 
The theory underlying the present system of taxing land under 
the general property tax in the United States is founded ostensibly 
on the “ability-te-pay” principle. Ownership of land signifies 
saved wealth or the possession of the ability to pay taxes. With 
the increasing expenditures of local governments, particularly 
for general welfare purposes, these savings in the form of landed 
property have been called upon to make heavy contributions. 
At the same time expenditures for consumption are almost 
untaxed, relatively speaking. Many economists are calling 
attention to the fact that this puts a premium on spending and a 
penalty on saving. In other words, this inequitable distribution 
of taxes between savings and expenditures is rapidly approaching 
the point of encouraging consumption and discouraging produc- 
tive savings. Consequently, there is considerable scientific sup- 
port for the view that some of the heavy direct taxes upon land 
should be transferred to indirect taxes upon certain forms of 
consumption, 7.e., that a broadening of the base of taxation is 
necessary to avoid confiscation of land values. 
There are many other phases of land economics that represent 
new developments. The last word has not been said on any 
phase of the subject. As to what extent the theories that are 
being elaborated are modifying and enriching economic theory, 
the future will have to decide. As research into the facts con- 
tinues, we expect that land economics, in practice and in theory, 
will be considerably revised. Only a beginning has been made. 
But the demand for new knowledge about land and the human 
relations focussing on the land encourages all those working in 
the field to push ahead to new levels of accomplishment.