JUSTICE OF THE SINGLE TAX 115 
been so often abused. The single tax offers itself as a 
means of correcting this abuse. 
The Self-operating Social Law 
We ask you to look with us until you see, as we think 
we see, in ground rent the self-operating law for the 
social system, something that will, if unobstructed, 
tend to hold in just equilibrium the conflicting factors 
of land, labour, and capital, 
The particular factor in our reform which we would 
press upon your attention, because generally least 
understood, is the nature of ground rent. While land 
and wealth (or other wealth) have no feature in com 
mon, taxes and ground rent appear to us to have close 
resemblance in every feature. Taxes are the cause, 
ground rent is the effect. Taxes are the fertilizer, 
ground rent is the crop. Where there are no taxes, 
there is no ground rent. Where taxes are scanty, 
ground rent is scanty. Where taxes are abundant, 
ground rent is abundant. The ground rent of a com 
munity is, roughly speaking, one-half of it the result of 
public expenditure and one-half the result of quasi 
public and private expenditure; but all taxes (public 
expenditure) are transmuted into ground rent, a 
change of name without a change of nature. 
The single tax, we claim, is absolutely just and 
equitable, because it gives to every man equal (not 
joint) access to the land; because it exacts tribute from 
every man in proportion to his use of the land; because 
it leaves untouched the wealth which labour creates; 
taxes for the public use only a value of its own creation 
upon land of God’s creation, giving full value received 
ip the privilege of exclusive possession and hence is