4 
THE A B C OF TAXATION 
ferries, churches, public schools, private schools, colleges, uni 
versities, public buildings—utilities which depend for their 
efficiency and economy on the character of the government; 
which collectively constitute the economic and social advan 
tages of the land independent of any quality or content of 
the ground or land itself, and which are due to the presence 
and activity of population, and are inseparable therefrom, 
including the benefit of proximity to, and command of, facili 
ties for commerce and communication with the world—an 
artificial value created primarily through public expenditure 
of taxes. For the sake of brevity, the substance of this def 
inition may be conveniently expressed as the value of “prox 
imity.” It is ordinarily measured by interest on investment 
plus taxes. 
II.—The Nature of Ground Rent 
As defined by Mr. Shearman, ground rent is, in its 
nature, " a tribute which natural laws levy upon every 
occupant of land as the market price of all the social as 
well as natural advantages appertaining to that land, 
including necessarily his just share of the cost of 
government.” It is found operative in every civilized 
country, automatically collecting “from every citizen 
an amount almost exactly proportionate to the fair 
and full market value of the benefits which he derives 
from the government under which he lives and the 
society which surrounds him.” It is a tribute, “a tax 
just, equal, full, fair, paid for full value received.” 
“It is not merely a tax which justice allows; it is one 
which justice demands. It is not merely one which 
ought to be collected; it is one which infallibly will 
be and is collected. It is not merely one which the 
State ought to see collected; it is one which, in the