^„

150  THE  A  B  C  OF  TAXATION
themselves  to  stopping  the  continuous  drain  of  wealth
from  the  pockets  of  the  producers  into  the  coffers  of
the  privileged?  President  Roosevelt  in  his  last
message  enjoins  upon  Congress:  “  Let  us  not  do  what
the  next  generation  cannot  undo.  We  have  a  right
to  the  proper  use  of  both  the  forests  and  the  fuel  during
our  lifetime,  but  we  should  not  dispose  of  the  birthright ­
  of  our  children.”  Mr.  Bryan,  in  his  prediction  of
“A  Great  Moral  Awakening,”  quotes  the  declaration  of
the  United  States  Supreme  Court  that  “an  unjust  tax
is  larceny  in  form  of  law.”  Unjust  fortunes  are,
we  claim,  the  fruit  of  unjust  taxes,  taxes  that  subtract
from  wages  and  make  almost  impossible  the  savings
of  labour  while  augmenting  the  fortunes  of  privilege;
or,  to  be  more  exact,  unjust  fortunes  are  due  to  the
absence  of  just  taxes.
But  it  is  asked,  what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?
We  say  that  there  is  just  one  punishment  to  fit  the
crime,  to  wit,  the  taxation  of  privilege.  Tax  the  oil
and  the  coal,  the  franchise,  and  all  other  forms  of
economic  rent,  at  its  fixed  initial  source,  the  land,
which,  without  inquisitorial  or  dooming  process,  bears
always  the  imprint  of  its  own  market  valuation.  Tax,
not  private  ownership  or  corporate  franchise,  but  the
privilege  attached  thereto.  The  colossal  error  of  the
century  is  the  private  appropriation,  instead  of  the
taxation,  of  rent.  This  it  is  that  makes  the  shopping
district  of  every  city  a  continuous  battlefield  for  the
business  interests  of  her  people,  and  every  battle  a
Waterloo.
For  the  prevention  of  unjust  fortunes  a  natural
process  is  already  provided.  For  an  equitable  reduction ­
  of  accumulated  fortunes  artificial  machinery