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18 4 THE A B C OF TAXATION 
in that statement was official, and was followed by the return of 
Dr. McGlynn to active duty. 
E 
A PROTEST AGAINST UNJUST TAXATION 
The following remarks were addressed by the author to the 
assessors of the City of Newton, Mass., less with the idea of 
securing an economic advantage through a deduction of his tax 
payments than by reason of a hope that he might strike a blow 
for the acceptance of single tax principles of taxation. 
“Gentlemen— I am assessed on my house lot, Newtonville 
Avenue and Bellevue Street, 20,264 square feet, at fifteen cents a 
foot; on additional land, less desirable, facing on Lewis 
Terrace, 17,496 feet, valued at ten cents a foot, in all — 
On land, $4,750 at $16.20 per thousand $76.95 
Onhouse,$9,oooat$i6.zoperthousand 145.80 
Personal estate and water tax . . . . . . . 74-4° 
Total $297.15 
“To the valuation of the land, which is fair and reasonable, 
I make no objection. Against so large a tax upon my house I 
desire to protest, and I respectfully ask its abatement not only 
because the actual cost of the house was fictitious and exag 
gerated beyond any true market value, but because its selling 
value is greatly depreciated by the surroundings, which to-day 
would not justify a house of much more than half its pretensions. 
Not only have I by building my house contributed liberally to 
create the value of my neighbours’ land, but the best part of my 
substance has in the last ten or a dozen years been largely 
wasted in trying, by private improvement and adornment of 
both house and land, to counteract the adverse influences of coal 
yards and freight yards and steam whistles. I have thus 
attempted to rescue and protect my neighbours’ land values just