\  GROUND  RENT  A  SOCIAL  PRODUCT  19

Even  if  $5,000,000  be  deducted  from  this  $55,000,000
for  error  in  estimate,  there  will  still  be  left  $50,000,000,
or  more  than  double  the  amount  of  present  taxes.
The  fact  that  ground  rent  is  the  combined  product  of
the  character,  activities,  and  industries  of  a  people
and  that  its  taxation  is  in  no  way  a  burden  upon
labor  or  enterprise  is  ample  reason  for  taking  in  taxation, ­
  at  least  the  one-half  of  the  ground  rent  necessary
to  cover  all  present  taxes,  instead  of  taking  only
about  two-tenths  as  is  done  to-day.  Would  it  not  also
suggest  the  ample  sufficiency  of  rent  for  meeting  any
future  wise  increase  in  public  expenditure.
Next  to  that  of  the  farmer,  the  province  and  function
of  the  landlord  would  seem  to  be  one  of  the  greatest
in  its  importance  to  his  fellow-men.  The  farmer  is
the  commissary  of  subsistence;  the  landlord  is  quartermaster ­
  of  the  camp.  The  farmer  feeds  the  world;
the  landlord  houses  the  world.  Besides  being  the
natural  housers  and  the  natural  tax  gatherers,  the
landlords  are  also  the  natural  assessors.  “Nobody
runs  after  the  assessor  to  tell  him  what  property  is
Worth.  Everybody  runs  after  the  landlord  to,  tell
him  what  his  land  is  worth.”  With  this  triple  responsibility ­
  and  privilege  of  housing  and  tax  collecting  and
tax  assessing,  landlords  ought  to  be,  as,  if  they  paid
all  the  taxes,  they  would  be,  the  natural  guardians  of
the  public  treasury  against  wastefulness  and  misapplication, ­
  for  the  simple  reason  that  ground  rent,
while  increased  by  every  wise  outlay,  is  decreased  by
every  unwise  expenditure.
There  remain  to  be  considered  five  points  of  special
application  to  the  landlord’s  interest,  viz.:
The  taxation  of  real  estate  only;  the  tax  imposed  by