32  THE  A  B  C  OF  TAXATION
rid  himself  of  the  mortgage  interest  that  he  has  to  pay
through  raising  his  tenant’s  rent  by  a  corresponding
amount.  Mortgage  interest  is  a  lien  held  by  an
individual;  similarly  a  tax  may  be  clearly  conceived
as  a  lien  held  by  the  State.  Both  affect  the  relation
between  the  property  owner  and  lien  holder;  neither
has  any  bearing  upon  the  relations  between  owner  and
tenant.  “Tax”  is  simply  the  name  of  that  part  of  the
gross  ground  rent  which  is  taken  by  the  State  in  taxation, ­
  the  other  part  going  to  the  owner;  the  ratio  these
two  parts  bear  to  one  another  has  no  effect  upon  the
gross  rent  figure,  which  is  always  the  sum  of  these  two
parts,  viz.,  net  rent  plus  tax.  The  greater  the  tax,  the
smaller  the  net  rent  to  the  owner,  and  vice  versa.
Ground  rent  is,  as  a  rule,  “all  the  traffic  will  bear”;
that  is,  the  owner  gets  all  he  can  for  use  of  his  land,
whether  the  tax  be  light  or  heavy.  Putting  more  tax
upon  land  will  not  make  it  worth  any  more  for  use,  will
not  increase  the  desire  for  it  by  competitors  for  its
tenancy,  will  not  increase  its  market  value.
To  illustrate,  let  us  consider  the  case  of  a  piece  of
land  for  which  the  landowner  gets  $i  ,000  rent  from  the
man  who  uses  it.
First:  The  owner,  let  us  say,  pays  over  to  the  city
in  taxes  $100  of  this  $1,000  rent.  Is  there  any  indication ­
  that  this  $  100  tax  has  any  influence  in  fixing
the  present  rent  at  $1,000?
Second:  Fet  us  suppose  that  next  year  the  city
decides  to  take  another  $100  of  the  $1,000  rent  in  taxes.
Could  the  owner  then  add  the  $200  tax  to  the  tenant’s
rent,  making  it  $1,200?
Third:  Fet  us  suppose  that  the  following  year  the
tax  is  increased  by  another  $100  and  so  on,  by  an  annual