6o 
THE A B C OF TAXATION 
Street, is it hot a fact that the value of the buildings 
approximately equals or exceeds the value of the 
land? Should not the value of the buildings at least 
keep s'ome sort of pace with the increasing value of 
the land? It is not asserted that Winter Street ought 
to have buildings worth, like the land, $97.50 per 
square foot, but that $7.13 per foot is too low and 
means a great detriment to business. 
Query. If estate holders in their quest of profits 
had been as dependent on buildings as on land during 
the past forty years, would Winter Street, the centre 
of business and of highest land values, ever have 
lacked building accommodations of a value approx 
imating much more closely to that of the land than 
has been the case? 
Query. If the income from the land of Winter 
Street, including appreciation, were no greater than 
the income from up-to-date buildings, would the 
business of Winter Street tolerate to-day its seventh- 
rate accommodations? 
Query. Was the land of Winter Street made for 
the use of business or for the speculative profit of the 
land owner?* 
Is the business of land owning pure and simple 
deserving of so much consideration as to merit encour 
agement at the expense, and to the detriment, of 
industry and enterprise? If not, is not the present 
system of exempting it from the burden of taxation 
unwise and indefensible? 
A modern eight story building covering the 
* By land owner is meant any man in his capacity as owner of land only, 
independently of his capacity as owner of buildings and improvements or 
anything else.