VOL. XXI.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, DEC. 25,1886
NO. 52
I
HKNiY OlO&ei'S LAND TAX SCHEME
No wilder vagary ever entered a man's
head than that of Henry Oeorge, of New
York, whose great "reform" scheme ia to
pnt all taxes on land. He pretends In thla
to advocate the interests of poor men,
whereas It wonld only tend to impoverish
those of email capital. Mr. Oeorge proposes to tax all land alike, improved and
unimproved. Mr. Aklna, ef Boston, replies to his theories, that "raw land, ao to
speak, baa no valne. It becomes valuable
only Id the ratio of the labor and capital
combined which may b> pnt about it."
Mr. Akins reasons further on the subject
as follows: "It seems very plain to me
that If land is to be subject to a firat lien
ef |29 upon each $1,000 worth, the possessore of great capital wonld have a much
greater advantage over small people than
they now have. They could advance the
taxes before they Obtained any Income of
any sort from tbe buildings which they
might erect; they conld hold their property through periods of depression without Income from it; they conld build ten-
atory buildings or five story buildings,
where the poor man oould only build a
one or two story balldlng; yet the latter
CHRISTMAS FUN—IN AMBUSH.
would be subject to the same first lien of
$29 per $1,000 on land aa the former, if he
held tbe same conditional possession ln
lota of equal size, as he might. It, therefore, appeara to me that Mr.-George's suggestion is well calculated to tax all the
small holders of landoutof their property,
and to ciisolldate the possession of land
which la necessary to its use, aa admitted
by Mr Oeorge, in the handa of great capitalists."
WONDERFUL INCREASEII PRODUCTIONS.
The late repirt of the Dapartment of
Agriculture calls attention to the great Increase of tbe staple productions ln this
oountry.' It states that the lnoreaae of
production, aa shown by atatlstica, haa
been marvelous In recent years. While
the number of the people in 1880 were
more than double those of 1850, the production of cereals not only kept pace with
popul^'ion, but furnished 53 bushels for
each Inhabitant ln place of 88 at the earlier date. With an Increase of aeven millions of people In the first half of the present decade, the aggregate of cereala ex
ceeded 3,000,000,003 bushels ln 1885, still
keeping   np   the  extraordinary   rate   of
supply attained in 1880, and showing
in wheat a product five times as large
aa in 1850, and a corn crop nearly four
tlmea aa large. The present year la one
of medium productiveness, with less
oorn and more wheat than in 1885,
promising nearly 1,700,000,000 bushels
of oorn, and aemething more than 450,-
000,000 bushels of wheat, a supply of
tbe latter ample for consumption, while
reserving a fourth of the whole for exportation. The other cereals have a medium
rate of yield, the hay crop ia ample, and
the cotton crop promiaea to be nearly ss
large as that of laat year, six and a third to
aix and a half million bales.
■ AST IHDIA AND ENGLAND.
An American writer abroad says that
tbe average wages for an Indian laborer
are $25 per year, and the average farm is
five a-re* in extent. The whole of Central
India will soon be opened up by the railroads, which are being rapidly construe ed
all over the oountry. Over 1,500 mliea of
road have already been built. These roads
are constructed by corporations with a
guarantee of 5 per cent interest on the
money invested.   In consideration of thia
guarantee the government retervts >ue
right to purchase the roads in 20 years, and
tbe government ia taking advantage of
tbls right. This, in time, will become an
immense source of revenue. The railroads will be of immense advantage to
England In the transportation of the wheat
of that oountry, the production of which
Is increasing ao rapidly. That government la fostering her interests there
purely for commercial advantages.
POSSIBLE WAR IN EUROPE.
It looks very much like there would be
war on an extensive scale In Europe next
year. The Bulgarian trouble between Russia and other countries It seems is likely
to involve several nationa. Russia has
just ordered an Immense outfit of army
equipments to be delivered not later than
next spring. Germany is pressing to a
large increase in her army, and France
seems already to be on an extensive war
footing. Austria and Turkey will of course
be involved if war opens, and it ia hard to
see how England la to keep out of it. The
present outlook suggests extensive war
troubles next spring. Diplomacy will
probably delay It till then.