The Bold 1894 Single Tax Manifesto
A radical Seattle group calls for a complete overhaul of the city tax system and the end of speculative land hoarding.
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A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The address to the citizens of Seattle adopted at the Central Labor Union hall sets forth that the party intends to appeal to justice rather than prejudice. It alleges that none of the established political parties would rend the shackles that now fetter industry. The Single Tax League asserts that the industrial portion of the city is at the mercy of political pirates who fatten at the public 'crib'. Their platform proposes the exemption of all improvements—including manufactures and personal property—from taxation, arguing that the tax burden should rest solely upon the speculative value of land. They also advocate for municipal ownership of water, electricity, and transportation, and the abolition of the current city charter.
“We hold that each man is entitled to all that his labor produces; therefore no tax should be levied on the products of labor.”
The Single Tax movement, inspired by Henry George, was a massive civic force in late 19th-century Seattle. Their arguments regarding land speculation and the social cost of 'holding land idle' remain central to modern Seattle housing discourse, providing a direct lineage to today's debates over property tax reform and land use.
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