Letters on Taxation

Edwin Burgess

[An introduction by Hyland Raymond and William S. Buffman]

Mr. Edwin Burgess author of these letters on taxation (first published in the Racine Advocate of 1859-60) was born in London, England, in 1807 and died in Racine, Wis., in 1869.

He received an ordinary common school education and served an apprenticeship in the tailor trade; a man of the average middle class of the early part of the 19th century; a competent craftsman and evidently a man of some ambition, as he emigrated to the United States in the middle 40's, locating in Racine, Wis., and establishing himself in a fairly successful business. So that by the time of the breaking out of the Civil War he was in possession of a modest competence and being in failing health he retired from business, but not from a keen interest in the welfare of his fellowmen.

In personal appearance he was one of the men you would hardly pass on the street without taking a second look at him. We who were young at that time remember him as a man of liberal ideas in both politics and religion but most kindly, moderate and thoughtful in all things, but in the overshadowing presence of the anti-slavery campaign and the impending Civil War, these letters of his were passed over as the irrelevant dreams of a crank and at the time excited but little note or comment.

Yet, here was a man who probably never read the "Wealth of Nations" or the writings of any of the great political economists, out of a heart overflowing with sympathy for his fellowmen and especially for the masses of his fellow countrymen and a wonderful keenness of intellect evolved practically the whole theory of the Single Tax as set forth and elaborated 20 years later by Henry George.

The verses accompanying the letters reveal a heart full of human sympathy, while the letters show an originality and depth of thought and clearness of statement which place him among the foremost thinkers of the age. In fact, a man of far more logical acumen and breadth of view then many of the men who figure largely on the rolls of fame.

In commenting on these letters, Mr. F.M. King, editor of the Liberator (single tax organ of New Zealand, to whose kindness and courtesy we are indebted for the copies from which this is printed,) who republished them in 1908, says: "The marvel of it is, that single-handed and in spite of chronic sickness, he should have worked out the true solution of the social problem 20 years before Henry George's work was heard of.

"As a working man, speaking to working men, these letters and poems are a legacy of which we should all be proud."

He made a visit to England in 1864, taking with him an edition of these letters and distributing several hundred on Broadway, N.Y., and the balance in the streets of London.

After his death his wife returned to England and in accordance with his wish had an edition printed for free distribution, one of which was found in Mr. Chas. Braillaugh's collection of miscellaneous pamphlets now in the British museum.

The fact that the ideas he advanced fifty years ago are now commanding the attention of the whole civilized world and shaping very largely the destinies of Great Britain and her colonies, would seem to be a sufficient reason for he re-issue of these remarkable letters and it seemed unfair that the work and memory of such a man should be allowed to perish in the place of its birth.

In view of all which the reprint is put forth by his old time friends and admirers.


LAND VERSUS LABOUR TAX

Why tax us the produce of any one's toil
While it raises the price of the land,
And limits the sale, by enhancing the price
Of the food which the poor must demand?
It raises the price of the product of land,
And lowers the wages of toil,
So the workers have little their wants to supply,
And nothing to purchase the soil.

With little to buy, they have little demand
For the produce of any one's toil;
So the workers are idle, as well as the land,
While weeds grow on much of the soil.
Men perish, tho' labour and land would afford
What would keep them in comfort and joy,
While the blessings of health and comfort of wealth
Would follow their steady employ.

No taxes on aught that our labour can make,
For these would diminish free toil;
But so much per acre all over the land,
So that no one should hoard up the soil,
For the landlords have robbed us, for ages before,
Taxed all but the land which they stole,
Our food and our drink, our paper and ink,
To enslave us in body and soul.

May we reap the reward we've endeavoured to sow,
Of free land and the freedom of trade,
That the taxes may henceforth be all on the land,
And never on labour be laid.


Letter 1 * Letter 2 * Letter 3
Letter 4 * Letter 5 * Letter 6
Letter 7 * Letter 8 * Letter 9
Letter 10 * Letter 11