A Century Ago, Cincinnatians Led A Movement to Abolish All Taxes, Except On Property

It is possible that Ohio voters may be asked this year to vote on eliminating property taxes. Ironically, a little more than a century ago, there was a nationwide movement to do the exact opposite – remove all taxes except for property taxes. The national headquarters for this Single Tax League were right here in Cincinnati.The Single Tax League was an outgrowth of the writings of Henry George, an American political economist, social philosopher and journalist. George’s best-selling book, “Progress and Poverty” (1879), established the economic philosophy known as Georgism, based on the belief that people should own the value they produce themselves, but that the economic value of land should belong equally to all members of society.Georgism attracted some rather wealthy adherents, notably Joseph Fels of Philadelphia, who made his fortune selling Fels-Naptha Soap. Fels created a fund to finance Georgist publications and projects. The national headquarters for the Fels Fund was in…