New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1846-11-20
A..ociarion Discussed. 10. L


the earth
The earth, the air, the waters the sunshine. with
their natural products were Divinely intended and
appointed FOR the use and sastenance Of Man Gen
/ 20, 23,-not for part only, but .ar the whole
Human Family.
Civilized Society as it exists in our day has d.
vested the larger portion Of mankind Of the nnEH-
pejed. Impoverished enjoyment of those natural
rights That larger portion may be perishnz with
cold, yet have no legally recognized right TO
stick OF decaying fuel in the most unfreqaented
morass, or may be furnishing. yet haze no legal
right to pluck and est the bIerest acorn in the
depths Of the remotes. wilderness. The deieasance
or confscation Of Mans natural right to use any
portion OF the Earths surface not actually IN use
by another is an important fact be kept in view
in every consideration OF the duty OF the atfiGent
and comfortable to the poor and unfortunate
It's not essential in this place TO determine that
the Investment OF the larger number Of any recos
nized right &c the Soil and its Products. save by the
purchased permission o! others, was or was net
polite and necessary. Al VINO reflect must GER
tainly admit that many OF the grants OF land b.
hundreds Of square miles TO this that tayorite Of
Z the DO4er WHICH 6sSuIl!S4 ~ llltht Lirii4 w.
made thourhtlessly or recklessly, and would not
have been so large or so unaccompanied with stp
uIations in behalf Of the future occupants and GU
tiyators Il a reasonable foresight and decent re
gard for the general good had been cherished and
cyinced by the granting power Suffice 1t here now
ever that the granting OF the SOil-ol the State Of
New York. for cxample-by the supreme authority
representing the whole TO a minor portion OF the
whole is fixed fact BY law Of Nature, eve
r. person born in the State OF NewYork had tun
less forfeited by crime perfect right 10 tc here,
and to his equal share OF the Soil, the woods, the
waters, and all the natural products thereof. By
the law OF Society all but the Possessors OF title
deeds exist here only by the purchased permission
Of the land owning class, and We're intruders ana
trespassers on the soil Of their nativity without
that permission. BY law, the landless have no
inherent right to stand single square foot OF the
State Of New-York except in the highways
Tho only solid ground on which this surrender o;
the original property of the whole to a minor Por-
ton can be justified is that OF PUBLIC GocD-thc
good not Of a part but of whole. The people of
past generation, through their rulers, claimed
and exercised the right OF dvestlnc not themselves
merely but the majority OF all future generations
Of their original and inherent right TO possess and
cultivate any unmproycd portion OF the soil OF our
State for their own sustenancc and benefit To
render this assumption OF power valid to the fear
full extent TO which it exercised 1t is essential
that it be demonstrated that the good OF the whole
was promoted by such exercise.
Is this nationally demonstrabe now! Can the
widow, whose children pine and SILVER in some
bleak, miserable garrett on the fifteen or twenty
cents which is all she can by unremittcd toll
be made to realize that she and her babes are ben.
cited by or in consequence of the granting to n
part an exclusive right to the earth and enjoy
| its fruits Can the poor man, who day after day
PAGES the streets of city in search of any EN-
! poyment at any price las thousands are now do
! ing here be made TO realize it on his part Are
there not thousands on thousands-natves of our
State who never wiiiully violated her laws--who
arc to-day far worse of than they would have been
! if Nature rule of allowing man to appropriate
to himself any more OF the earth than he can cult!
waite and improve had been recognized and re
spected by Society These questions admit OF but
one answer. And one inevitable consequence OF
the prevailing system is that, as Population in
| increases aud Arts perfected the income OF the
wealthy owner Of land increases while the recon-
perse of the hired or leasehold cultvator is steadi
ly diminishing. The labor OF Great Britain is
twice as effective now as it was century ago. but
the laborcr is paid, led and lodged than he
then was, while the incomes of the landlord class
have been enormously increased. The same fun
damcnta causes exist here, and tend to the same
results They have been modified thus far, by the
existence, within State Of large tracts
of unimproved land, which the owners were anx-
ous to improve or dispose OF on almost any terms.
These are growing scarcer and more remote they
orm part OF the system we are considering,
but something which exists in opposition to it,
which modifes it, but is absolutely sure be ulti-
mately absorbed and conquered by IL The noto-
rious fac, that they do to mitigate the
tons 10 which the landess mass. even in cur long
and densely settled towns and cities are subject,
serves to show that the condition of the great
must inevitably be far worse than at present when
the natural contamination of land selling is reached
and all the soil Of the Union has become the prop
erty OF minor part of the People OF the Union.
The past cannot be recalled. What has been
rightiully however mistakenly done by the aa.
tnorZed agents OF the stare or Nation can only DC
retracted upon urgent public necessity. and upon
due satisfaction TO all whose private rights are
thereby invaded But those who have been di.
vested OF important, q vital natural right, are
also entitled to compensation. The RIGHT TO La,
BoR secured to them in the creation Of the earth,
taken away in the granting OF the Soil to minor
1 portion OF them, must be restored. Labor, essen
tial to ALL is the memorable condition Of the honest
independent subsistence OF the Poor. II must be
fully guaranteed to all, so that each may know
that lie never starve nor be forced 10 beg while
able and willing to work. Our public provision for
Pauperisn, is but hating and wretched subssi-
tute for this. Society exercises paternal guar
dianshp over the poor man until he has surrender,
cd to despair. He may spend whole year and
his little al in vany seeking employment, and all
this time Society does nothing, cares nothing for
him but when his last dollar is exhausted, and
his capacities very probably Frustrated by the in
toxcating drauehcs TO which he IS driven to es-
cape the horrors Q! reflection, tkea he becomes a
subject OF public charity and is often maintained