Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-04-28

m H.
nor portion Of the whole is a fixed fact ); Rv !,
iaw OF Mature, every person born in the State of
New loTk had (unless forfeited by crime) per
feet right to be here and to his eouaI xhare of ,h
soil, the woods, the waters. and all the n.trr.I
products thereof By the law of society ali Int
the Possessors of title-deeds exist here only hv
me one Purenased permission of the .land-owning
class, and We're intruders and tresp pas;ers on the
SOL OF tner nativity without that permission
BY law, the landless have no inherent riubt n
sane X On single square foot Of the State Of New
ok except IN the highways.
The only solid ground on which this surrender
OF the original property of the whole to a minor
portion can be justified Is that of PUBLIC COOP
the good, not OF part, but of whole The neo-
pie OF past generation, through their rulers
claimed and exercised the right of divestinp. not
themselves merely, but the majority of all future
generations, of their original and Inherent right
to possess and cultivate any unimproved norton
of the soil of State for their own sustenance
and benefit To render this assumption of power
valid to the fearful extent to which Ii was exer
cised, 1t is essential that il be demonstrated that
the good OF the whole was promoted by such ex
ercise.
widow, whose children pine and shiyer in some
bleak, miserable garret, on the fifteen or twenty
cents, which Is all she can earn by unremitted
toll, be made TO realize that she and her bahes
are benefited by or in consequence of the grant.
ing to part the exclusive right to use the earth
and enjoy its fruits, Can the poor man, who. day
after day. PAGES the streets Of city in search of
employment at any price, (as thousands are now
doing here be made TO realize it on his mart
Are there not thousands on thousands-natives of
our State who never willfully violated her laws
who are to-day far worse off than thev ,vonld
have been if Natures rule of allowing no man TO
appropriate to himself any more Of the earth than
h; he can &c cultivate and improve had been recog-
admit of but one answer And one inevitable
consequence Of the prevailing system is that as
population increases and arts are perfected, the
income of the wealthy owner of land increases
while the Tecompense of the hired or leaseboId
cultivator is steadily diminishing. The labor of
Oreat Britain is twice as effective now as it was
century ago, but the laborer is worse paid fed
and lodged than he then was while the incomes
OF the landlord class have been enormously in
creased The same fundamental causes exist
mere, ana tend 10 the same results. They have
been modified, thus far, by the existence Within
or near our State, of large tracts of unimproyed
land, which the owners were anxious to improve
or dispose of on almost any terms These are
growing scarcer and more remote they form no
part OF the system we are considering. but some
thing which exists in opposition to IL, which
modlhes IT, but is absolutely to be ultimately
absorbed and conquered by it. The notorious
fact that they do serve to mitigate the exactions
to which the landless mass, even in our long and
densely-settled towns and cities are subject
serves to show that the condition of the great
mass must inevitably be far worse than at pres
ent when the natural consummation of land sell
ing is reached, and all the soil of the Union has
become the property of a minor part of the peo-
pie Of the Union.
The past can not be recalled. What has been
rightfully (hOwever mistakenly done by the au-
III.
be retracted upon urgent public necessity, and
upon due satisfaction to all whose private rights
are thereby invaded. But those who have been
divested OF an important, vital natural right
are also entitled to compensation. THE RIGHT
TO LABOR, secured to them in the creation of the
earth, taken away in the granting of the soil to
minor portion of them, must be restored Labor
essential TO ALL is the inexorable condition of the
honest, independent subsistence of the Door II
must be fully guaranteed to all, that each may
know that he never starve nor be forced To
beg while able and willing to work Onr public
provision for pauperism is but haltinp and
wretched substitute for this Society exercises
he has surrendered to despair He NAV spend
whole year and his little all in vainly seeking
employment, and all this time society does no.
thing, cares nothing for him but when his last
dollar is exhausted, and his capacities yery prob
ably Prostrated by the intoxicating drau9hts to
which he Is driven to escape the horrors of reec-
and is often maintained in ideness for the rest of
his days at d cost of thousands, when few dol
lars worth of foresight and timely aid might
have preserved him from this fate and in a posi-
ton OF independent usefulness for his whole af-
ter-life -.' -t
But the right to labor-that is, to constant en-
ployment with just and full recompense-can
not be guaranteed to all without a radical change
In our social economy. i, for one am very will
ing, nay, most anxious. to do my full share to-
ward securing to every man, woman and child,
full employment and just recompense for all
time to come. / feel this can be accom-
plished- But can not, as the world goes, give
employment at any time to all who ask il of me,
nor the hundrcth part of them. - Work, wo-k
give US something to do any thing that will
secure US honest bread,n is at this moment the
prayer of not less than thirty thousand human
beings within sound Of our City Hall bell. They
would gladly be producers of wealth, vet remain
from week to week mere consumers of bread
which somebody has to earn. Here is an enor-
nous waste and loss. We must devise a remedy.
Ii is the duty, and not less the palpabe interest
of the wealthy, the thrifty, the tax paying, to do
so. The remedy, propose to show, is found in
ASSOCIATION. II. &.