The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1859-09-23

Land Reform.

No subject Of equal importance seems to
be 50 little understood, and to receive so
little public attention at the present time,
rs the subject of " Land Reform and vet
he question is one Of deeper importance
- the masses than any by which they have
ever been agitated; and the doctrines of
Land Reform" if properly carried out,
would do more to elevate the working
classes and secure their independence, than
would the success Of all the other reforms
which have been proposed during the past
fifty years.
The Legislation of Congress for the past
few years has had a serious tendency to-
wards inviting and encouraging land spe-
culation, and consequent land monopoly.
The enormous grants of land given to aid
in the construction of Railroads have pass
ell into the hands of soulless corporations,
from whose hands they pass mostly into
the possession of the non resident capitalist
and the comparatively few acres that be-
come the property of the actual settlers are
bought by them at price enormously be-
yond the government price for wild land
The speculation in government lands has
been fruitful field for the investment of
capital for the last forty years, and immense
fortunes have been made by the profits of
this traffic. And from What class has the
r-o.it been drawn? Why, from the actual
settIer-the worker-whose Improvements
made by the sweat Of his brow, enhances
the value Of the wild lands Of the specua-
tor, and enables the latter to amass for
tune which is the fruit of no toll of his own.
This earth, given by God as heritage
for all his children, is no more proper
subject for monopoly than the air or the
water The first, ike the last, is the gift
OF nature, and not the production of mans
industry or enterprise. All the elements
Of nature, Of which the earth is one, are
absolutely essential to the existence of man
kind, for whose comfort and sustenance
they are given-not for the privileged few
alone, but for all and he who would mon
opolise more Of these natural elements
than he requires for his own use, while his
brother is starving with plenty around him
is not less robber, morall y-although the
law upholds him in the possession Of that
which the God of nature gare to be shared
with his brother.
That some reform in this matter i, re
1uired, few will deny; but there are serious
obstacles in the wav Of the success Of such
reform, and the chief inpediment is to
be found in the selfish instincts of humani.
ty, and that characteristic of seliishness is
particularly prominent in those whom the
people select TO make their laws; and
whenever some bold reformcI is found in
the ranks Of these law makers, and at
tempt a movement in favor of Land Re,
fDrm," We hear at once the cry Of Agra
riauiom raised 10y the timid Conservatives
who are always found particularly active
i'll sustaining all of The eriis which exist in
our body polite, particularly those that
lave the stamp Of antiquity upon them
though at other times they are easy and
iudolent enough For ourself, we ses
great merit IN the doctrine of Land Re
form. We believe the establishment o
the doctrine TO be quite feasible, without
any Infringement OF the rights of any class
or Of any individual, as existing under the
present law. We are one of those who
claim to be progressive, and We believe
that all the wisdom, and patriotism, and
craftsmanship Of the world have not pass
81 away with the generations that have
gone before US; and We deny that those
laws and those institutions hat were good
enough for our ancestors, and which receiv-
ed their sanction, are necessarily good
enough for u.s. We claim TO be in favor Of
radical reform in many o. our laws and in
s,itutions, but we deny being either an
arrarian or revolu,iouist.
In every department Of physical science,
we lind constant progress and reform,
~h!le the ln,u'., world j. 10 WAYS behind
IN gan, strides ona ard in the path of
knowledge and discovery. The scientific