The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1871-05-20

and Wales viii average ons twentieth Of
rats, or vs. Ne square fcct4 1hs area m
dsr sonsidsrafion would svca theh amouut
% - ,S7S. .00o, 900. y sr a -
This calculstica ID. housvar, -hasd upon
The extreme dear Of popuIation N ths
Central Dirnct Oh Lo5dcp, whereas ths
assrsgs a. aaity within tss muhi6ipsi limils
oftbs 72 c.tiss and towns under eunsidsras
ton ia Stated at l+.6l8-lo0o psrsous 10
the acre. Or about one person 70 epsry 1881
squsre feet. AT this rate The area actually
required 10 accommodate 5000, 600 people
70 nsarly fbustssa does au large Nd TINT
already found. or 14,s05, ,00c 900 square
feet--a qpautity phish at The Low average
Of SO cents . square ioots pins very
Smtll fraction, would Be both ths amount
above mentioned, viz: $5,S75. .O00. 900.
Those who are % all familiar With real
estate trensaetions inpopnlons towns and
cities viii know that So cents square Dot
isa price not likely to be found except %.
wards tbs ottskirt5 Of such places, and Will
NOT ccusider 10 nn sxtravaennt estimuas
from the general average Supposs, then,
We allow one fourth ofths area above stated
for streets, squares &c.,, and only apply
tnis estimate to the remaining three -fcurths;
ws shall still have an aggregate valus
OF three fonrths Of the sum given above,
90 u, ,O81 ,25o, 900. avI -
Nov bow much Of this enormous amount
y due 70 an unearned increase Inn the
value OF laad ?" One cent 4 square fbot i
$3.50 90 sn acre, NJ which liberal rate the
agricultural value Of the l4905, ,000. 900
square feet occupied by the 5000, 900 peo-
pie added to the city population of Eneland
and Wales between 1901 and 1851 would
oaly have been 14s,05O, 900. Subtrsst-
ing this from the s4,O31, 100000 alrsady
ionnd. there remains 90, ,se2, 200, 900, or
an amount equal to the British National
debt ~ the clear profit accruing to the
lsndcwning class from the conversion cf
country fields into city lots solely in copss-
qaenee Of the increase Of population in the
sevsnty-two largest towns alone.
II may Be objected that Il 10 nos country
but suburban land which has usually been
thus converted. This objection il withous
practScal force, however; for ag the cities
have encroached i'm o eth greater aemee
upon the adJscent rursi distriots. I, Ii fol-
lows that there is, at least quite. as much
suburban land % there ever was, and lhst
i n tho quantity Of agricultural land vhioh
hss been diminished a. The areas Of tha
cities have increased. If, then, ,shsre were
IA, ,905, 900 900 square sees mars e;tv Iand
ana l4,s05. .Ooo, 600 feet lens ~gr risuI-s'
tural land in 1851 than there wsrs
1901, it Is quite correct to nav
that Tins much land had advanced from
agricultural TO city prices during The inter
yening sixty yearA Il is equally clear
that the enormous profit resulting from
this advance was realized entirely by psr-
sons belonging to the very small laud-
owning CLAN, ard 10 does not concern our
present inquiry whether it WINS between
suburban and rural owners or .reaped bv
the latter alone. The essential proyerb ia
that the masses cfthe people had no share
q it, and that the increased rents which
this increase OF value implies have been and
sail are 8 tax.upon the products Of their in
d0stry.
Had the principle embodied in the pro-
gramme oft Land Tenure Reform Asso-
ciatiOn been adopted at the beginning of
the century, this enormous tar, whiuh ihnss
70 some fi0, 200. 900 year, would 6aye
been turned into the Exchequer and d.
minished to that extent the fiscal burdebs
OF tie Nation, instead Of being applied. as
10 now is. 10 the support OF d priviIeged
class while the people starys.
1t must be keptin mind that We have
thus far considered only the unearned in
crease Of yalna resnlting from The addition
Of hve million inhabitants to the population
OF the larger cities and towns. But the to-
tai incfease Of population was upwards Of
eleven millions, and though the enhance
sssni OF value in the smaller towns and
rural districts in consequence Of the addi-
tione which they have received hss been
less marked than in the cities, it is prob
ably only because the effect has been dis
tribuied over 50 much wider an area. Ii
70 very likely that the aggregate increase
OF value per capit0 Of the added population
has besn about "a great in the one case a.
10 the other; and Il this be 10 the figures
above given 1882 200, ,OOO) express
less than half Of the total unearned in
crease in the value Of land " which CO.
Cured in England and WaIes between
1901 and 1861.
Moreover the same process ID still going
On even in density peopled Eogland, d
thst the measure proposed BY tie Land
Tenure Refbrln, late as 10 comes, in not soO
late to be useful. Il would have been, far
better, however, to have locked the stable
door, before the best horses were all stolen.
and with this manifest truth in view. we
shall % prepared to inquire how the prin-
e'Ple IN quesion wouId apply to our own
countrymen in its present cHcumstances
Bssh the Nsw Tort HsraId.