The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1871-07-01
THE LAND QUESTION.
BY f. r. PETERs-VI.

attracted the attention of a number of
our leading journals SO far as my
reading has extended, they generally
concede that the desperate condition of
affairs in Great Britain demands radi-
cal reformatory measures, but end by
cOngratulating themselves and their
readers upon the factor what they al.
lege to be such-.that the abundance and
cheapness of land in our own country
absolve us from the necessity of troub-
ling ourselves with such embarrassing
questions.
1t is with radically different view
from this that commence to consider
the relations Of land reform to our own
circumstances. The cheapness and
abundance Of our land may, indeed
render our condition in the main quite
comfortable for the present, but a olicy
which regards the present only is IN
worthy of a civilized and humane
people. The region embraced within
or ational boundaries is rich in nat
ural resources, capable Of supporting
many times our present population,
when turned to use in conjunction with
human labor. SO fast as a demand for
these natural resources arises, they be-
come an clement of financial value.
Every article produced in the country
is in part their product, for without the
raw material which they furnish, labor
would be powerless to supply human
wants. Being thus indispensable to
human existence, they become more
and more valuable as population in-
creases, and if they are unequally dis
tributed, the time must come when one
part ofthe community will be compelled
to buy them at exorbitant rates from
Y the other part
Now, as al men have naturally an
equal right to ali that Nature supplies,
and as this natural equality of rights
holds Just as true Of one generation as
Of another, We who live now have no
right so to partition out the natural re-
I sources of the country that in fifty, one
hundred, or even one thousand years
hence they will all be held by one por
I ton of the community 10 the detr'ment
of the remainder. In considering the
condition Of the poor in English cities,
we have already seen that under such
distribution a large proportion Of the
I people may find it impossible tO'pay the
price demanded to secure even a few
square rods Of earth each, IN which to
make their homes, and thus be forced
to live in SO compressed and crowded a
state as to render health, comfort, or
even decency, out Of the question.
Our government still holds in its pos
session some twelve hundred million
acres of public Manufacturing Alaska
and the mountainous regions Of our
western Territories and Pacific coast
States. II we are purAuing uneound
policy in the disposition Of this land,
with its varied resources, we certainly
can not stop too room. And if an un-
sound policy has been pursued in re-
gard to the vast territory already dis
posed of, we can not too soon begin 10
devise a remedy, for every days delay
tends 10 increase our difficulties. In
short, there is 10 country which has
stronger reasons than our own for
making land reform the subject Of i'm
mediate attention.
Upon one point the public mind has
become aroused. The policy Of grant
ing land subsidies to great corporations,
or selling land in large bodies to specu-
lators. or otherwise squandering the
public domain as if Il were a thing Of
no value, has pretty generally received
the mark of popular disapproval, and
both Of the great political parties, after
being alike thoughtless and mprovi-
dent, will probably feel constrained in
their next appeal to the people to plant
themselves square on the platform of
rigid reservation Of the public lands
for actual settlement under the pre.
emption and homestead laws. / pre-
sumo a majority of our people, includ-
ing many very earnest and thoughtful
public men, believe that such a policy
faithfully carried out would leave moth
ing more TO be desired yet little re-
Election will show that it would be sira
nally unjust TO large portion of the
community. In fact, it entirely ignores
all classes save the agriculturist. The
printer cannot leave his case, the me-
chanic his bench, TO 60 and settle on
homestead in the West To do this
they must abandon their pursuits and
become agriculturists, and .hs they
could not do on large scale without
breaking up society, which needs and
must have their services in their present
occupations
We saw in former article that in Eng
land the most rapid increase of population
has taken place in the cities and towns,
and notwithstanding our abundance Of
agricultural land, the same phenome-
non of rapid urban growth is exhibited
in our own country. Indeed, it is a
phenomenon common to all nrnrressivn