The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1882-08-05
LAND IN THE COUNTRY.
SHALL THE PEOPLE OWN IT, OR
THE GOVERNMENT?
Letter by ETon. Erastus Brooks-Fharaoh
the First Land Grabber-Land
Taxes, Ancient and Recent.

Taxes, Ancient and Recent.
The plan FOR owning the lands of The
people is net without historic precedent.
The distinguished Pharaoh. who figures
in the book OF Genesis, after Joseph had
presented his father, Jacob, to him when
the years Of his pilgrimage had reach
ed 100 years though less in number
than the years of the life of his fathers
and after he had received the blessing OF
Jacob. because there was famine in the
land. collected at the hands of Joseph.
first. all the money in the land of Canaan.
for the corn which they bought, and il
was brought to Pharaoh: and when The
money failed in Egypt and in Canaar
the cattle and horses and tiocks were de-
handed for bread, and then, as the good
tine tlocks and herds and horses and cat.
tie all purchased, Joseph bought all the
land in Egypt for Pharaoh, except the
land Of the favored priests, who were
allowed to keep their homesteads and &c
be fed from the bounties Of the King
Then came, in the dire extremity of the
people, who were naturally grateful foi
the saving of their lives, this arrange,
ment. which must have been in the mind
of that brilliant and scholarly but dan
gerous man in his doctrine, Henry
George. whose book on tie possibility Of
a higher state has attracted so much at.
tentiOu.
When Pharaoh had got possession o.
all that the people possesscd--body
braius and property-he made this bar
gain 80 them at the hands of his see
rotary and counsellor, Joseph:
Behold, | have brought you this day
and your land for Pharaoh. Lo, here Ii
seed for you, and ye shall SOW the land
y = And it shall come to pass il
the increase that ye shall give tie it'll
part pnto Wora0h, and four parts shall
be yonr own, for seed Of the field, ane
for your food and for them of your hpuss
holds, and for food for your little ones
And Joseph made it a Law
over the land of Egypt unto this day
that Pharaoh should hnce the ,ftth part
except the land of the priests only
| which became not Pharaoh $.
| It will be seen from this record tina
there is higher law precedent both. 10
! getting and owning the lands OF every
body even in a whole nation. In Ire
land, as we already know, a few persons
own the most of the soil, and as a rem
edy for this evil it is proposed by an
other class that the governm cnt Shal
own the Whole Of ii.
In Egypt the land law of Pharaoh ha
been pretty vel! continued 20 the presep
time. About 100000 OF the wrerched
ignorant, bigoted and idle people there
till about as many acres of tillable land
aud as 4 substitute for thy one-fifth par
! 10 tho af!cienr Pharaut=, lhe iFolerl
| PbaraoilS-~the iShcdiyes and .trabi Pa
shas of the prescn, time and their p.cde
cess0rs-for centuries have imposed enor
nous land taxes upon the farmers
! Nominally the land is now owned by the
| subie..ts sc taskmaSterS and the task
masters impose upon the workers Of the
soil, instead of one-tfth part, tax Of S
an acre upon each acre Of farming land
| How would Ireland like the Egyptian
rule? How would the farmers in The
! Uni ted States like to see a tax like thi,
ana then expended at the rate of nearly
a million Of dollars a day upon the most
expensive iiuxuries. in the most eXtTava
CANT civil, military andnaval, pension and
miscellaneous service Of WHICH the world
has any record.
Mr.. George. in his book on Progress
and Poverty, has made-even in this
country of homes and home comforts,
where the government sells good lands
in quarter sections at s.. IS an acre, and
where it can lie bought, cultivated and
in good condition, i'll long settled States,
for $50 and 500 an acle-the following
extraordinary propositions:
First: That wages should increase
with the number of laborcrs.
Second: That land must be common
property.
THr,': That tie recognition of exclu-
sive property in land is denial Of the
rights of property in the products OF
labor.
Fourth: That private property in land
is the enslavement of the laboring
classes.
Fifth: That all taxation should be
abolished except taxation on land values.
These, In brief. are the heads of a
book intended TO establish 4 new system
of political economy, and to unite the
school of PrCudhon, one Of whose doc.
trines WAS that Property is Robbery, y
and of Lasalle, tending to the same end,
with the more conservative doctrines OF
Smith and Ricardo.
Each subject, as heIc stated, is practi
cal enough in the life and experience o1
at least nine OF every ten intelligent ar.
tisans to condemn it. 1t sets forth al
once both communism and socialism il
their most attractive forms. 1t reduces
personal ambition to excel, personal i'll,
| dustry to thrive by quantity and excel.
lence of work, personal desire TO the
best possible thing for ones self and
family, if not for ones neighborS and
country, to the low level of possessing
the sourse of ali living iii the whole LAND
Of country in one common ownership
and to q system Of taxation which i'll.
cludes wealth, capital. Inheritance ana
property, except in land.
In a country like this, where as Z
whole about every successful man in il
started life in comparative poverty, and
where you count the real millionaires
who have grown rich by speculation al
most by the number of the fingers on
your hands. nothing could be more I'M
true than to make the personal owner
ship Of land for cultivation or for home
steads the source of public danger.
LAND OWNERSHIP AS \ PROPERTY.
This question is very different orc
from the ownership of vast tracts o
land, as in Ireland. by non-residents: or
as in other countries-our own in Il very
| limited mcasarc-where land is leaseG
for term of years, with the renewal Of