The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1883-07-05
WORKERS, BEGGARs, THIEVES.
The Three Glasses Into which society
n Divlded-lHOw 10 Secure Mn.
tlOnal Distribution or Wealth.
Henry George In Frank f,c.l,e'sl


litical and social problems that are con-
fronting us I now propose to seek
their solution,
Whoever considers these problems
must see that they center IN the prob
lem Of the distribution of wealth, and
ha must also see that. though their
solution may be simple, it must be rad
icAl.
For every social wrong there must be
| remedy. But the remedy can be
| nothing less than the abolition Of the
wrong Halfway measures, mere
| ameliorations and secondary reform, q IN
at nh, time accomplish little, and can
IN tho long run avail nothing. Our
charities, our penal laws, our restric-
tions and prohibition, by which, with so
little avail, we ende vor to nsasags
poverty md check crime, What Are they
at Che very hest, but the device Of the
clown who, having put the Mhole bur-
den Of his ass into one pannier, sought
to enable the poor animal to walk
straight by loading up the pannier with
stones.
Whnt NC must do il we would cure
sortal disease and avert social d,ngcrs
is to remove the cause which prevent
the just distribution Of wealth.
As to what is the Just distribution of
wealth there can lie no dispute. 1t Is
that which gives wealth to him who
makes IL, and secures wealth TO him
who saves il. So clearly is this the
only Just distribution uf wealth that
even those shallow writer's who attempt
10 defend the existing order OF things
are driven, by logical necessity, TO
the larger abare If wealth made it and
saved IL, or got it by gift or by inherit
ance, from those who did make it and
save it; whereas, the fact is, rs / have
IN previous paper shown, that all
these great fortunes. whose corollaries
are paupers and tramps, really come
from the sheer appropriation of the
makings aud savings Of other people.
An English writer has divided all
men into three classes s--workers. beg
gars and thieves. The classification is
not complimentary to the supper
classes" and "the better classes" as
they are accustomed to esteem them.
selves, yet il is economically true.
There are only three ways by which
any individual can get wealth work,
by gift, or by theft. And. clearly. the
reason why the workers get 30 little is
that the bcggars and thieves get 50
much. When man gets wealth til Il
he does not produce. he necessarily
gets il at the expense Of those who pro.
ducc il.
All we have to do to secure just
distribution of wealth, is TO do that
which all theories agree to be tho pri.
mary function of government to secure
to each the free nse of his own powers,
limited only by the equal freedom Of
all others; to secure to each the full
enjoyment of his own earnings, limited
only bv such contributions as he NAV
be fairly called upon to make for pur-
poses of common benefit. When we
have done this we shall have done all
that we can do to make social inst.t,,-
tions conform to the sense Of justice and
to the natural order.
wish to emphasize this point, fol
there are those who constantly talk and
write as though whoever finds faul,
with the present distribution of wealth
were demanding that the rich should bt
spoiled for tho benefit of the poor; tha,
the idle should be taken care of at tn.
expense of the industrious, and that 1
false and impossible equality should bt
created, which, by reducing every one
to the same dead level. would destro,
oil incentive to excel, and bring prog
rcss to halt,
In the reaction from the glaring in
justice of present social conditions
such wild schemes have been propo ed
and still find advocates. But, to m,
way Of thinking. they are as impracti
cable and repngnant rs they can seen
to those who are lou,lest in their lie
nunciations of Communism / an
not willing to say that in the progress
of humanity state of society may no
he possible which shall realize TIN
formula of Louis Blanch: From
each according TO his abilities: to cacl
according to his wants." for there exis
to-day in the religious orders OF tin
Catholic church, societies, which
among one sex At least, maintain tn
communism Of early Christianity. Blu
it seems to me that the only element b.
which such state of society could b
attained and preserved is that whicl
the trainers of the schemes / speak o
generally ignore. even when they d
not directly antagonize adeep, definite
intense, religious faith. So clear, s
burning Ms to utterly melt away til
thought of self--a general moral cor
dition such as that which the Method
ists declare, under the name of "san. ii
fication," to be individually possible. il
which the dream of pristine innocenc
should become reality, and man, so
sneak, should again walk with God.
But the possibility Of such state Z
society seems to me in the present stag
of human development speculatio
I which comes within the higher domai
l Of religious faith rather than that wit
which the economist or practical states
man can concern himself That hi
ture, as it is apparent to us here,
this infinitesimal point in space an
time that We call the world, is the higl
est expression Of the power and pnrpos
that called the universe into bein,
what thoughtful man dare affirm? u
ii is manifest that the only way h
!, which man may attain higher things
by conforming his conduct to thos
" commandments which are as obvious i
his relations with his fellows and wit
external nature as though they WEI
"A graved by the finger Of Omnipoten,
upon tablets of imperishable stone. |
the order OF moral development, Mos.
comes before Christ Thou shalt II,
ID kill" "Thou shalt not commit adul
ssn q cry" "Thou shalt not steal" befol
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor rs tin,
es self" The command "Thou shalt n,
- mnzzle the OK that treadeth out ii
corn" precedes the enhancing vision
universal peace, in which even nature
rapine shall cease, when the "lion sha
lay down with the lamb and litt
child shall lead them"
!. That justice is the highest quality
> the moral hierarchy do not say b,
that it il the first. That which il aho'
H..