The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1884-01-30
For the Farmer and Mechanic.
Land Ownership.
CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK !

Whenever under the system of un-
alienable land-ownership, country be-
comes SO den.ely populated they could
send out colonies to unsettled regions
just as all civilized nations do at pres
ent.
| The objection may be urged to this
system that it would have tendency TO
make nearly all men farmers, and that
civilization would retrograde in con.e-
quence, on account of the want of
hands in the various manufactures
| think this is a mistaken impression =
there are many men who prefer the me-
chanc arts to farming, and these would
rent their lands to others. Farming is
carried on well in England and Scotland
by renters. The only difference under
this system would be probably that men
Of capital would rent from many small
| landowners instead OF renting from a
few large ones.
The laws OF Great Britain are framed
to keep the land in the hands of a single
| class. The Hebrew law is framed to
keep the land in the hands of all the
citizens. No one class is preferred to
another, consequently there would. of
necessity, be no actual want.
There Is word common in the
mouths OF European statesmen and pol
ltlcians, which, as vet, is but rarely
heard in our richly endowed land. al
though the dread thing exists, to some
extent, here as well as there. / is the
word, "Proletariat." The proletariat
ls the landless, penniless class who are
driven by the fierce spectre, Want. No
rest but IN the grave for this unfortu-
nate class. Work without intermission.
or death by starvation is their doom.
Hear what an eloquent conservative
English statesman has to say on this
subject: The Proletariat are right and
warranted as to their miserable condi-
ton. We sympathize with them in
every fibre OF our frame. We agree with
them that their condition is an oppro-
brium to half the countries of Europe.
and more especially to our own Mil
lions OF them lead life which intclli-
gent beings should not consent to live.
They exist in acondition Of struggle and
wretchednesS which makes existence a
burden and not boon. They have
right to be disconnected. They do well
TO be angry. Nay, more the rectifi-
cation, speedy and thorough, of the
evil. OF their condition, is the first duty
OF every statesman, and the most urgent
necessity of every State and all legis-
latlon, which does not address itself,
inedlately or Immediately, to this SUI
preme purpose, is of secondary moment,
and involves postponement of higher
to lower claims" Iondon Quarterly,
Jan. 1879
The worst fact in regard to this unfor-
tunate state of things still remains to
be stated. 1t is sthat the proletariat-
that wretched class to whom existence
IS burden and not a boom form the
bulk OF the population. The poor of
Scotland, owing to their thrift, are in a |
better condition than most of the Euro |
pean peasantry, and yet their statistics |
show that if what we call the civilized !
classes were removed bodily from the
country, the decrease in population
would scarcely be perceptibe. Well
may DR.. Arthur Mitchell ask, in hi.
elaborate lectures. full of learned but /
pIteous research, what is civilization ?"
There is such an infinite depth of pathos
in the still, hopeless misery of these
millions who ''lead life which soul-en-
dowed creatures should not consent to
live" Two-thrds of the population of
Scotland live in houses of one or two
rooms. People who cook, eat, sit and
sleep in one or two rooms can scarcely
be called civilized people. Yet Scot
land is said to be one of the fayorite
countries of Europe. When we talk
about nation being highly civilized
then, we only mean that one-tenth of
the population is highly civilized, and
the remaining nine-tenths are sunk in
ignorance and misery.
Gods law in regard to landowner
ship, if enforced, would, in time, elevate
them all
When William Rufus, King of Eng
and. was found dead in the New Forest,
4 woodman named Purkis, took the
body in hi. cart to Winchester. And
Henry the lst, as a reward. gave him
TWO acres of ground where his cottage
stood in the forest. That small estate
Of two acres is owned by the family still
after the lapse of eight hundred years
Every citizen of Scotland. notwith. .tand-
ne the density Of its population, could.
/ the land were equally divided, have
IN estate of about five acres. Any
good Scotch farmer could make living
IN five acres; and stronger, healthier
population would be produced, who,
when the subdivision became extreme,
would go out, in strong colonies. to sub
iue some untamed wilderness across the
ocean, and make for themselves. a new
scotland.
Aristotle lays it down as the basis OF
,ivilization-to be free and to have leis-
Ire. But the miserable proletariat have
leither freedom nor leisure. Is it any
wonder that they have honey-com bed
he social structure of Europe with Sc
ret societies, in the vain endeavor to ,
ind help they grope blindly in the ,
lark. And what heart with any human ,
pity in it, does not thrill with respon-
i've sympathy, at some Of the forms Of
heir secret pass words.
The night is dark. brother" saws
me; to which the initiated responds.
The dawn is at hand.''
Let every child of Goo pray that this
'esponse may be prophetic. But the
lay OF true prosperity will never dawn ,
lntil Gods laws triumph over mans.
No human inventions will ever bring it
.bout. The only road to success in ,