Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-03-25

4
work was more completely blocked by
bad weather than this one, though last
winter was exceptional in this respect.
Much sickness has prevailed, and
many deaths have occurred. As times
grow harder many, already stinted in
the necessaries of life, and overstralned
in its drudgery, succumb. I have
helped to lower the bodies of several OF
my neighbors into their graves when
I wanted to speak out and condemn
the social mal-adj ustments that killed
them.
1t is hard to get work here on the
farms. This winter 75c now and then
has been all man could get, and board
himself. Young and single men have
had to work for board, or tramp.
While we are in full'sympathy with
the knights of Labor, it il plain that
they are mistaking the means to be
used. There is no need OF conflict be-
tween capital and labor; 1t is between
land and labor that the difficulty lies.
This opinion will they come to at last.
You now have the scheme of our
revenue commission. They propose to
take the state taxes off the individual
and put them upon corporations. "Be-
ware OF the Greeks who bring gifts"
We shall notice the proposed plan more
at length soon.
"Nestor's" last is even more ridicu.
lous than his former animad versions.
He seems to be an employe Of one Of
those corporations that are subsidized
at the expense of the class to which
"Farmer" belongs. .and he plunges into
namby pamby cant that has been
thread-bare a hundred years. He
wants to make US believe the poor are
all lazy, and that laziness Is the cause
of poverty. It ought to be SO; and in q
certain sense it is SO; for poverty comes
out of the mental laziness caused by
manual drudgery, such, tor example,
as "Nestor" himself seems to be an IL
lustration of. Aside from this failing
he may be an estimable man and citi-
AeHs 1lC uAuSt ICuuCIAOGL bu0t II IA III
er" is dealing, now, with the man as
he put himself in the REGISTER, aud
not with the individual himself. 1t Is
just such mental laziness that causes
all our trouble and crime. Farmer"
has been laborer, tenant, q land
agent, and is now landlord. He has
land Of his own. He had to buy that
land at speculative value; and had to
chance for his children than himself.
Before him, at this very moment, lies
a manuscript letter from Gov. r. J.
Oglesby in which the writer says: II
have been under the impression for
some time that the agricultural lands
fit tor farming, where the annual crop
is raised by the annual rainfall-ex-
cept, possibly, in two or three southern
states-has been taken up by occupan-
cy, or purchase; and that there Is very
little. if any, such land left to be OBJ
tanned, either by purchase or home
stead" This letter is addressed to
Il al uCA anu 10 00SCtt fCoAudly &1knp
1885. "Nestor" has been reading some
land speculator's pamphlets. "Farm-
er" has neighbors and relatives In tho
West, and they seem to think such
land dear as gift. More than half
my neighhors would leave here to-
morrow ii they could, even at the risk
of dumping out of the frying-pan into
the fire." Let me assure "Nestor" that
Farmer" knows just exactly what he
wants. He wants all the taxes taken
off every product Of human labor and
put upon the value of the land, not
counting the improvements. He wants
to see this devilish system hy which
one man can confiscate and take the
labor of another abolished, and to see
it replaced by system that neither
makes, nor recognizes, neither rich,
nor poor, but only simple justice be-
tween man and man. q
"Farmer" has long tried to find some
man who could give a sensible reason
why the products of human labor
should be taxed. Will "Nestorn show
his good sense and mental industry by
giving the readers of the REGISTER
such reason, and leave personalities
to lower minds?
Farmer" has long tried to find q
man who could give just reason why
land, using the term in the broadest
sense, should not be made the sole sub
ject of taxation. He has found plenty
of men who could abuse him for an
honest expression of opinion, but not
one who could answer the enquiry.
Can "Nestorn do il?
Answer candidly and plainly or not
at all. Those who charge agrarianism
upon Tax Reformers of the George
school invariably succeed in proving
that they themselves are the worst
kind Of agrarians.
"Nestor," to-day, while declaiming
against agrarians, stands, in the REGIS
TER, self-convicted agrarian; for our
present system is agrarian. That
is why We protest against It. It does
not take from the rich and give to the
poor, though 1t pretends to tax the
rich In favor Of the poor (See Blair, U.
8. Senate, February 25th, 1867 but it
does take from the poor and give to
the rich.
The following weekly newspapers
have come out for our system OF tax
reform; st. Paul Journal, Mimi;
San Francisco Weekly Star; Herald,