New-York tribune., 1886-05-08
LAND LAWS.
,.poRERs ROBBED BY PRIVATE o"N'
N"D rpsuIp OF THE SOlLf

LABOR, LAND ND NS NMo1sina roor By WILLIAM A. fn,a
Wss''9s es sSo % pp All Charles scroners sons i'''
,... r,tv that this book is so offensive IN toho
I'D At times SO careless in statement ion
<.,rs much til at is true and Important Inv r,
,,or Of the book is ill-natured ana Vicious w.
Introduction Is a prolonged snari NJ "i,o'.
sooture of modern industrial life, and the ee",'"
.,., 90 tho ontre work Is to belitte or deny
.S -... 90 mankind toward better thiuss.
uere and there we fnd the usual cheap Snooi'
!" .ho sanctities of a bargain" and the Wiz
.ot;ors of eouitv appear in his reply W NV l.,
men, Of the Duke of Argyle that prope'' - !,
land had for many generations peen ~, % aoo;o,r
Cno,ona. "The recognition OF a thiei ny So ~.
&c ,,;oves is not usually considered N'i9 s''' ~
aorsement tp. 273). The writer seems '"v"p"D ~
of comprehendng any services iehooi'" " ILL.,
society by aristocracy' ana no''' 'n ,,o,aarov
aro merely the insignia of luxurious Vag"po"0'e'
q. 100. ,o,. n.,ittou in this |
o,nor cbonld he sometimes careless in stateineu''
uoc.pse il fits his theory Mr. fhii"ps '"' soy, |
r ooN "Whie France exports gram
Kritain imports. But France mas h'suoa a |
net imports of grain every Ncai '
1874 Of wheat alone 23, 500, 900 bushels las. yoa
"a 600 600 in 1881, and 36.s00,ooo IN 1000 N
horrows largely from Mr.. Mulhaii ihio,""''io
which anv student would perceive 'naV ho ",uS ,
hox-
h. soemnly quotes estimates of the ounces oi 'io'"
ond meat consumed daily per capita III p''"S 'o''"
-; s,,,aments. of the class which nave o""'o"
n,,balrs writings to be recognized by Europo""
critics as works of the imagination. pu' ~
pbillips is reckless we'll as careiesS' ne t1,
American railroad stocks generally 'p OOH ~,
omornt actually paid in honestly dollar 1or aoii,
,vould constitute very small itcm.' 10 iiiaAo u"'
ease he twists his facts; thus III o'souSs.'s '"0
lraIa and II
condition of laborers not IN lreiano o''' y. ,ho
1nd No Gets forth as proof of their sad s'a'e 'n'
i'""' ~ of 8 $4,000 from Great Britain
,oroc,,pc TO mention that most OF them were iioi"
1,nd For courage at all events, MI. Ihiuo'
NOV be complimented In few pages he u''uoi,
.oo 20 refute the claim By Mr. Glfen, president VI
,ho Rrtisb statistical Society. that the coilui'ion
80 Rr,tisb laborers is better than 1t was
6ftv wears ago. Those VINO naNo
oxamned Mr.. Citizens elaborate amy
of facts are aware that it is 10 chid pay ~ oo
80, them. But Mr. Phillips calmly ignores
them. and refrans from stating what 'neS ,' :" =.
nose5 70 have proved, for he says Up. Zoo' ~
A. ci,cr very close figuring TO show an ad-
d;,,ou to the laborcrs income when II tiere hao
,o anv fair kind of distribution 1t ought al ieas.
,ohave doubled" 1t is enough TO contrast Win w
fins assertion single sentence rom M, M oi".
himself (rssays ON Finance, p. 4op' ln"' ''o
decree Of Improvement IN money wages Ill 'iio ''''
6ftv veals is accordingly very considerao'e' no'
for short of 100 per cent and proDaoiy eAce'uns
those figures if we compare strictly the Whoio
,aoss ,,,tb the whole mass. appears to be Ill TINS
way fairly established" He who cares ho' s'"''
an opponents claim can never reiute IL.
Rn, IN snlte of faults Mr. Phillipss WORK mas i'll
oue resnects a high value. It's historical reVie"
of the land tenures in various countries from '"e
earliest dawn of history TO TINS day, asscnu''s =,
body of interesting and instructive 1ac's ouuu'
stress X mt upon the land features OF Tue oe"is
economy and its prohibition OF usury' 1or 'ie eA
annie of that nation is hardly so brilliant 'ha' i
saould be followed and the influence Oh 'ne Ia'o =
the worlds history has certainly not peeh u"o
onv refusal 10 take interest for money. "hiie u,
,h &c the fendal system is very instructlvel
dscrihed the writer attaches too much lmportanc
20 the baronia land tenure. In days when 'h
honor of woman. the labor OF man, ana 'hc iiio
both were at the mercy Of arbitrary tyranny ~ "',
tered little that the land was not Tree. Inc u
scr;ntion of the influence of Christianity III the III
velopment of modern civilization Is eeheI"liy
c,ear and strong that one wishes Mr. Philips ha
displavcd more of its charity But charity "ou'
have heen wasted upon Professor Sumner, who Ia
.o,a. "There is an old ecclesiastical prejudice
fovor of the moor and against the men. IN GA.
,hen man acted by ecces astical rules. THESE pteJ
d;cas nroduced waste of capital, ana heip
n,i.h,ily TO repungc Europe INTO oaroailslh' "
pb,llips replies with truth that no evidence su
ports that statement and adds opp lZ0'
"I was not ecclcsastcsm. but the religion OF Chr
that mad pciJdce in favor Of tDe poor anu asas.
fch Jesns Christ who was certainly NOT @ An eco
tic gives rs for instruction the soss Vi on went do
ans He tells also that certain man VIZ WI w y
rom Jcrus dem jericho. and fell among ore
pr"f".sor's irte men of free democracy, who W
under obligation to neglect theii nro nd se
enough 10 Keep Of the thieves way Tns
seems to have been one OF those crocneS . Ha
who afflicted with ialse the
of social duty. but his example VIII DC heiu np o sch
iatiom when political economists OF the summer scN
have been forgotten"
The deal land tenure, one infers from MI lhiii'l
expressions. is TO be found in Asa ana Ee IRA
with great interest the influence OF the owners
of land by the State, by villages or oy 1ainii
upon the development OF China, kussia anu lh'
II does not seem to occur TO him that the state
civilization Tor barbarism), and the condition
labor which are to be found wherever more or
nra,;fed community in land exists, do
oroue in favor of the theories when
Ph,llips and MI Henry George hold in common
India he tells us, the people nave p"' one "oio
landlord and robber (p 16s), but 1t does not
near that the condition of labor in India Is
which should he emulated in the United ota
China has a dense population, and agriculture
there marvellousy developed, manly by IL
labor Those who have no fixed ttie 10 INC
ON which they labor and for which they pay
noturally make few Improvements and invest Il
in machinery. The low cost or government
Chino and other features Of Chinese clvlhZaI
ore duly presented for admiration but lew WI
led 70 conclude that the Chinese system OF i
holding is therefore in all respects conducive
tb. welfare of labor Nor does the interesting
,cription of the development of Sclav village
Russio. and tie sort of civilization and colo
4ion which resulted from their common owner
of land, move us to wish that American iapof
fnro two Ike ct
tions.
In dealing with the history Of land tenur
C,reat Britain. France. Belgium and Germany