The Labor enquirer., 1886-02-06
sEMrrErr DORIAN"
[Continued rom first page.l


ting off relief from the outside. the In
ternal exchange entirely cutting off
competition from the inside, and the
importation of cheap foreign labor to cut
wages down below the decent living
point, and you are in a very bad sltua-
tion.
If you can be relieved from 40 per
cent Of your expenses by free trade, do
you not think you had better have it?
Or what is more reasonable, had you not
better strike all protection off of your
tariff and only keep SO much of duty
on imports as shall pay the expenses OF
the government?
The next mode of relief that l should
suggest is to drive speculative money out
of the lands and allow them to be held
only for homes.
The surest way to preserve perfect
equality among a people it to preserve
perfect division of their lands There is
no danger of man suffering materially
so long as he has land upon which he
may raise living. Rome was prosper
GUS SO long as she preserved an equita-
BILE division of her domain. Had she
abided by the doctrine that "he is a
dangerous citizen who owns more than
seven acres of land,o there is probably
no question but that she would have
been the mistress of the world to-day.
But she passed under the control of a
landed aristocracy and when Gracus
protested in behalf of the people and
claimed the lands for them, he paid the
debt of his indiscretion with his life.
The proud, city is no more.
The trouble IN Russia to-day is over
her lands, they are virtually withheld
from the people.
The lands of Ireland have all been
taken from the Irish people and they
are virtually slaves.
The lands of England are principally
owned by few dukes and earls, and we
are told their rental value is about SID
per acre. She has close to 100000 pau
pers.
In France before the Revolution the
lands were owned by the church and
state, but at that time they were re-
stored to the people. This accounts for
the rapidity with which she recovered
from the Prusslan war. France with a
population of 100000 has 100000
land owners, or land owner to every
family of three to four persons. We,
with a population (in lSSO) of 55.OO0,OOO,
had only 4,5O0,OO0 land owners, or a.land
owner to every family of eleven persons.
Of our public domain we have given
away in grants nearly 300,000,0 900 acres.
or territory about equal in extent to
the thirteen original states. The most
of this has been given to mighty corpor-
atlons to assist as We have been told in
building railroads. Large and almost
unlimited estates are building up, We
|have less than 100000 acres of good
agricultural lands now owned by the
government. English companies and
landlords by the score own estates of
from 100000 to millions of acres.
The Earl of Dunraven, member of
the British parliament, owns the better
portion of Estes park. In short, we
have the foundation laid of The most un-
Limited landed aristocracy the world has
ever known.
This system must be broken down or
your government must succumb. The
two cannot stand together: they are an
tagonistic in the extreme. The man that
owns the land must necessarily own the
vote of the man who is compelled to
make bread for his children from the
land.
lis folly to talk about nation OF
tenants remaining free or perpetuating
this republic. The people must have
these lands. Can they reclaim them
lawfully and rightfullv? I believe they
can.
In offering remedy shall humbly
state one that 1 never heard of being
offered by any but myself 1t may be
that have become too much welded to
my own opinions, but if so you will dis
cover my error.
There is principle of law known and
exercised in every civilized land, and
has been practiced bv every government,
Ecalled the law of Eminent Domain"
There is not state in the Union but
what has enforced it in hundreds of in
stances. Its constitutionality cannot be
questioned, and no class have done 50
much toward building it up as the rail-
roads.
| Under this principle the government
has the right to call upon you and me,
whenever it is for Its welfare or conve-
nience, for every dollars worth of prop
erty we possess. 1t may grant this right,
as it often does, to citizens. We see 1t
exercised almost daily by railroad COM
panies. Cody Constitutional Law
Page 652, defines it as follows:
"More accurately, it is the rightful au-'
thority which exists In any sovereign to
control and regulate those rights of q
public nature which pertain to'its citI-
4 zens in common and to appropriate and
control individual property for the pub
lie benefit as the public safety, necessity,