Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-12-05
LAND CONVERSATION.


R"eh'l"nH nor Labor hgitAtorH To Consider
aud Answer.
New YORK star.
Az the Union square George meeting on
Sunday night Rev G, z. Mccarthy did
not have his own way In all respects Ia
his EFFORT TO reiutc Archbishop Corrigan's
pastoral on the subj ct Of land owner
ship, An invitation for free expression
OF views on the part Of tho audience ellie.
ited several pertinent and pointed In
! qnlrles, which seemed 10 be decidedly
moro easily asked than answered
The ilrat question Wa one 60 which
/ The Star has been long waiting for a re-.
plyi "By what plan can the man who
owns little farm, or a little house and
| lot be made 10 turn his properly over
TO he government without being treated
uniuety2" For answer, the lecturer
rendered copy VI one Of Henry
Georges esstfH; but the queatiouer
declined ~ with tho remark that
failure To md a satisfactory reply In that
tract, or w any OF the liud apostlo'a
writings, was tue occasion OF hlg inquiry
/ Thcroupon tho Incident terminated, SO
far ny regards any further calculation OF
the matter under discussion. rho Star
lrogtly regrets this Wan not MIR. Henry
George himself kindly consent to put ia
u briet statement n plain answer 10 this
| Interesting nnd practical iuterroRatoB2
There was u lady present who, with tho
pertlnaGily IN inqulsitiveness character.
istlc OF somc 81 tho most charming OF her
fair sex, Insisted on putting another poser
~ the next up aker, Rev Dr. Powers. "If
all the land, y Inquired this eniant terrible
OF mature years hut political childhood,
'ls To be given 10 Uncle Sam, what gnar.
untec ~ there thai that large individual
WON'T become great opprcssor and pile
on tho taxes 80 high that every body viii
have to take TO the atreetsY' To this the
reverend lecturer gave the broad answer
that "the people would nrst have 10 be
educated up 10 the doctrine" The In
| quisiilyo lady stlll declined 90 DO satisfied
with the prospect OF being educated up to
he polut OF eviction from house and
home, and failed Ia see the portlnencn OF
a further calculation OF the problem
through the statement that Mr.. Nc.
Carhy's handkerchief, which WIS llu.-
tratlyGly waved before her face, was
property while laud was not "rhnts
IL barbaroua idra OF property" was the
iinul remark OF tho logical female a. she
retired In disgust, and IL was evident that
no majority Of the audience agreed with
her
The happenings at this meeting are
note worthy because they reflect the cur
rent p pular thought on Mr.. Georges
theories. People are less concerned
about what might occur In tho dim future
II Henry George should meanwhile, as his
FIRST steps IA social aud political rovOlu-
ton, Succeed In reversing the provl
BionS OF the federal aud state con
situations aud the principle OF
common law Than thy are with
regard 70 the FIRST application OF his pro.
posed tax syRtem Claiming that thoro
In no rlghiiul property IN land, he Intends
TO recognize " for time by taxing II 40
heavily ns 10 effect cOnhscation In the end
How IL Is TO be done rs told IN this Car
cndpn hall plG form, aud the longer ulain
people ponder on that declaration the less
they Ike IT, The ilrst step IL To- be 20 tax
the vacant land or the farm or lot
with cheap Improvement, such as n
blacksmith shop, az much per foot M the
land occupied by the great warehouse or
hotel, no thar the large structures shall
pay no Tux NJ nil and those unable 10
erect great cdlAccs "shal be- forced 70
give up their land TO those who WIN
This operation would concentrate tho
hands OF Tho very rich, the monster mo.
nOpOilstH and the great corporations,
But suppose that, when the AstoIs and
GOulds aud their companies &c all the
valuable real estate through this intofmG,
diary operation OF the George System
they should turn about and say, "Tbi5
has gone far enough We have obtained
all this properly through your laws We
decline 10 give itup You made aud com |
hrmod our tltlc. You must re poet ~"
Would they not, perchancc, be strong |
enough, reinforced by all less rich who |
would be aggrlcyed because their laud |
had been taken away and given 10 the |
mOnOp0lpts, to master Mr., George and |
his government and put An end To his c&-
pertinent?
The George theory Is obviously one Of
land conG,catlon. Why then discriminate |
In favor 81 tho rlchP Why not take away |
at once the real estate Of the western |
Union, the New York Central, Of Cyrus |
w. Field or Russell Sage, as wen an That |
OF Farmer william Smith or John Jones |
the bu,ton-maker Is II because the |
ap1stel ~ labor prefers ~ light the weak
est II ST. II this be not the motive, pray |
what IL III Aud surely tho reason for 80 |
extraordinary procedure, which would !
MOik AuCu luctlGuiHDlt NhIuhHlp ~ TUG /
Industrious and self.suppOrting IN favor |
OF rich aud idle, must DO one OF un-
common force and Huundness.
Truly Nil about tho practical workings |
of Henry Georges land theory Ia misty |
aud perilously uncertain, excepting one |
thing only Tho one clear point Is That II |
IA proposed 10 enforce great principle |
through gross violation and defiance Of
that principle, 90 eradicate the alleged |
evils Of land ownership by an enforced
monstrous cxaggerstion aud aggrayat'on
OF those evils, 10 protect tho people
against The cruel cKaollpns Of great prop
ert, holders by vastly Increasing the
power oi the monopollsts Of property 70
bppresB and exact
il we are wrong IN all THU, WIN DIT
George kindly set as rlghP ~ appear
inc a. a candidate Tor high oilice nc pas
challenged inquiry. We trust ihat ~
Will bne bis way 90 answer NJ plain bu'
qli.h the practical questions wp nave pul
10 him, II his rcyefrpd defenders 40 NOV
sect NJ 10 reply TO the pertinent queries
nut by the iDquirlng voter and TIE aih'
iranchlsed but inqulslllyo lady AZ the