The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1886-03-04

Ing, aud most notably 30 OF lath years
In Great Britain and France, two OF the
most influential nations In the world,
and the people az the proper pOsaeaaora
OF the governing power, are coming 10
the front.
But besides this monopoly OF the gov
erninQ power, there are two other mo
nopOlles that are also dangerous to the
liberties and happiness OF the people
These are (lat) monopolies OF the soil,
and (2d) mOnOpOliea OF employment.
Let us look AT these In the order men
toned.
We may say with the Paalmlst that
"Hhe earth belongs unto the LORD, and
all II contains" Aud we may further
say that the Lord has given the earth 70
the race aB their common property. Goa
has made man dependent on the soil
There IN not a human being on the earth
that can live apart from the soil week
without perlshing, We must OIL get
our living Ou OF II, directly or Indirect
ly, and 40 wa all stand In close Tela
tion 10 10. You or may now not own q
solitary foot OF Gods earth, not enough
to be buried In when We die, and yen
upon what few square rods OF u pro-
duces 0 are dependent Tor the continu
alton Of our bodily life,
The main 0ppreasions Of the world
have grown out OF the monopOlles OF the
land. When men lived In wandering
tribes, and the land and ita productions
we're common, there was no misery &C.
cruing from this source; but when row
Ing tribes became permanent settlers,
and individuals became the permanent
owners OF given tracts II land, then the
trouble began. Not the the evil was In
the ownership, or that this was unlaw-
full, On the contrary such ownership
has the highest and most sacred sane
tOn; but the method Of the ownership
has been defective, 30 that The many
have suffered at the hands Of tho few
The mOnOpOistiC principle has on
tered I'm here, aud II has worked lnAnile
mischief ana misery 70 the world.
Rome was agltated for hundreds OF
years over this very question, and II was
the fruitful cause OF bloody nDheayala,
The patrician class. or the nobility,
owned the land In Italy, nv the NOBILITY
do IN Great Britain to-day. As the great
landless multitude increased, and their
miseries grew apace, grOaning under
their increasing dia resses, aud stung TO
madness by what they felt was a great
unrlghteOnanes however hedged about
by the technlcalities OF justice and law,
they demanded share IN the land; ana
hence resulted, after long and bitter
struggles, the historic "Agrarlan Laws"
OF Rome,
After the decay OF the Roman Empire,
and the reconstruction OF Europe aud the
feudal system, monopoly VI the land was
again u prominent feature OF the social
system; and In that was the foundation
OF much OF the misery aud oppression
associated with that system. The feudal
chieftain was exclusive Owner0f u great
tract OF land, measuring many square
miles In extent, given to him by the
favor NJ his king, or won from some
other chieftain by his sword, aud with
the land went the partial ownership OF
the people who lived on ". They lived
on the land, subject 10 the will OF the
lord OF the castle, aud were In q state OF
dependence little raised above slavery
The evils Of the feudal system, handed
down through the ages, In the shape OF
land monopoly, form prominent
feature In the existing order OF things
In Europe to-day. The evil was broken
up IN France by the NapOleOnlc code,
and France to-day haa more small hold
lngs than any Of the European nati0ne;
and there too Ia wealth more evenly dla-
trlbuted than In any OF the countries Of
Europe.
Great Britain Ia cursed 10 day with the
inlQuitous land monopoly handed down
iTom the feudal ages, and just because
Of the hardships growing out OF II, En'
gland to-day stands upon the brink Of u
revolution.
William, the ConQueror, appMtlOned
among his cheftaius the whole OF the
land, aud these lands, originally wrest d
from their lawful owners by force, aud
the NOrman's title In them no more
than u robbers title, they have held ever
since. A nobility, or governing casa,
has been fostered, at the expense Of the
interests Of the mass OF tho English pe0
pie. The land was taken from Its orig
lnal owners by force, and II was appor'
toned among the conquerOrs by thu
Kings favor To-day, few hundred
men own nearly the whole Of Great
Britain, aud her million masses arc In u
state Of penury and abject dependence
upon powerful landlords, no that II has
been truly said by those who know
whereof they speak, "that In quality and
quantity Of food. In clothing and hou4.
ing, In ease and recreation, aud In mor
atty, the average southern slave wau
better of, than the average agricultural
laborer In Great Britain 10 day.
II may be that the Duke OF Buccleugh
has u right, according to the technical
forms Of English law, To own Of the best
land OF England 10 much that he can
ride over II In straight line for thirty
miles before he comes 10 his boundary,
while thousands OF free-born English.
men, many Of them better men than no,
In u state Of abject poverty, their chil-
dren il.clothed and ill-fed, growing up
In ignorance and penury. and crowded
OF that land, denied the privilege OF
tilling II TO secure for themselves the
bread for want OF which they
are starving, forsooth because his lord
ship wants pleasure grounds, and parks
for his deer, and forests In which he and
his friends may follow the hounda |
FAY II may be according to tho technical
forms OF the law, but back OF, and under
the technical forms Of the law, there IL
on eternal law Of Righteousness which
IL being tramplet under foot, and II IL
only u question OF time, when, II chat
technical law IL not altered, a social
earthquake will engulf the Duke Of Buc
cleugh, and the whole abOminable sye
tenn that permits aud fosters such
wrongs upon the race.
This is In a large part the secret Of
that unrest, the smoulderlng disconten
which IL ready like u powder magazine
10 be touched into u blaze, the very
thought Of which makes British states
meu tremble. What Great Britain ought
10 do. and do ~ speedily ~ such radical
nhappna can pnfalv ba wrought In The