Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-10-15
GEORGE AND GEORGEISM
He SAYS: "It Is not Necessary TO Con-
Iiscate Land; II Is Only Necessary
20 Conflscate Rent"
He wants AN OF the Rent-Money Gobbied
mp by raxation-A Reckless and VI
terIy Demoralizing scheme,

At last one OF the New York papers, the
Times, has "got onto" Henry Georges
siracket'' Of rent conhscation All the
other dailies are still asleep, or their ed
itors are too lazy TO put themselves to
the trouble OF ascertainlng what George't
plumber scheme is. We extract from the
Times article the following:
We ask our readers to-day 10 look 8
little more closely at Mr.. Georges
theories as he announces them In his
canvass and as he has formu-
lated them in his published works
He avows that one of the chief motives
he has for seeking an election as mayor is
to give prominence to these theories,
which he would, II elected, urge on the
Legislature and on the public He also
says that "when worklngmen have shown
their voting strength they will be re-
spected by politicians, and their just de-
mands will have to be granted" In Mr..
George'ao own mind the justest demand
the Workingmen could make, and the
one be would have them Insist upon
most firmly, Is the adoption OF his
policy, which Is, In HIS OWE. words, "to
appropriate rent by taxation" This eys-
tenn he proposes to secure through the
action of the board of aldermen, 20 far
as New York is concerned, In his state
-ment of Sunday he says. "The municipal
legislature In all things pertaining to local
affairs should be what state legislature
is to a state. IL could raise
taxes and Ak the rate, on what to be
levied, and how to be spent"
Here, then, Is Mr.. Georges platform,
or programme. Here his own explana-
ton Of the policy he wishes to get
adopted, aud OF the instrumentality by
which he proposes that II shall be carried
out. In his Sunday statement Mr..
George does not explicitly declare that he
would appropriate all rent Of land by
taxation. He says; al would raise the
.sunns necessary ioI the support Of the
government by tax levied up2Sihe land
exclusive of improvements, '1mlnd he
only hints at " taking for the use Of the
community that value OF land
which arises from the growth OF society
and not from the exertton of the indivld-
ual." But to those who have studied Mr.
Georges chief book this admission i'm
plies the direct and complete conhscation
OF all rent Of land beyond percentage
allowed to the nominal owner to save the
government the cost, trouble, and uncer-
tainty Of collection. In his work on
"Progress and Poverty" which first
brought him into prominence, on page
292 Of the edition OF 1882 he says:
do not propose either to purchase or
to contiscate private property In land
The first would be unjust, the second
needless Let the individuals who now
hold 1t still retain, II they want to, pos
session OF what they are pleased TO coll
their land. Let them continue to call
II their land. Let them buy, and sell, and
bequeath, and devise IL. We may safely
leave them the shell II we
take the kernel. 1t is not necessary to
conhscate land IL is only necessary to
con1scate rent. BY leaving 10
land owners percentage OF rent, which
would probably be much less than the
cost and loss involved In attempting x
rent lands through state agency, and by
making use OF the existing machinery, W,
may, without jar or shock, assert the
common right to land by taking rent tol
public uses.
This trent" scheme would beggar 20,
900 owners OF real estate on Manhattan
island, as land would have no longer an,
selling or renting value for the owner.1
Again, on page 3l5, he shows the ex
tent to which he would push his theory
That Is to say, the wealth produced Ii
every community would be divided Int,
two portions. One part would be dis
trlbuted In wages and interest between
individual producers according to tn
part each had taken in the work OF pro
duction; the other part would 90 TO tn
community as "A whole, TO be distributes
in public benefits to all It's members.
IA. Tho a yyhnln and th
portions emphasized by him leave n
doubt, and no room for doubt, as /
the scope OF the theory the adoption &
which he desires above all things to pre-
mote by his election for mayor, and til
promotion OF which he would, II elected
use all the influence OF his Office to gecur,
Nor does his explicit declaration as to tn
municipal legislature leave any donbt, c
room for doubt, as to how he would II
to obtain the immediate application OF hi
remarkable theory. He would take all th
rent of all the land In the city of Ne
York by taxation, and after paying fToi
1t the necessary expenses OF the govern
ment he would turn over the rest to th
board Of aldermen "to be distribute
In public benefits" more reckless
and In its effects, considering the agonc
by which II Is TO be carried out, a mol
oppressive, corruptlng, and demoralizlu
scheme has never been devised and ce
tainly none approaching 1t has ever bee
proposed by a man seriously seeking ii
chief administrative office In the largel
and busiest city In the New World.