Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1889-04-12

ters not how many hands they have !
passed through or how great a price
IS paid the thief. Unborn souls can
not rightfully be deprived of their
patrimony by the wrongs of their
Predecessors. =
'The merchandise of men should
be limited to their own hands and
skill The soil IS free. The improv-
ments a man puts on land are his
own, those he can sell or dispose of
but the soil never" Man will never
be free until the soil from which he
derives his substance is free. There
are millions OF houseless and home
less people and they are trespassers
on every sod upon which they place
their feet except the public highway.
The earth is the Lords and He de-
mands It for his children. He has
never parted with the title to a single
foot of it, and He commands the mil
lions of wandering law made trespas-
sers to go and claim their inheritance.
These are some of the arguments
of land reformers and from a Euro
.pean standpoint, especially England
and Ireland where millions of poor
are homeless while millions of acres
of the earth are made sporting
grounds for the nobility, these ar
guments have much force. But in
America the condition of the landless
is not so bad but the time is rapidly
approaching in which the same con
ditions will exist as in Europe if
something is not done to stop the
avarice of the rapaclous landlords of
this country.
Pllny says: ''The colossal fortunes
which ruined Italy and caused the
downfall of Rome, were due to the
concentration of estates"
Now if 'cR." has followed the fore
going remarks closely he will dis
cover by what means the people"
may s1return the vast amount of pub
lie lands now in the possession of
alien land owners" True they have
money invested in the land, so may I
I have in a horse purchased from one
who had no right to sell, but the law
steps IN and says the rightful owner
must have the horse and will have
to lose what 1 paid or look to the one
of whom I purchased. My purchase
was made in good faith, but having
bought from one who had no right, I
have no vested right, and when we
| come to go back to first principles the
landlords vested right is no better
than my vested right which is no
right. Surely the constitution will
protect etc., he says. Yes, I know
the constitution will protect, but
what right has the constitution to
protect? The government had no
right to sell or barter away the land
in the first place, the governments
only right was the right of trustee
for the unborn millions ''They are
under existing laws entitled to as
much land as they may wish to own. -
Yes, true ''R.'' is correct, but the Sex
listing" law may be repealed. ''No
state enacts its laws contrary to the
will of the people" Surely there
must be some mistake about this, for
undoubtedly we have some laws
enacted that are not enacted in ac-
cordence with the will of the people.
Our representatives do not always
act in accordance with our wishes
No, nothing cansbe done without ''na-
tiOnal legislation" and if national
legislation should take upon itself the
right to declare non-Ownership II
land' it would revoke title to lane
by private parties" But what of it
The private party would not be de
priyed Of the right, the God giver
right to occupy, till and improve thu
land and the right to dispose OF thu
reward of his labor. ''What of thu
eastern states where farms are small?
} They would lose nothing. The.
/ could still occupy their 40 acre or 81
, acre farm the same as they do now
Revoking title to the 40 acres woul,
not prevent them from tilIing the sol
. Of those 40 acres but would revok
D the right to sell the land which the
never made but permitting them t
4 convey only the fruits of their TOT
s such as houses, barns. orchards, ct,