The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1890-05-28
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT.
EFFECTS OF MONOPOLY.


crete illustration.
He pointed, as the Globe has done be-
fore now. to the idle coal miners OF his t
own State and the idle farmers OF the 9
West, each suffering for the products OF
the other, yet unable to make the eA-
change. What is the reason of this SIM {
full waste? In this case, what chiefly
robs both the farmer and the miner Is a
monopoly, the great modern highways;
and another cause is the monopoly OF
the deposits of coal which God or nature
buried in the depths of the earth, not :
for the use of few coal barons only, but
for the use of mankind. Mr.. Powderly
we'll asks: tWhy should few men hold
that which warns the nation in their
five fingers, and not be Enclosed until
six agents sitting in New York city Shall
saw whether it will be 10.OOO,OO0 or q
| 0O0. 600 tons a month that shall come
| from the mines?'
| It is not worth while to blame the
men who own the mines, or the men
who own the railroads, except so far as
creed makes them rapacious. The larger
question which Mr.. Powderly evidently
| had in mind is whether It'll wise thing
for a nation of 60, 600, 900 people to allow
it's great roads and great natural depos-
It's of minerals to be the absolute prop
erty of a few men. We jealousy guard
the peoples right to the streets In cit
les, and in these times no individual
ever thinks of owning the county roads
and exacting toll upon travellers. Mod
ern industrial development has now
progressed so far that the question has
become a very serious one, whether the
public ownership of rallied roads is not
as important and necessary as the public
ownership of common roads And as to
the mines the same question is agltatlng
the minds of thoughtful men. Why, as
Mr.. Powderly asks, should few men
own all the coal that is under the earth?
They have not put it there, nor bought
it from anyone who did put 1T there.
Yet they arbitrarily limit the supply OF
this prime necessity Of life, forbid the
starving miners to bring it to the sur
face in exchange for the grain of the
West and charge the public whatever
they think the traffic will bear. The
mOnOpOllSU VI UuO lSdV ihoeSiAi
: ways, on the other hand, charges what
d aver he thinks the farmer and consumer
! can pay for transportation. The miner
l produces coal cheaply enough, and the
9 farmer raises grain cheaply enough; but
between these two monopolles the coal
v has become dear before it reaches the
). farmer, and the breadstuffs have become
= dear before they reach the miner. And
this is not all. When the coal monopo-
list shuts down the mine for some pur'
(, pose of his own, the miner, though his
!! hands are as strong and as willing as
II ever, is forced to be idle and wageless.
u Then his purchasing power is gone and
III the farmer loses his market.
d. 1t is much easier, however, to see the
~ wrongs in the present constitution Of
u, society than to point out a practical way
o. 81 in which they may be set right without
" doing more injustice. 1t is easy to say
~ ~ that the Governments or the State should
u. own the railroads and the mines, bu
~ =, how? Shall it buy them? That woult
|. l.. entail upon the people an interest bur
~ den as great, perhaps, as they now pa
- for transportation and mine rent. Shal
10 it confiscate them? That, especially i
the case of railroads, would be unjust
,pr for it is right that the owners should b
no compensated for the capital they hav
80 expended in construction. Shall 1t ia
he them so that large part of their profit
'e' will 90 into the public treasury? Ths
ou seems a little more feasible; and fro1
'.o Mr.. Powderly's remarks on taxation W
~ ~ Judge that to be his way.
ou If Mr.. Powderly is still little ahea
o ~, of public opinion, it is at least movin
ou. in his direction. The man who is no
~ gray and bald may live to see some
~ these great changes accomplished
''n Boston Globe.
the WASHINGTON BIOLOGICAL PAR
one The Single Tax Idea Before Congress
ks; Hot Discussion as to How the Pa
the Shall Be Paid For.
our The single tax idea came up again tt
ry. other day in the House of Represent
tic. tives, and though the debate was shol
est it took somewhat wider range than tt
ing previous debate. The question und
,ne consideration was whether the Hou
ich shodld or should not insist upon
ms, amendment to the Senate bill providil
md that half the expense OF organizing, II
full proving and maintaining geologic
nan park, situated in Washington, shou
fall upon the District of Columbia,
.rd- stead of the whole burden falling up
in the United States, as the Senate pl
ung posed Geological park should not
sti- COMPOUNDED with Columbus park, oy
tia which debate arose in the House recel
his ly. The land for Geological park W
ace purchased by an appropriation made
ill, the last Congress. The question NJ
$3.50. was upon its improvement
Mr.. McComas, of Maryland, took
To ground that the object of the pa
G to was not local. 1t was for the shelter
and animals, for the preservation of fish
.uo. and for the maintenance of specime!
,r1t He admitted that 'if this was gu
he ton where the people of the District
Nth Columbia were interested in the
ITO vancement of real estate, or interest
, in for speculative purposes in this propos
ovo establishment" it would be Wv
moi worthy consideration" But where v
ba the man who could rise up in his pl
+ be and assert that the citizens of the |
bv trict of Columbia had ever asked him
,me advance the interests of this park
ers have a bill passed for eithee Of tn
can purposes?"
i'm Mr.. breckenridge, of Kentucky, S