Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-07-17
acres weighed in the balance of ono

cent of the area, contain a per cent OF
| the land values of the State. Boston
| alone contains As per cent. of the land
| values of Massachusetts,, and only 90
41ths of 1 per cent. of the area. Under
the single tax Boston would pay at the
present valuation 46 per cent of all the
taxes raised in the State. At present it
pays 35 per cent. Three-quarters of an
| average acre along Washington street.
| is worth as much as all the land in
| Southbo The owner of the S19, 500
| building at the corner of Washington
| and Winter streets, standing on $122,-
| 500 lot, would have his tax increased
| heavily and find it profitable to erect a
| better building, but Fred L. Ames would
| probably pay less tax on the corner OF
| Court and Washington streets than Will
| be levied under the present system.
| (For these facts am indebted to Mr.. 5.
| H. Howes, of Southboro, Mass
| grant that under the system we ad-
| vocate speculation in land would cease.
as no one would desire to possess it ex-
cept to use it, nor would it profit any
one to do So 1t would cease to be an
investment. No capital would be locked
up in it, and a vast sum now imprisoned
would be set free for productive pur-
poses
Imagine that land ownership had
never existed in Boston. That all land
was accessible to him who wished to use
it by simply paying it's yearly rental
value. That no landlord, as now, stood
ready to gobble up in rent the profits Of
labor. That each tenant were secured
legally in his possession as he possibly
1 ~ hp in h,I faar ~
taxes, direct or indirect, and that no
barbarous custom houses interposed an
unnatural barrier to free trade. That
the wage Garner, allowed free access to
the opportunity of land at present lock-
ed up from him, instead of begging for
work as now, were free to employ him
| self. Would not Boston be better than
Bellamy's dream of it, and that without
the sacrifice of individual independ-
ence? Then there could be no excuse
for idleness or poverty, except through
personal fault or misfortune, and not as
now enforced by cruel laws which
breed evil conditions. To able bodied
people seeking work or charity, we
would say, go and employ yourselves.
Human wants are illimitable. Oppor-
tunity is opened for all who will use it.
| The profits of labor can not then be
filched from the laborer Noarmies Of
officials will interfere with our excharg-
ing freely what we raise or make for
something else that we want. Univer-
sal interchange means increased human
satisfaction and an amending demand
for workers Therefore, the more work.
ers the more wealth.
No wonder that Mr.. George, seeing
what may be wrought with no miracle,
simply by striking off the letters of law
and custom, gained new reverence for
the Creator of the earth, and looked
upon the ''unearned increment" of land
as the divinely appointed source of rev.
enue from which perfect society could
support itself in peace and prosperity.
Supposing we compare the three part.
ners which produce all wealth. Land,
Capital and Labor-and see what sort OF
equality exists in the partnership. La
Dor struggles and is in chains; Capital
grumbles at the small returns it gets
for investments. but the landlord, who
neither works nor risks, gathers in the
profits and is cheerful, like
The smiling young lady OF Niger
| Who rode on the back OF tiger;
| The return from the ride
| Found the lady inside,
| And the smile on the face of the tiger.
The landlord is the tiger, and he who
rides with him eventually takes the in-
side seat and loses the power to smile.
| OF course, in this sense, landlord does
not mean the man who owns the build
ings, but the man who owns the land.
which is privilege other men must get
| permission from him to use and on his
| terms a
So we expect to enlist capital and La
Dor in the single tax movement just rs
soon as we can beat it's meaning in to
their stupid heads. To liberate land is
to eliminate tho useless partner of the
| firm and allow the two remaining ones
| just division of the profits.
Perhaps no better illustration of tho
| land owners power can be seen than al
|. Killarney in Ireland, that beautiful
spot where lake and mountain unite to
| make perfect region of natural doe
| light. Hero the tourist goes to rest his
| mind and give activity to his imagina.
ton, and here in the midst of earth's
beauty he finds degraded poverty and
hordes of beggars. Did the kind power
that made the one produce also the
other? If yes, then welcome atheism,
for the universe is failure and the
devil is at the fore.
But before you reach this terrible yer.
dict look further. True, if you ask the
idle villagers who is responsible for
their misery they will say 1.-THE Lord"
but they mean the lord of the manor,
like the Earl of Kenmare and Herbert
of Muckross, who are the owners of the
enchanting landscape and delightful
waters. They own also the wretchcd
novels and neglected farms. Not one
of these people can raise potato or
ply trade unless he gets permission
and pays tribute in the way of rent to
these two favored mortals of Killarney.
What service have these Landlords rem.
dered to mankind? They produce moth.
ing They live luxuriously and with
profiigacy on money wrung from their
tenants. In fact, both had been spend.
thrifts to the verge of bankruptcy, and
when / was there last summer, were
away seeking fresh means TO bolster up
their failing fortunes and redeem their
mortgaged estates. Their tenants wero
discouraged because the rent took all.
The more they earned and saved tho
more the landlord raised the rent, con-
tent only when he left a bare livelihood.
No wonder despair came to them and
beggary or exile was accepted.
TO BE CONTINUED.
How the Farmer Gets Left.
All that remains to be done to open
- Tx1Ii nr,