, 1890-07-31

rect and misleading. He sets mp
case of Hypothetical philanthropy,
wherein generous citizen erects
large block for free occupancy by
community and declares, with rea'
son, that the better way 10 appor'
ton the rooms among the benefi-
Charles would be the letting OF the
rooms to those tenants who would
pay premiums for choice Of location,
the money so collected to be used
for the payment Of Janitors the
operation Of elevators, and the light
ing and heating Of the building.
Then he argues that the American
people, who are occupying broad
domain created by God, should
award the use of the land In aslmilar
manner. Let us adopt Mr.. Georges
illustration, and see what 1t would
have accomplished for the United
States. A little more than cen.
tury ago this nation was established
as one of the powers OF the earth.
At that time only one of the floors
was occupied. The rest was saw
age wilderness, occupied only by
tribes of wild Indians. In the
course of time that floor became
overcrowded, and the government,
recognizing the necessity of scat
tering its people, and thereby re-
claiming the wilderness, found IT
necessary to offer premiums In order
to irduce men and women to venture
beyond the border. Does Mr.. George
imagine for an instant that men
would have taken their families and
cut loose from all the comforts and
safeguards of civilization II the gov
ernment had not made special In.
ducements? Assuredly not III
you will go out into the wilderness" /"
said the government, "and take a
farm and improve 1t, we will guar
antee that It shall never be taken
from you or your children without
just compensation" That policy
has settled the West, carved out
commonwealths and made the
United States what 1t In to-day
The application OF the Henry George
theory ut the birth o. the republic
would without question have re-
stricted the development OF the
West and prevented the
United States from acquiring
the greater part of its territory. In
order to hold the territory now EN-
braced in the states of Oregon and
Washington, the government found
IL necessary to make extraordinary
offers; to give every man $40 acres
of land, and, If he were married, II
similar acreage to his wife. AT that
time the land was almost valueless,
aud 1t would now be an outrage for
the government to permit laggards
who chose to cling to the skirts oi
civilization to come here on equal
terms with the men who denied
themselves in order to obtain land
that some day might acquire a value
it did not then possess.
II there had been a display oi
favoritism In all this Mr.. Georges
theory would not be quite so unjust
But there was not. When Messrs
I Glover, and Cannon and Browne
came to Spokane Falls and acquired
the land they hold to-day, they did
no more than Mr.. George might
have done himself. They took thai
which others considered valueless, {
thing that any one could have hac
for the asking But they would
not have come hither If the Henry
George theory had been in force
nor would others have come here
nor would the railroads have bull
into this wild country If the govern
ment had not given them lanC
grants. In short, the West would still
be a wilderness, the East woulC
be even more crowded than II nov
is, and consequently instead of ther
being less poverty there would b
more.
Deep down in the hearts of tn
American people lies sense Of jus
tice that will protect a man in tn
possession OF that which he took b,
due forms of law at a time whei
everybody else spurned it as value
less.
: Mr.. George, or any of his admin
ers, could have possessed part c
the townsite of this city had the
wanted Ii. Now that time has YER
fled the wisdom of the men who dc
: MED themselves and their familie
, the comforts of life, men who cam
3 here and faced possibility Of deaf
by hunger or at the hands of Ii
: dians, no one has n right to con
3 plain. There are other opportun
+ ties, and if the Henry George thee
+ rists can choose as wisely and as TO
g tunately as the men who came
1 Spokane in an early day, they wi
v receive their reward, and furthe
more the law and the people wi
t protect them in its possession.
y THE NEGRO'S FRIENDS.
Senator Morgan, Of Alabama, or