The Louisiana Democrat., 1891-09-30
sINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT..
CLARENCE MoELLER ON "sPEC.
ULATlNG IN LAND"

CLARENCE MOELLER ON "SPEC.
ULATlNG IN LAND"
CHICAGO, July Lit was ninety in
the shade last Thursday night when
Mr.. Clarence Moeller rose to address
the Single Tax club on Speculation in
Land" but he had no reason to COM
plain on any other ground, every seat
in the hall being taken and the interest
in what he had to say unmistakable.
The visitors included Mrs. Haskett.
Mrs. Dr. Kelley and Senator Castle,
prominent in equal suffrage movement;
and besides these there were many
strangers who listened to Mr. Moellers
striking argument with the closest at
tention. In part the speaker said:
Prof. Huxley had said that to the saw.
age mind there is no law; everything
happened by accident TO very large
extent this is true of most men to-day,
so far as the economic world is con-
cerncd. They can see no order in ma
ture The single taxcr has a greater
faith than that--a faith in the beneyo-
lent order of things. He believes that
things in this world were arranged for
human happiness, and that the only
reason why that happiness is nota rea:-
ity is because of mans disarranging
laws. Herbert Spencer once said that
the difference between the lowest.igno-
rance and the highest enlightenment IN
man was marked by the line of progress
from the Inconsistencies of law to the
perfect consciousness of its unversality;
that all is law, even to the gust of wind
coming around a corner bearing n
feather in it's way-all borne along by
forces which are positively irresistible.
SO far as my knowledge goes, only the
single taxer has faith in the beneficence
of this universal law. even to the law
of competition. which is but one of the
forces working for justice Statute
laws which permit and encourage spec
ulation in land arc q positive interfer'
cnce with the natural or just order.
Speculation in land robs both capital
and labor. Spectators take forcibly-
by power of statutory enactment from
labor the wealth it produces. If no,
forcibly, the producers hand it ovel
voluntarily because of the latent force
which lies behind under the name o.
vested rights. The handing over of 81
large part of it's produce by labor is
therefore, compelled by man-made law
The fact that the adjective vested" j:
so often used in connection with GER
tain rights would indicate that there
are other rights of which we do mo-
frequently hear The Declaration o.
independence says that one of oul
natural rights is the pursuit of happi
ness which includes property rights
We believe we have the highest idea o
all these rights of property, and thes,
rights were recognized by so eminent
scholar and original thinker as Herber
Spencer That right of property il
simply that when man applies his la
Dor or energy, directly or indirectly. t.
raw material taken from the common
storehouse, the thing which he ha
thus transformed becomes his agains
all the world 1t is not necessary fc
him to own exclusively the particula
part of the storehouse-the Garth
from which he draws this material il
order to apply his labor and produc
wealth, but it is essential to his wei
fare that he shall have unimpeded az
cess to the common storehouse. T
abridge this right in any way is to ro
him, and that is what land speculatio
does If while coming through dar
passageway on my way here tonight
had been divested of what little wealt
/ have on my peeson people would sa
| had been robbed Suppose that som
men get into the pathway of humanit
and by power of law ''hold it up" an
in addition shut it out or obstruct
from nature, should we not call tn;
robbery also? One of the commant
of the Almighty was that men shoul
go forth and subdue the earth, not su
due their fellow-men.
4 Some people who admit the justice
the single tax declare that equity wou
require the landowners to be compe
sated for the loss which that ella
would suffer through tax on land va
ues alone. Both spectators are su
posed to be men who are familiar wit
all the elements of chance, and as The
must know that the people can at al
time pass what laws they may see
on the taxation or land question,
spectators they should be prepared +
the effects of such possible legislatio
AS a matter of fact, however, there
not a speculator who would not have
chance to pull ont even If he woul
He would simply have to improve b
land-bccome producer instead of
dog in the manger. Even then the po
widows, who are said to be depende
on our present land system for the
support, would have this opportunit
We want a government in this count
which will recognize the rights of t
producer. The rightful property of t
producer is the residue OF the tot
wealth produced, after the ground re
is subtracted for common purposes.
the government, therefore, were
cease taxing the products Of labor a
to exact just obligations from the lar
owner, the producer would get
9 own, aided by the sublime law of co
g petition. ThyrtAvould be labor m
+ lennium. 1t would make nodifferen
whether the laborer was digging po
= toes or working at the top of til
!. teen-story building; natural law tn
being free. each would get what he p
duced and no more.
= MoraIizing Over Boom Town.
= L. W. Hoch, the mayor Of Adri