The morning call., 1892-03-16
LAND OWNERSHIP.

An article in last Sundays CALL entitled
''Strnging More Barbed Wire has called
out a number of communication In which
all sorts OF remedies for an admitted evil
are proposed. The most radical of these
remedies is that to abolish ownership in
land. One of these correspondents saws:
III man has right to absolutely own one
acre, use it as he pleases and appropriate
the income therefr0m or It's rental value to
his own use. there is no logical ground upon
which TO deny bis right 10 acquire other
acres to an unlimited amount from other
owners who may voluntarily sell to him."
Our correspondent has apparently forgotten
the recognized law that society may do
what society in the aggregate deems it wise
to do. IL remains with the body polite to
determine how land shall be held. All the
individual can claim is that one shall have
the same chance to acquire and hold land
as another. Now the body polite may de-
termine that land ownership TO an extent is
beneficial to the State 1t may determine
also that there should be limit to land
holding. Whatever the body polite deter
mines is lawful until changing conditions
call for change Of methods. At the pres
ent time there is general admission that
land ownership is beneficial to the State
very large land holdings are an evil. No
country amounts to anything in an Industrial
sense while its land is held in blocks OF
thousands of acres. An exception may
seem to be found in the case Of England.
where land is owned in larger estates, but
they have adopted system of tenantry in
that country which in a measure divides the
responsibilities of land ownership between
the landlord and tenant. The soil belongs
to the landlord and the tenant belongs TO
the soil. The latter may not acquire owner
ship OF u. but he acquires ownership in it.
Farms pass from generation TO generation
in one family on payment OF a fixed rent
AS often happens In such cases the land
owner gets more than a fixed share, but
English landlords have generally been will
| Ing to make concessions when the tenant
for no fault Of his own was unable to paw
the stipulated rent The practice of charg-
| ing all traffic will bear is older than the
Southern Pacific Railroad Company. But
| the landlord and tenant system is foreign
to the spirit of our institutions. hundred
| farmers who till one mans soil and paw him
stipulated sum for the privilege OF doing
! so insensibly get te look upon the land
owner as superior being. In California
| land has been bought as speculation. As
tAc SIate Alis up Win people land Will rise
In value But If owners should be made to
| pay taxes on land for what is Is worth-that
| is, for what cultivation would make it
worth-land would eat its own head off.
! Consequently we find land that might be
| made worth $50 an acre assessed for what IL
is worth as sheep pasture. We cannot
accept the conclusion of our correspondent
that If man has a right to own home
stead he has right to own 100000 acres of
land. There is about so much land in the
State, and the people have right to adopt
whatever means seems to them proper to
check land monopoly. Experience shows, or
seems to show, that land held i'm small farms.
cultivated by families. made the spot in the
| hard earth to which families may cling in
prosperity and adversely, is the best foun-
dalton that can be laid for a prosperous and
happy State.