Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-08-25


and factory hands IN production and
adds to national wealth."
Jim didn see that this was an an
swer to his question, so he tried again.
'.Do all carpenters, tailors and factory
hands who are sober and frugal share
in this wealth that you say population
gives to the state?"
YES" said the school-master; ''in .
degree of course they do, but their share
is much smaller than that which goes
Tor interest and rent"
''Why?" said Jim
"Why?' said the school-master.
''why? Because population means
more laborers, and more laborers mean
more competition, and more compete
ton means less wages"
''Then competition does not give
value 20 labor?- said Jim.
NO" said the school-master; ION the
contrary, competition reduces the value.
of labor" !!
.'Yet it gives increased wealth to the
community. Who gets the value popu-'
lation gives?" said Jim.
Those" said the school-master, ''who
possess certain advantages which labor
must use to live, and for the use of
which labor makes large return
Are there many people possessing
such advantages?' asked Jim.
mo, replied the school-master: ''they
are in one sense numerous, but compar-
ed to population as whole, they are
few, very few.
care those few persons industrious,
temperate and frugal? Do they take
the wealth because they earn it, and by
their industry and frugality deserve
it?" said Jim
''It by no means follows" said the
school-master: ''those few persons pos
sessing certain advantages gain wealth
by the possession of those advantages,
and may be neither industrious, frugal.
nor temperate
''And they get the largest share?"
said Jim.
Yes said the school-master.
1T does not seem fair" said Jim.
'It is state of things" said the school
master, ''tbat it is not our place to
grumble at: the advantages are natural
opportunities, principally land, which
a few people have obtained and which
entities them to the value given by pop
ulation."
''Then if population does not give
value to labor it only gives value to
land,- said Jim, because labor can not
do without it; and the man who owns
the land gets the greatest share of the
value"
eff you could prove that, my boy"
said the school-master, ''you could make
out a case for the followers of Henry
George, whose works, by the way have
not read Unfortunately for his theories,
population gives value to many things
besides land"
Permanent valued" said Jim.
YES said the school-master.
what things?" said jim
WELL" said the school-master, ''let
me see. Here are the boys hats for ex-
ample. If a store keeper had a lot of
hats, and population suddenly in
creased, hats would become valu-
able
That is not permanent value" said
Jim, but merely temporary. As popu-
lation increased competition would in
crease, and wages go down; they would
start making hats, and the value of
hats would decrease; but the value Of
land would go up. Is there anything
besides land that population gives a
permanent value to, that is what L
want to know?'
''Well,'' said the schOol-master, ut
may be so; we need not discuss it"
Don't you think" said, Jim, ''that,
if land takes the greater part of the
value population gives, those who by
their industry and frugality deserve it
should get a larger share than they
do?''
''That would mean" said the school,
master, ''the handing over of those
natural advantages which private indi-
viduals now hold to the community for
their general advancement, which can
never be-"
''Why?" said Jim
James said the school-master, Sc
verely, ''things have come to q pretty
pass when boy of your age can not
take his teachers word without asking
why. We will go on with the next
lesson" PETER PICKLE.