The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1892-04-09
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT.
THE SINGLE TAX.


" a. Lothrop, of Ncponset, sayp IL In tn =
Only Remedy for Poverty.
Under the auspices of tho single tax
league in Reform club hall. 566 Main
street last evening. Q. A. Lothrop, OF
Neponset, lectured before q small aud.
fence. I. j. Hastings presided, and in
short Introductory address, said he
hoped the single tax would find more
open advocates in Worcester than it has
at present lie said New Haven, Min
neapoiis and other cities had elected
single tax mayora and in other respects
the single tax men had made greater
progress than they have in Worcester.
Inns wus the first meeting since May
and election of officers was in order,
oot motion to defer the election until
the next meeting was passed without
dissent Mr.. Hastings said he had re-
Gently seen William Lloyd Garrison. an
earnest single tax orator, and he ex-
pected it would be possible to have Mr..
Garrison in Worcester at the next meet
ing
In beginning his lecture Mr.. Lothrop
expressed his pleasure being present.
and said the question of the 'unem-
pioyed and the single tax" was one
which dwarfed all others of the coun-
try. including the slave question.
Single tax advocates" said he, ''are
Rrumblers. but we are not alone; there
are many kinds of grum blers and men
are becoming more and more dissatis-
he'd with the present condition of af-
fairs The unequaled distribution of
wealth Is attracting widespread COM
ment and criticism. Many remedies
have been proposed. but the single tax
remedy is by far the best since it goes
at once to the bottom OF the whole mat
ter. All other remedies are merely
artificial.
"A French writer has said that in the
stone age it was very difficult for the
human race to gain subsistence. In
our own day, in spite of all the inven-
tions and improvements which have
been made, while a few have been car
ried to the top and have become inn
mensely rich, the great mass of man.
kind are still in the stone age. and sub
sistence is barely possible"
Mr.. Lothrop called attention to some
of the improvements of the century. A
hundred years ago pillow required one
man to hold, one to sit on the beam,
one to clear the way, and from four to
eight yoke of oxen; and even then not
more than one acre could be plowed a
day. Now, one man with a team of
horses can pillow two acres and half a
day, and, with a steam pillow, it is pos
sible to pillow five acres The speaker
referred also to the improvement in
rcapers. corn shelters, printing. etc,
all showing the increasing power being
gained by mind over matter. despite
these achievements" said he. ''the ma
jority of men are poor. and poverty is
steadily increasing" Mr. Lothrop then
quoted a long passage from Henry
Georges Progress and Poverty" bear
ing on this matter.
There are some" he continued,
who deny that poverty is increasing.
One argument against it is the average
argument Men point 10 our great pro-
duction and say it can not be possible
that we are poor" The lecturer con-
tended that this argument is fallacious
and quoted the labor bureau as saying
in 1855 that the condition of the work.
ing people could not possibly be worse.
New York papers were quoted from,
including the Press, to show the mis-
cry, degradation and sQualor that exist
within one-eighth of a mile from city
hall Talmage and Helen Campbell
were also quoted. the former saying
that II you would see how Latimer
looked in the FIRE look in the faces of
the working girls in our great cities
Such slavery as this was called worse
by far than chattel slavery, when the
master was responsible for the bodily
comfort of his slaves
The speaker commented upon the
enormous increase in population, by
immigration and otherwise. and said
this would inconvenience no one if
natural opportunities were free.
He discussed the wage question at
some length, contending that wages
could not help rising if land were not
monopolized by SPECTATORS and that
they must go down under present cir
cumstances Gould men work twenty
scur hours a day and live on one biscuit
a day, they would still work all the
time for their one biscuit"
The speaker then told how the west
ern lands were held by landlords, in
this country and in Europe, and gave
figures to show to what an enormous
extent the land had been monopolized
IAN American landlord Is no better
than an English landlord" said Mr..
Lothrop who claimed tina. robbery is
involved in the private ownership of
land and that the tariff is a tax.
AS a remedy he proposed shat land
value be taxed so high that it would be
no object for any one to- hold more than
he could use. This, he said, would kill
speculation and make vacant land free.
He would abolish all other taxes, direct
or indirect