St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1892-07-02
CRANKIsM GONE WILD!

CRANkISM GONE WILD!
Editor GL1RIoN-A few days ago /
entered the post Office and found a
package Weighing about two pounds !;
lit was a public document with the
frank Of Tom Z. johnson, NJ. c.. Upon
opening this public document, found
several packages, also ranked by Mr..
1 Johnson. opened one and read:
Protection, Or Free Trade? by Henry
George . The Public Document"
contains Henry Georges famous book
from chapter I to xxx. Six gentle
men made speeches from two to eight
lines in length, and appended chapters
from the book so as to circulate the
! entire book at public cost. Previous
/ II, 100000 copies had been paid for by.
some wealthy gentlemen, all of qchon,
1 are protected manufactures: Tom H..
johnson, steel rails; A. B. Farquar,
agricultural implements JOS. B. Sar-
geant, shelf hardware !; WI, Atkinson,
watches August Lewis, straw goods !;
ETC., etc. These gentlemen contributed
sums varying from $10OOto $4,000 each.
The significance Of this proceeding
lies in the fact that only ten years ago
Henry George was regarded as crank
who proposed nothing less than the to-
tai uprooting of society as it now ex-
lists and the further fact that Tom l..
Johnson, one of the Wealthiest land
owners in the country, in addition to
] his large steel rail and railway interests,
is pushing the reform advocated by
Henry George, in Congress.
He startled the nation short time
ago by proposing to exempt all inn
provements upon land in the District
/ of Columbia and raising all revenue
for the district by tax on the site val
ue OF land, regardless OF improvements.
4 His reason is this While the holders
of vacant lots have grown rich beyond
the dreams of avarice, by vast expend-
itures of the government, in the dis
trict wrung from toilers in every part
of the country, they have done moth
| ing towards improving the city. Worse
than that they have impeded and OBJ
structed the progress and growth OF
the city by dog in the manger policy
of refusing to improve and preventing
others from improving. Following
Henry Georges lines, he proposes to
make it impossible to hold land in the
!, district, and eventually anywhere else,
| without putting it to its best use.
/ G. NJ. Hemingway, Washington
i City crank" sent me tabulated
statement of the congressional election,
}, which reads something like this: In
such district 800 votes would have
), changed the result, There are thou
sand single taxes, ETC., etc, The state
: ment showed that if single taxes had
: disregarded party lines, they could
i have captured the House. He accord,
ingly proposes to join forces in every
. country with the party that will give
! ! them the Legislators, state and nation
:. al, giving that party ali other officers
! ! He shows that less than 100000 vote
! ! will give a single tax congress AM
single tax. legislatures in a majority Q
! States. He points out that nine 70
= tiers in ten, vote the party ticket blind
" and single taxer cares nothing to
L the label SO that he gets in his work
Q He points out further that the genera
newspapers, in ignoring the land ques
i tion, give the single takers big ad
t vantage. For whereas the strict partl
e man reads only his party paper, TIL,
single tax crank is thoroughly inform
ed on all questions and never vote
g without being shown something tt
vote for. Every one, therefore, count
. | 4
! ! blind party voting got us into mud
= die, the same fatuity may get us out.
: / make no comment at present OF
the merits of the single tax. ono
g believed in the single tax as a remed.
v for land monopoly, b';t have had th
I fallacies OF the theory pointed out t,
me. AS there are large number Q
It single tax men in st. Landry, / Woul'
a be pleased to take the negative in
l. discussion of the subject. But this
d know the land question has come t
stay. ] have this statement before m
! from reliable source Lands granite
r since September 20, 1850, to the open
-t ing of the civil war, &c, 0,470,920 25I10
acres. Granted during the civil wa
y July L, loOI, To July z, Ioof, soo,ooV
: $50 69II00 acres squandering j
g :, three years of more than three time
= as much as during ten years preceedin
the late unpleasantness. Lands gran
= ed since the civil war to March 5, 1877
= IS 100000 acres. They were then "r
:, + constructing" the country with all tE
u zeal of Northern saintliness The lant
so squandered for the benefit of "pul
te lie spirited" railway companies, whos
ct paid attorneys represented { y the PEI
le pie in the u. S. Congress, amounte
4 therefore to 211, ,890,4s9 94Il00 acre
u an area capable of supplying 2,llS.9!
n families with 100 acres each This do
r not include other grants to all sorts
se bogus companies to enable them to tai
to part in developing the country's r
le sources"
r, That was sowing the wind now pl
$ oour ear to the ground and you. ma
r hear the coming of the whirlwint
n The people are preparing for q spring
IN D. G. DAVID.
SAVANNAH, GA, April 26, 1889.
ry Having used three bottles Of r. 2. 2. t
ed ;ynnure blood and general weakness, al