The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-08-23
THE PEOPLES LAND.
HOW THE BiRTHRIGHT OF AMERICAN
CITIZENS HAS BEEN STOLEN.

Railroad Barons and Foreign Landlords
Have Gobbled the Lands Upon Which
Farmers Sons Should Be Sustaining
Themselves.
Volumes have been written upon the
iniquity of the American land steal I'M
til nearly everybody has become more or
less familiar with its enormity. In 80
land grants to railroads of which
have been forfeited by not building the
roads and for other cause.-the govern
ment gave away over 109, ISL 900 acres, or
enough to make homes for 4, 738, 900 fam
lies. In addition to this, the records
show page after page of titles to Eu-
ropean nobility, who own large tracts,
ranging from 5000, 900 acres lover eight
counties) to tracts of few townships.
Little idea can be formed of the extent
OF this evil without comparison, and then
one is lost in the computation. The rail-
road grants alone show an area four
times as large as England, Ireland, Scot
land and Wales, which, added to the vast
holdings of aliens, swells the amount to
an area II times as large as the state Of
Ohio, IS such states as Indiana, 81 such
states as Maryland or $50 such states as
Rhode Island.
Does any one wonder why the farm
ers' sons and daughters are driven from
their natural vocations to the already
crowded shops Of the cities to look for
work, thereby cutting still lower the
wages that rightfully belong to the
skilled artisans and mechanics, who have
spent the best years Of their lives in per-
fecting their trades? They are human
and must live. Their birthright has
been stolen from them by legal highway
men, and they must find work or starve.
OF the few thousand acres Of public
lands yet remaining not one acre in ten
will reproduce the seed sown upon it.
The old home is too small to hold the
constantly increasing brood, and even
where it has fortunately escaped the
mortgage blight it is soon left for father
and mother, while the life and energy
that should characterize American agri-
culture are lost in the vortex of city tur-
MOL, where they are forced to compete
for bread with the poorly fed and half
clothed wage slaves of our shops and fac
tories. It is another proof that the causes
that depress one branch of industry af-
feet all branches, for men driven from
their chosen trade or vocation seek a liv-
ing in another, thereby bringing all to a
common level.
Of the millions Of acres owned by these
railroads and other corporations not one
acre in ten has been patented, deeds
taken and recorded, the corporations
taking this method to avoid taxation
letting the burden fall upon the poor
pioneer. who can i'll afford it. Alien
ownership draws constant rental from
this country, which must be paid in gold
and which is rapidly reducing the farm.
ers of this country to a level of the
tenant farmer of Europe. The absorb.
ton of land drives the poorer classes into
our larger cities, where they are treated
even worse than the serfs Of Ireland.
Twenty-six years of Republican and
four years of Democratic administration
have failed to correct this grievous wrong,
while the inactivity of the present (Cleve-
ian6 administration gives the people lit
tie ground for hope. Like the cause of
slavery in 1865 and 1850, new party
must come up from among the people
and right this and other wrongs that dis
tress the people and reclaim that which
hox %1,~ Is
capital.
Without q new party the outlook is
indeed dark, and any conjecture is little
more than prophecy. To the unthink-
ing it will appear like the same old
grind, with the screw of oppression given
one more turn, but by those who have
watched the encroachments of capital
the bloody hand of Imperialism is al
ready seen at the throat of fair Liberty,
and the temple of our independence is
already being undermined for the erec-
ton of throne where Oligarchy shall
rule with all the exaction of his imperial
mandate.
The step from dictator" to king
is not q great one, and the president of a
I0puU41C VIII I0AOS0o w C1A4 COuSTeSS 10
gether until he thinks the representatives
of the people are ''tractable" has all the
requirements for an absolute ruler.
Place in his hands the armies and navies
of the republic, intrenched in every
fortress and dominating every harbor,
backed by the wealth of this country
and the kingdoms of Europe, who could
land millions Of soldiers upon this con-
tinent at months notice, and we would
come to realize those prophetic words Of
that noble martyr Lincoln when he said:
Gas result of the war corporations
have been enthroned, and an era of cor
ruption in high places will follow, and
the money power of the country will en-
deavor to prolong its reign by working
upon the prejudices of the people until
all wealth is aggregated in few hands
and the republic is destroyed"
Shall we heed this prophetic warning
or go on with our 'prejudices" and aid
in its fulfllment? ID. A. Reynolds
Pamphlet.