St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-05-28
INDUSTRIAL EXPRESSIONS.
Written for the Globe.1
CHAPTER VII.
SUMMARY.

SUMMARY.
In this closing article | desire to sum.
Marie briefly the conclusions drawn in
the preceding chapters.
The basis and foundation of every in.
dustry is to be found in the earth itself.
including all its natural resources.
Labor applied to these resources of
the earth is the producer of all wealth
that is, the producer Of everything that
ministers to the needs of man.
Without land to use no good things
can be brought forth to supply human
wants.
Knowing that land must be h ad,
spectators get title to land that the
cannot use themselves. and hold 1t at a
high price, waiting until labor must
have it.
Those engaging in productive indus
try try to pay these prices-contract to
pay them-mortgage themselves to pay
them.
With every onward step of ind ustry,
the price of1and rises-not only so as to
absorb all the advantages of i'm pro we'd
methods and machinery. but even more
! than that
The price of land finally reaches
point where industry cannot possibly
pay 1t, and have enough left for labor to
live on. and to replace capital used up.
Then some Industries stop-the build
ing trades in the cities, and the opening
up of new farms in the country-and
thus throw out of employment many
thousands of men.
These men are now forced to a rigid
and unusual economy. They buy and
and Injuries of life.
This greatly diminishes the demand
for all these things, and throws out of
employment part of the men who
were producing them.
More men are now in the ranks of the
unemployed, and are forced TO practice
unusual economy.
| This throws more men out of employ
! ment. and still further intensifes the
j business stagnation.
| SO it goes on, ever growing steadily
worse and worse, until finally general
| industrial stagnatOn prevails.
| Interest payments are now defaulted
| and mortgages begin to be foreclosed.
/ Banks that had lent on the security of
| inflated values cannot realize on their
assets; some little thing starts run.
! Some banks close their doors, and we
have ''money panic" Manufacturers
| who had sold goods on credit press their
customers. the storekeepers. Store
keepers cannot pay up. for their goods
are unsold because OF the diminished
/ demand. Some manufacturers and
! merchants fail.
I At this stage many concerns that are
really sound are forced to the wall be-
cause of what is called a money strin-
gency." This stringency is due partly
| to fear among those who have money
that if they lend. it will never come
| back, and partly to the fact that the
| banks-the usual lenders have their
| funds tied up so they cannot reach
! them.
There is no scarcity of money, but
/ those who have it won't lend if. They
| prefer TO put it away in a bureau
/ drawer. an old stocking, hole in the
| ground or other safe place.
! The real-the fundamental cause of
of the Industrial depression as before
J stated is to be found in land monopoly.
Industrial depressions and their ac-
F; companying pancs and business fail
! ures never can be stopped until land
monopoly is destroyed.
Can land monopoly be destroyed?
F.! The simplest thing in tile world if we
will only look below the surface.
Why do men monopolize land and
hold it at high price?
Because it is profitable. Because there
| is good margin between the value
which the growth of population and in
| dustry gives to land and the taxes
which the holder is obliged TO pay on that
| value.
! How can land monopoly be made un.
profitable?
By putting more taxes on land held
| idle and less Oh those VINO put theiI
| land TO use. Stop taxing industry; tax
land values and land speculation is de.
! Stroyed. its power for evil is gone and
industrial depreSsionS are impossible
! Our New Zealand cousins have tried
the experiment and proved the truth OF
| these assertions.
Land monopoly, of course, is not the
only cause of industrial depressions;
put as land Is the one vitality essential
element of industry. it follows that
! land monopoly must be the one vital
| cause of depression.
Anything that in any way binders
production OF exchange will check in
dustry. bad road, a bar across the
mouth of harbor. rock in the chan
mel, an unfordable river, au impene-
trable jungle. a swamp that cuts off the
highway, hill too steep 10 climb, a
toll-gate or highwayman. a tariff or a
pirate, any natural or law-created OBJ
stacle checks industry and III axes men
poorer.
But natural obstacles can be removed.
hIghwaymen and pirates can be caught,
toll-gates and tariffs abolished. Labor
can emancipate itself from all these
things, or by harder effort overcome
them or get around them.
Without land labor is helpless, indus
try ceases. the people starve.
Thus again we see how land m onop-
oily is the one great ever present evil
that robS indu strY and periodically
StrangleS it.
A simple change In our system OF tax.
alton will destroy land monopoly for.
ver.emancipate labor, and make indus
trial Impressions impossible.