The morning times., 1895-12-29
SINGLE TAX COLUMN.

/
eve remember thath 1865, after the
most tremendous conf43 of modern times,
this country at once etttred upon such an
| era of commercial and!fadustrial prosperity
| as 1t had never see9yNefore.''
THIS is THE GENERAL RULE.
History. as rule, has paid but slight
attention to the condition of the laboring
! masses, but remark are dropped
| here and there sufficient to show that war
has generally redounded to their benefit.
Columns might be quoted to similar effect
! with the following:
| OnMarch1 1871, the eFranco-Gerinan war
| closed. Then folio wed the rule of the Com
| mune, whose dynamite aud incendiary torch
| wrought worse destruction than the Ger
mar armies. AS If this were not destruc-
tiou and loss enough, the nation paid as In
uemnlty to Its Zoe b.OO0, ,OUU,UUO oi irancs-
| $e65 100000. Yet the American Cyclo-
pedia, published few years later, says,
volume z, page 4O1:
During the period since the war her
material prosperity has been restored with
remarkable rapidity and French Industries
and trade have again reached an entirely
normal condition"
Green, in his ''Short History of the Eng
lish People," speaking of their condition
at the close of the hundred years of war
with France, that ended III 1451, says
| tpage 295(
|
anxiety to curtail the dress OF the laborer
and the farmer, the progress OF these
| classes in comfort and wealth; and from
| the language OF the statutes themselves,
1t is plain that, as wages rose, both farmer
and laborer went on clothing themselves
| better" etc.
Prof. Thorod Rogers, in his volume on
"Six Centuries OF Work and Wages affirms
that, during the civil wars that ended with
| Oliver Cromweifs protectorate, wages
| were raised so per cent above what they
| stood at in the times which preceded those
civil convuisions.". (see page 1922
WAGES INCREASED BY PESTILENCE.
In 134S England was visited by plague
known in history as The ''black death" The
Encyclopedia Britannica tvol. 10, page
164) estimates the mortality at from two
thirds TO three-fourths the entire population.
Green, in his History of the English Peo-
ple,' at one-lalf. Thorold Rogers devotes
chapter TO this plague, In which he says:
The immediate consequence OF the
plague was an excessive enhancement of
wages. Labor in harvest time, and ut the
manor house cost three times what it did
In 1882. There was a great increase in
the cost OF all services, and of such articles
as depended mainly on labor for their value.
There was scarce an article needed for
agricultural operations, the cost OF which
was not doubled. All at once, then,
ant and artizan, became the master OF the
situation In England page 240.)
FIRE AS BUSINESS BOOMER.
On October 8, and 8, 1875, occurred the
great fire. that devastated three and one
third square miles OF The heart of Chicago,
and destroyed one-third in value of the
entire property of the ,city. For fort
night previous Patrick Rafferty, had been
vainly seeking works and had decided to
lief n bpp
at midnight he was aroused by the clangor
OF bells and the cries or the crowd on the
streets. Looking out of the window he
saw the city ablaze -and fervently ex-
claimed, Thank God, i shall have work
tomorrow 1t was sindeed a harvest-time
for Chicago workmen such as was never
known before nor since; abundanceo or work,
with wages Increased from twenty-five TO
fifty per cent; which would have been still
more il workmen from thousand miles
away had not hastened thither by the hun
dreds. At the end of three years the city
was rebuilt In better shape than ever, and
business was enjoSpasaan unprecedented
THE RAT1oSALE OF, IT.
Perhaps we may understand the matter
better by briDgingeft Eome to ourselves
As 1t is now here in Washington wages
of workingmen in general are low. and
several thousands in different callings are
without employment. But suppose a fire
should occur tonight that should burn down
one-third the dwellings and business houses
In the city, with their contents. And sup
pose that, in order that the natural result
Of such a confla grafton should not be in
tcrfered with by extraneous causes, some
means could be devised to prevent the
influx of laborers from abroad. Whoever
succeeded first in erecting habitable house
or eligible store building would be certain
hnfng
price. Every workman in the city would
be furnished employment at once-at his
own figures. Besides houses, there would
be a demand for furniture of all kinds
carpets, curtains, etc, to replace those
destroyed. The merchants of this city, iD
different lines would experience q boom
In their business. The bankers would find
plenty Of opportunity to loan their money
ut the highest prevailing rate OF interest
This condition of affairs would continue
until Washington was restored to nearly
its present condition. Then the need for
workrnen would gradually become less and
less imperative. La borers would find
themselves compelled to accept lower wages
in order to secure employment. Finally,
when we had obtained all the houses, and
stores, and furniture. etc, that were needed,
more and more of the workmen would be
dismissed from employment, and the present
condition of affairs would he reinstated.
If the cholera were TO carry off half our
laborers, leaving the supply inadequate
to the demand, the wages of the survivors
would rise in like manner.
THE CHASTITY IRONY OF 1T.
Pestilence is destructive of life, but not
necessarily of property. Fire is destruc-
tive of property, but not necessarily Of
life. War, being necessarily destructive
of both property and life, combines, the
advantages and benefits of both.
or course the aggregate wealth OF
community is diminished by such de-
structiou of property and such reduction
in the lumber of producers. But the ag-
gregate wealth of the nation is matter
with which the ordinary laborer has no
coBcern-fur,her than that, the nearer
others come To having everything they
need the less use they have for him. His
wages are fixed by the law OF demand
and supply. If property is destroyed there
will be a demand for his services to re-
place IL; and the more of his fellow work.
men are murdered the fewer will be left
to bid against him and force down wages.
So, under our present delectable indus
trial system. the workiDgman's voice
should always be for war, and for getting
other people to enlist.
The single taxer differs with the average
political economist in doubling whether
this condition of haffairs is destined to
| be the highest triumph of our boasted
| Christian civilization, and in not being
| content that the most efficient agencies
| In bringing about the welfare OF the labor
| Ing masses shall always be conflagration,
/ pestilence and war.
pearl of High Price"
In all ages of the world enormous prices
have been paid for pearls OF great size or