Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-01-13

perl0r TO the private right OF the pun
eers TO every foot OF land not teluAly
occupied. Surely hell must M 10 t.Sn
rnked with a flne-tonth comb Tor me
aulniescence OF injustice at ;ne t'm We
single tax theory was spiWne uFch
the oarthl
The manifest injustice involved hefe
cannot be obviated by saying that ire
pioneer is to have the value or his M
proyements, since this dots not toueh
the matter OF his unimproved land, ana
Is an empty assurance as 10 such as
may be improved, He may have no
is an empty assurance as TO such US
he once had, relying on the value Of the
other part 10 support his declining
years; or on account Of educating MS
children, or tho health Of his family,
or his business, may have lived away
from his own land. The existence or
absence Of such matters cannot deter
mlnc his rights TO his land, II they
are not intrinsicauy superior TO those
or the dCadbeat and tive savage, the
accidents OF circumstance cannot make
them so; and II superior, these latter
have no right through the action OF
communities heavy taxes sand ground
rents, TO deprive him VI his property.
The assertion that the owner OF i'm
prOvemcnts on land not actually oc-
cupied by him shall have the beneht
of their rental value, while the COM
munity takes the rent for the land.
must in the very nature OF things prove
but an Idle and empty promise. The
community would be the controlling
factor In that matter; the tenant would
deal only with the community, Of
which he would be himself a constitu-
ent part, and whose interest It would
be to minimize the proportinnate value
OF the improvements as against the
value OF the land In adjusting the rents.
History has not anywhere recorded an
instance OF the successful issue OF a
business transacted upon such a basis
and win not before the pigs begin 70
fly, Henry George has already declared
that where those conflicting values
could not be determined or satisfac-
torlly adjusted, the greater matter. the
land. must swallow up the otAer-and
that Is just what 1t would do The
logic Of the single tax theory - that
no man ever had any right to meddle
with any land other than that which
he himself occupied. and the claim OF
this wrong-doer for rent on other land
would soon he met with only a smile
OF derislon
Nor Is the case Of the pioneers that or
few who VIII soon have all passed
away. The principle involved exists
in greater or less degree In the case Of
every person who has ever bought or
acquired land In Texas. why Is II.
with such an existing Clamor for land
by the single takers that 1000 900 acres
or state school lands offered for moth
ing, since tho small payments required
thereon are at once returned In tuition.
remain untakcn for more than a de-
cade? These fine lands will afford
homes of so acres each to 1,250,OU0 faml.
Hes, or i2.50O.0)o people, and the risks
and hardships attendant on their set
uement and development are certainly
no greater than In the early days when
boodthlrsty Indians and Mexican tvrnn-
ny were also to be encountered. The
obvious reason is that we are not will
Ing 10 assume and endure the prlya-
L9hs ana risks Of early settlement.
We prefer that others should go out
tIere in the west and eNpend their
means and thlr best years in exrerI-
ments, In searching for water, In learn
ING what crops can be successfully
grown there In opening roads, estab-
lsllng postoitices. towns. schoola and
churches, and finally q railroad To hiring
IN the 'communiu g." Then the sinrIe
TAKERS can go in on the first train. and
C.alln me lna.Gnable right which they
Ky TCu reserved for them In the coun-
Gus or eternity, aud appropriate NOT
merely al those ADVANTAGES whirb ISc
pioneers there have so largely ere, led
ana made accessible to them. lint olt1
ABOUT iour-iiIlas OF mar prop rty. wni,9
at that juneture. will consist chleay
in their lands. ~'''e"'
i. The single tax idea clearly proyes one
thlnE' VIZ; That the arch-aend me
not been studying 5000 years IN vaIn
out has determined to sigDaliza ne
close OF the nineteenth centIIrv law.
RuneLing "a scheme So cunuIpFiy fs
Eised Tor the destruction Of iustjce ana
human progress, and so certain or me-
result that as soon as adopted here ~
i ihierhol councils Will be at once nd.
spsoi,,,. sun. SINE de, and through ali Inc
poe'Uus realms OF rartarus there WIN he
heard but the one sound. NJ, " . "a De
Tor me single takers! More roomi MAJ ,,,
u. r. WEIR