Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1895-07-11
SINGLE TAX AND THE.OURRENCR
DIGESTION.

this right WAS gIhIbbu buo mOIdA VI
Equitable right. We hear many of our
directors to a change of present condi.
lions, that would give free and equal
access to land to all people, remark
with shrug Of the shoulders, do you
want us to turn to barbarismW But |
there is no need to return; we have al
WAYS kept barbarism close in sight.
We still have barbarians, intrinsic
value money baTbarians, at our elbow,
and whoever owns land or gets the use
of it, must do SO through barbarlc GUS
tom.
No, the question, should and must
be is there no escape from barbarlsmr
What answer do | hearP | am ad-
dressing a'Chrstian audience. An audi
enc3 that has gathered here Under the
auspices of one of tie most advanced,
officially inclined organizations the
world has ever known; " The Chaugau-
qua Assembly" whose aims are inc
betterment of mankind, spiritually
and bodily. Will they-will you take
umbrage at my reference to barDarlSm!
| If so. SO much the worse for us, ana
the better for barbarism; 1t has Il long
er lease of oppression; we may expect
growing poverty and crime to SILL
grow, until endurance has no virtue
and strife becomes the dernier resort.
Listen, when my neighb0r has no land,
the title to mine is aJ once VlGlateu'
Think of it--men owning million
acres of land, and millions OF men de-
MED the use OF one foot lt-and TINS
condition cotemperaneOus with the
declaration of organic law, and de-
claratiVe purpose, that "All men are
created equal and have equal right to
| life liberty and pursuit OF happiness"
though if your happiness were TO be
measured by the right to run down a
Jack rabbit for dinner, the landlords
tresspass board would warn you OF the
choice between an empty stomach and
the police court. But, some one says,
am overdraWing it, that landlords
austerity is not so emphasized, at least
not in this country, and never will be.
Well in some localities that may be
true. There was a time when 1t
was not true in New York or-Massa-
chusetts, aye, or in Ireland. But
there is not a state in the union that
has not already the machinery of legal
enactment for the purposes; nor does
land ownership mean anything sholt
of it. Well what are you going to do
about it? Oh the hardness OF the
question! Eighteen hundred years
of christian civilization and yet
the primal rights of man noe
determined. And who would speak
of these things, in what is called
christian community. must bear the
smart of social ostracism by those who
lament the stolldity, ingratitude and
brutality of those who eighteen nun
bred years ago crucifed their friend
and benefactOr. And we are no more
surprised at the self abnegation that
drove Judas to the aceldema, than at
the tolerance of "a system in this age,
that makes millions Of men homeless
vapabonds, subsisting upon beggary or
crime. Friends, how long could one
enioy your self respect and esteem,
that should ruthlessly drive all the
people of this country to wander home
less and without means Of subsistence!
Yet what better is he that in the out
ct deprived others of taking up SINH
lar homes? That is what land own
ership is doing now. That gentleman
lOunging in his parlor, owns thousands
of acres of idle land; he is keeping
hundreds of destitute people from OBJ
tanning homes, but he is not suspected
of crime; no, he is the criminal, who
without potato patch, stole a sack OF
/ meal. What are you going to do about
ltY Easy enough. Apply the Single
Tax" Require the holder Of idle land
tie paw to the state flor the purpose OF
revenue, as much for the privilege OF
: holding the land idle, as is paid by
those who put similar land to its best
use, and abolish all other taxation
This is not depriving any present
holder of the use of his land. Dul
compels him to use it, or let some one
else do so, as he or they can't afford tt
hold it idle when the rental value il
required of every holder. This is just
for it is the community as a whole
that creates the rental value OF land
and taking of economic rent by those
who create it. to be used for their bene
l lit, it is not getting something for moth
ing, as is the case now when a LANDLORD
is allowed to personally appropriate
what belongs to the community as Q
whole. Such a system would require
every Ond to pay his share Of revenue
in proportion to the advantages he en-
loved. If he took ten acres he would
pay the value in rent, of that. II hi
look hundred of similar lad, he
would pay ten times more. II 1t wa'
, gold. or silver, or iron bearing land, he
would not pay as on a potato patch
but in proportion to its disable value
all things considered. A valuable lO
: in city would command a higher rent
than in an urban district. All, il
short, would pay equal, and the value
Of the holdings, would be equalized b.
$ the apportionment of rent paid
E Surely this can't be unjust; if SO, VIII!
and where? If DIRECTORS to this syS
tenn would do little honest thinking
g before they object, there would be few
objections. The man who has jus
bought piece Of land, or they whit
c have clear titles (?) charge us will
8 proposing to take their land away from
thom. But this is not so; on the con
trary it would make holding for ust
more secure, no mortgage could eve
y touch it, misfortune would rot eat W
the title. 1t would give all of prOduc
ton to the producer, nothing to thu
non producers, and by producers WI
mean all WHO are engaged in any kint
of useful employment; whether hi
3, | ,vialda n non mr. a Mckay. n spipnt,fil