The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1895-03-21
Land, Physical Life and the
Trading Instinct
THE SINGLE TAKERS CULT
Louis F. Post Outlines the Georgian
Economic Theory
He Claims That Reform Must Be Prompt to
Avoid . Reign Of
Terror

A large and highly intelligent audience
gathered in Unity Church last night to
hear Louis f. Post, the official single tax
lecturer of the United States. speak on
The Two Great Gifts of God to Man
Land, the Condition of Physical Life,
and the Trading Instinct, the Condition
of Civilized Life.
The lecture was illustrated by colored
charts, which the speaker explained-as
he proceeded with his interesting adj
dress.
Ralph Hoyt. president of the Single
Tax Club, presided, and announced that
after the lecture the audience could ask
questions, which Mr.. Post would answer.
Following is synopsis of the lecture:
Mr. Post began by describing an in
cident which he witnessed in Northern
California last spring. He was walking
upon the platform of a mountain station
railroad employee climbing in under
che huge sleeping car, apparently to in
spect the condition of the wheels. Draw
ing closer, to watch the work OF this man,
Mr.. Post found him crouched upon one OF
the trucks of the car, hungrily gnawing a
crust of bread. AS he watched, voice came
from behind:
Don't look at him so long, you may
give him away"
The man was tramp stealing a ride.
In conversation with the other man, he
from whom the warning voice had come,
it appeared that the tramp was going
somewhere in search OF work.
Il too shall hunt place under car as
soon as cam" said the man upon the
But where are you going?" asked MIR.
Post.
81 don t know" was the reply; there
is no use in staying here. There is no
work to do. There must be work some.
where, and we are going to try to find it. y
there were probably as many men riding
upon the trucks under that train as there
were in the sleeper.
The country today-aye, the worlds
full of Just such men. We are told that
they are numbered by the hundred thou
. sand, and aggregate millions. Have you
no pitt for them? Is the voice of pity
silenced by the cheap retort that anyone
can get work who wants it? Have you
ever tried to get work? If you have not
then try it now, and see how you fare.
Try to get work in any way. and you will
find that you cannot do it without dis
placing some one else. The real question
is now whether they can get work without
turning some one else out of work.
But if your pity is silenced. what about
your fears? Have you no fear that men
such as these may become desperate, like
a blind Sampson. destroying all that they
can touch? Do the police. and the army,
and the riot drills, and the suppression
of strikes by mil tary force give you com.
fort? If they do, your comfort is not well
founded. The danger from the unem-
ployed is not from occasional strikes. nor
from mobs, nor from any kind OF organ
lied and common action which can be
rstrained by the police or the army, or
punished by the courts 1t is from the
individual action of blind and desperate
men. When men steal rides on the trucks
of trains, taking their lives in their hands
to get to some place where there may be a
little .more work to do, they are harmless
because they have hope. Let ten thous-
and of them lose hope, and our civiliza-
ton would be at an end. Let ten thousand
of these men realize that there is no
hope, that they must starve no matter
who feeds, ana without organization or
common action OF any kind which the law
can possibly reach they would take mil
lions into the other world with them.
and we should experience reign of ter
ror like that which prevailed in France
when no one knew who would be the next
victim; but the terror would be indie
scribably more horrible, because no one
would know whence it came; every man
would fear every other.
Such a condition is unnatural even in
its incipient stages, as we may observe
them now, it could not exist were it not
that we as a community have desecrated
and continue to desecrate. the two great
economic gifts which God has given to
man. We need no new invention, no re-
vision of natural laws. no improvement
upon the Creators plan of human society
to enable us to avoid the suffering that
already prevails, and the destruction
that will be its natural result. We need
only to utilize these two gifts-to receive
them in the spirit in which God gives
them.
What are these gifts? The first is the
gift of the universe-the materials and
forces of nature-without which man
could not come into existence and upon
which he is as dependent as is q fish upon
water. The other gift is that of the trad
ing instinct, without which. man would
are obvious gifts from the Creator, but
their importance is easily obscured by
the complex details of civilized life.
We say that man in all conditions of
human existence is dependent upon the
external universe. And we may add
for it is part of the same important
truth-that he is dependent upon moth
inc else. Man must have food; he cannot
exist without it, He must have clothing {;
he cannot comfortably exist without it,
His comfort also requires shelter Now,
where do food, clothing and shelter come
from !? What is the condition of their ex-
istence? Let US take one form of food and
see il it will answer the question.
We will take bread. What is the condi
ton of the existence of bread? Why, there
must be a baker. which we classify as
man, it being human factor of produc-
ton. Then we must have Il lot of land
for the baker to stand upon. And then
we must have such things as an oven, fire,
-four, Yeast and water. which the baker
can put together in order to make bread,
for bakers cannot command bread to
come into being-they cannot make fiat
bread-they must have things to make
bread out OF.
Now, the lot OF land upon which the
baker stands is obviously Il natural thing
as distinguished from the oven,, ETC.,
which are artificial things. In order to
man. natural things and artificial things.
These are usually called labor, land and
capital, respectively. At first, therefore,
we should be inclined to say that the ne
cessary things for the production of bread
are land, labor and capital. But the arti-
fetal things which we call capital, what
are they? Merely combinations of labor
and land. Analyze the oven and you will
find it requires an oven builder, lot OF
land for him to work upon, and such ar
tifical things as brick. Analyze brick
the oven builders capital. and you will
find that it, too, is produced by labor
from lot of land-a clay bed. And if
YOU analzyze to the last you will find that
everything needed to make bread resolves
into land and labor. Nor is it necessary