The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1895-11-13

| does not as a rule belong to those whv
produce that wealth-that millions Of in
dustrious men are poor and thousands OF
| iIde men are rich-that thousands OF
other idle men search vsinly for q change
/ of employ ment and if they find employ
i ment they do so at the price of giving up
nearly all the wealth that their labor pro-
/ duoes Certain it is that every man
| brings with him mouth, which illus
trates demand, and two hands which
| stand TOR supply. but il some mysteri-
Gus way it becomes a problem how the
hands shall reach ths mouth, how sup
| rly shall meet demand.
The time has almost passed when it is
necessary to prove that fact. Heretofore
the people have supposed that civilization
! and invention must bring prosperity
| tina. the reasons why they have not done
50 werc temporary and local conditions
that those once removed, happiness and
prosperity would follow. And so the at
| tention OF the people has in turn been
directed to questions OF political forms
of governm eDt-of slavery-of tariff and
free trade-of ECONOMY in government
of tenn perance-of educatlon-of charity -
OF the use of machinery in production
of finance-aud especially Of late to the
realize that these questions are all Local
and cannot solve the problems OF dis
tress that is universal.
here is distress where the curse oil
slavery still ex lists and distress where all
men are civilly free: there is distress
where tariffs stupidity hamper trade, ana
| distress where trade is nearly as free as
the winds that fill Its sails there Is DIS
tress under the ear of Russia and dis
tress in the republic; there is distress in
those countries where wine is freely
made and drunken. and distress in those
mr. ctnto ut xuh
water flows like champagne; there is dis
tress in educated and in unedCcated COM
m unities; there is distress where govern
ments are wasteful and where they are
| economical; there is distress IN manu-
featuring communities. and distress
where machinery is little used: there is
distress where gold is money and where
silver is money and where paper is
money; and even Sweet Charity can but
poutice few of the cancers that every
where appear upon the body of our civil
izatIon. For a universal distress there
must be universal and radical cause.
CAUSES AND RIGHTS.
The cause concerns the right OF prop
erty. This proposition would seem self
evident to everyone, were il not for the
fact that nearly all remedies heretofore
actually tried ignore it aud even them
selves violate the fundamental rights of
property and free contract. We have had
psury laws; laws limiting amount of
ownership; we havs had conhscation,
restrictions on contracts and on trade;
graduated taxation, communist'c laws;
laws compelling fixed schedules and OF
wages and prices; laws regulating debts;
bountes to individual producers; sump-
tuary laws. and numerous other ptiful
fascos made by attempting to right a
universal wrong by means in themselves
tvrannicu1 liabnnASf efnrld and
tent. In that way lies failure, madness
and anarchy. The wrong to be sought
and 1emedied is wrong which as we
have seen, in Its sinful results, takes
wealth from him who produces it and
gives it to him who does not produce it,
and is therefore a wrong to the rig is of
property itself.
When we come t. examine all those
things which men call property. we are
struck by the fact that it all falls into
one O. two radically different classes.
One Kind OF property has been produced
by human effort-by effort of hand or
brain. and is known to the law either as
personal property or as Improvements on
real estate-and is krown to science by
the general term, products OF labor
The other kind of property consists of
the natural resources of the earth, such
ural mineral deposits, natural forests,
fishing grounds and the like. 1t would
be described in law terms AS real estate
exclusive of improvements and in SCI
enee by the term FUSED in its most COM
prehensive sense) land"
For brevlty we might sestate these two
classes of property as
First-Property produced by labor;
Second-Property furnished by nature.
First-Labor products belong to the
men whose labor produced them.
Since man is entitled to himself and
- -; i,k l. 10 al &l.At
he or his labor produces. # you make a
pen out of goose quill the pen is yours:
If you make cane out OF a stick the cane
is yours; If you make machine out of
wood and Iron the machine is yours. If
with the help OF your machine, | saw
out a bracket the bracket is partly mine
anu partly yours, for it results partly
from your labor and partly from mine,
and hos much Interest each has depends
upon what we freely and mutually bar
gain for. And if instead, ylu pay me
what we freely agree upon for my labor
in saving the bracket with YOUR mach
inc, then the bracket is all yours. In
that case, the machine represents your
stored up labor; called capital what you
day me is my wages and the value of the
bracket over and above what you pay me
is principally interest on your capital.
Now, our laws for the most part funda-
mentally recognize these principles: The
right of man to what his labor pro-
duces, the right to sell 1t for what he can,
the right 20 exchange it for what he can,
to buy where and for what price he can,
to lend it for what recompense he can.
1t is true that some have sought 10 re-
strict these rights ana so We nave had
protective tariff laws, which Ceny the
right of a man to buy where he will trade
where he will or cell where he will; usury
avs, which deny the right of man to
end his own where he will or for what