The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-25
Needs of the Farmer.
Written for THE CALL
BY ID. EDISON SMITH.

turlsts that might be supplied by the State
government
The first great need of California agri-
culturists is cheap fertile well-watered
land; secondly, good market with cheap
transportation: and thirdly, a system of
taxation whereby they will not have to pay
more than their just share for society's
expenses and for the products OF other
peoples labor that they are obliged to use.
Can these three great important needs
be supplied by State government? think
so. These needs could all be supplied if
we We're free from monopoly. And the
greatest OF all monopolies is land mo-
nopoly,' because all wealth is produced
from the land. Life with all its necessities
and comforts and luxuries comes from the
land. Hence, if few persons are allowed
to monopolize all OF the land the remain
der of mankind is dependent upon that
few for life and all that pertains thereto.
The bulk of the best land in this State is
in the hands of few people and the taxes
upon it are merely nominal, while the
actual agriculturist pays an undue pro-
portion of taxes.
Thirty years ago a man came to this val
ley, when there We're but two or three
H.,
dreds of acres of land at a merely nominal
price. Soon it became noised abroad that
this was most desirable location for
home-buiIding, and people began to come
here and buy this land of this first pur-
chaser. whom we will call r. The price
kept advancing, and when I came here, a
dozen years ago, L paid $1,000 for ten acres
OF this land, which had never been touched
by mans hand. planted vines and trees
where none grew before, and made a
dozen blades of grass grow where but one
grew before. | raised horses, COWS and
poultry, and employed iaborers to build
buildings. But for all this laudable effort
l have been heavily fined (taxed) each
year, while Rs lands have been rapidly
increasing in value, through the labors of
myself and neighbors, until be sold some
of 1t for $1,000 an acre-land as it came
from natures hand-and then invested
the price received for this land in bank
stock, which escapes all taxation. Thus |
and my fellows griculturiSts have had to
bear the burden of taxation, while the
large landowner almost entirely escaped,
yet he could have all the comforts of life
without labor, simply because he had a
big monopoly, given him by our State
government; and as our laws now stand,
there is nothing to prevent the aggrega-
ton of all the land into still fewer hands
even into the hands of one man. This
simply means slavery for the agriculturist,
as well as for all other laborers, for all
labor and all wealth are dependent on land
resources.
What just right have a few men to
H., .r-o
They do it, not justly, by the right of
might. And our whole so-called civiliza-
ton is built upon this barbaric founda-
ton.
In Europe the lands conquered by force
of arms were parceled out to the leaders of
the army and the soil tiilers were reduced
to serfdom. In this country the conquer
ors took the land from the original occu-
piers of it and made laws whereby one
wealthy man could become possessed of
all OF it.
A few years ago the land of California
was held by few persons having grants
from the Mexican Government, while the
tiIlers of the soil, the real agriculturists,
were practically slaves. Through force OF
arms by the United States there has been
new deal of these lands, but the laws are
still such that the real agriculturist is still
practically a slave.
Who can give good reason why the
child born today in the poorest hut in
San Francisco is not as justly entitled to
its per capita share of all the land of Cali
fornia as is the child of the richest million
aire?
Was not the land created equally for all
mankind, the same as air and sunshine?
Has any one the just right to sell or give
away anything that has not been pro-
duced in part by human labor? As each
human being has an inherent, natural
right 10 an equal access to all of natures
resources of wealth on this earth, as most
of the best minds of all ages have affirmed,
then how can we arrange it so that each
can get his share without confusion or in
Justice to others? There are two ways.
First, through truly representative Gov
eminent which controls all production and
distribution, requiring from each accord
ing to his ability, and giving to each &C
cording to his needs" This plan has been
successfully worked out, producing the
most contented nation that ever existed,
probably. I refer TO the Incas of Peru.
This system, greatly improved and revised
to date, is already practically talked of by
the Twentieth Century Company of New
York.
A second method is to have each person
desiring more than his share of the natural
recources pay fair yearly rental for his
excess to the rest of the people to whom it
equally belongs. Or, if several persons de-
sire the same locality, owing to any
special advantages it may have over other
land, let it be rented to the highest bidder,
the rent to be divided among all Others
having an equal right to that desirable To-
cation.
Thus, if Lux & Miller desire for their ex
elusive use several million acres of land,
let them pay the full rental value of the
land to the rest of the people OF the State,
who have an equal natural right to the
same land. That is. as all members of So
ciety have equal natural rights to that
land, let the full rental value be paid into
the public treasury for public expenses.
And if man desires the exclusive use OF
a piece of land on the corner OF Market
and Third streets, San Francisco, or else
III