Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-07-09

uollel Ill lnc Interests Oh Une people
far more easily than the volume of coin.
CAUSES OF LARGE FORTUNES AND
LOW WAGES.
The wealth which any man owns is
either earned by him or it is not. If
earned by its owner, no matter how
great the amount of it, his ownership of
it Injuries no one; it deprives no other
man of anything which is justly his
and there is no danger that any "for-
tune" consisting entirely of wealth
earned by its owner, will be too large,
for ability to earn is limited And also
there is no mystery about its causes.
And one of them would be high wages,
for no man could accumulate even q
small fortune by earning it unless he
received and retained large proportion
if not all of the wealth he earned. But
if not earned, then there is no limit to
the size of the fortune. The large for
tunes which exist today are certainly
not earned by those who own them. l
doubt if any one would attempt to
maintain that they are. They are ac-
qulred legally as rule, but that does
not necessarily mean rlghtfully The
men VINO can earn million dollars IN
one lifetime are not numerous, and yet
there are many men owning fortunes of
many millions each. Since all wealth
IL produced by some one, II those who
90 not produce wealth nave 1t, or II
some Who producing some wealth, have
more than they produce, then 1t fol
lows, as matter Oh course, that some
VINO nave produced wealth do not have
IT, LII some way part OF thc wages OF
thoSe VINO lapor mas boen transferred to
ooher men ) pockets. III other words, II
some get VINO do not earn, then some
earn VINO 40 not get Ihere Is then a
vital ana necessary connection between
large fortunes ana low wages.
now Is 'hls transfer OF wealth erect
ed! why are those VINO labor and pro-
uuce wealth. Wiling TO part with 1t for
the pehent OF those VINO toll not and
SPIN not! III does not seem natural that
'heS shouid' ana yet the practice Is TO
ne''rIy universal tha6 we always expect
WorklhShah 10 pea poor man.
Al We'iVh IS produced by lapor' Dut
hoe py lapor alone. IL must be arplled
10 land, the great storehouse OF raw
iia'efIai proVlded by nature. Ana as all
men are mere by the same warrant they
an nave an equal right TO be here, to
i've. buO Wlthout access 10 lana no man
can i've: All men must therefore nave
an equal right to land, to the best as
Wen as the poorest. But these equal
rights TO NE ana 10 land' though gener'
any theoretlcally admitted, are practl-
cally dehled by the institution OF land
ioraism, the private ownership OF land.
ny our laws we allow certain persons to
hold the pest lahd us thelr private prop
erty ana 10 charge their fellow men all
the traitlc Will bear Tor permission
10 use IT, What landowners can get Is
'he dllerence between What Il given
amount OF lapor can produce ON their
lahd and what the same labor could
prouuce Oh 'he pesG lald 10 DC had Tor
HoVhllB' Whlcll Is Always the poorest
lahu Ill use. AS increasing population
ana improvements Ill the arts tend al
ways 10 increase the demand 1or lahd,
lts owners can appropriate, an expecta-
tloh OF the stlll further advance Is Gre
ated' ana men are induced to hold land
out OF use ON speculation. Ihls compels
lahor TO have recourse to still poorer
lahd' thus lowering wages, which are
always 1lNed by what can be made at
the margin OF production, and raising
rent
Large fortunes, so called, do not
really consist OF wealth at all-that Is,
Oh acslrea ana appropriate labor prod
ucts. Ii they did, they would soon be
used up or destroyed, Tor no sooner is
an article OF wealth produced by man
thah nature goes to work to reclaim
the elements OF which 1t Is composed
ana TO return them to the common reser-
uolr lrom Whlch they were drawn forth.
ouch fortunes as we are now oonsid-
ermg consist cHefly OF taxing privileges
Oh dllreref't klnds' by virtue OF which
|