The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1897-12-24
A FLANK MOVEMENT,
A PLAN FOR CLOSING THE GATES
AGAINST MONOPOLlES.
A System of Taxation Through Which
Land, Public Utilities AMI Inventions
May Be Employed For the Benefit OF
the Whole People.
Especial Correspondence

which we all seem to agree who claim
TO be substantial reformers is that in
order of nature wealth belongs to the I
honest workers because produced by
their useful eXertions. In civilization
resting Oh natural laws we would then
have the labor fund and no other. We
have now and have ever had the labor
&und and the monopoly fund. Out of
our $l4, 600, 900, 600 net wealth pro-
duced today per annum not over Sc, 900, |
0OO,O go to the real wealth producers
Of the nation. In this we must include
those who render useful services to the
wealth producers. Not less than IS, 600,
0000C0 of the wealth produced goes to
large and small monopolists even if
some OF them are partially workers,
earning but a small fragment of the
wealth they pocket because of our mo-
nopoly laws
That monopoly fund is approximately
distri buted as follows: Not less than
$4,000, co., 600 are undisguised land
rents. This includes the land rent in
volved in the lands purchased now and
by the workers for actual use. That was
already the estimate made in 1890 by
one Of our principal census officials.
And we all know that the total land
values Of nations rise in proportion to
population because of increased compe-
tition for the use Of land, even if prices
happen to decline III certain sections
owing to local causes.
And what about the masked Or dis
oil
chised concerns or corporations i'll trans
portation or production placed above all
competition to speak Of? Every line in
manufacturing under a patent process is
q franchise concern, to whom laws of in
justice give the right to charge amy
prices they like, since they are allowed
to live above all competition. Every
franchise is nothing but a law intensi-
flying land monopoly, increasing the
value Of the land (artifcially) where the
specific function goes on, in production,
transportation or exchange, and all such
franchises represent about 81, 600, 600, a
900 per annum.
On top of those $4,000, 900, 900 land
and franchise values, the former I'M
masked land rents, the latter land rents
under the mask of interest above nor
NAL, under competition or profits and
monopoly salaries; on top of those &c.,
900, 600, 900, we repeat, there is what
we should call competitive or usual nor
NAL interest on real wealth, labor Great
ed values. That rises to the sum of
about $4,000, 900, 900, 5 per cent on
$40, 900, 900, 900 actual capital in build
ings, machinery, tools and merchandise.
This interest is the child Of land rents
appropriated by monopolists in any Of
the two forms we have mentioned, and
it would rapidly disappear under al
antimonopolistic civilization.
Well, the logic Of the situation seems
to be approximately as follows: We
need to pass from monopoly social
status to an antimonopoly one, from q
civilization saturated with criminal
privileges to the few to one Of righteous
ness and so of equal rights to all, with
privileges to nobody at all During the
transition from one dispensation to an
other the bulk of the workers shall neeC
capital. Let US then accept the pei
cent competitive interest on actual labor
created values, while appropriating the
Sc, 900, 900, 900 land and franchise rent!
per annum through a per cent tax OF
the $3.50, 100000, coo capitalized lant
and franchise values, monopoly capita
created by laws Of injustice Such a tn,
would soon suppress all monopoly ant
cancel all franchises by evolving free
natural competition, the kind men have
never had y, :, the kind ordained by God
And what would be the inevitable re
suit of all that? Please stop to think fo1
a few moments after you have dropped
that mass Of intellectual rubbish will
which we all have been afflicted fo1
years, the inheritance of centuries Of hu
man alterations and diabolical tradi
lions. Yes, please stop to think; it vii
pay you, and you will find that by TIN
suppression of all privileges and the es
Enlistment Of equal rights we would
rapidly multiply all annual labor earn
ings by two, three four, five, when il
less than 10 years, IL at the outside
the workers would have accumulated
piles of capital, besides having all alon!
lived comfortable lives. Even the las
remnants of competitive interest woul.
have vanished in 10 or 10 years Of rea
freedom and no monopoly rule, and tn
workers, with ali abundance of accumu
lated capital, could associate themselve
in groups of 5, 10, 100, 1000, 1t tina
was advantageous to them.
The above outlined Liam means tn