The National tribune., 1897-11-04
DEATH OF HENRY GEORGE.


The exciting campaign for the Mayor
atty of Greater New York was sadly
disturbed last week by the wholly I'M
expected death of Mr.. Henry George,
! who was making a brilliant and unique
canvass on a platform which consisted
mainly OF his ideas and his personality.
He was not physically strong, and had
worn himself out by the extraordinary
strain of several speeches every evening
to audiences of thousands. After an
evening of unusual exertion of this kind
he retired to bed, but could not sleep,
and suddenly passed away in an attack
of apoplexy.
Mr.. George was an unusually striking
personality. His father was man in
moderate circumstances, and Henry
George at 13 was very bright scholar.
Then the passion for wandering seized
him. He went to sea, and varied sail
ing with working at the trade of a
printer. He sailed around the Horn to
seek gold in the Frazier River, but by
the time he reached San Francisco the
excitement had died ont, and he went
back into printing office. He married
wife when he was in dire poverty, be-
cause she was alone, an orphan and
friendless. He got into the habit Of
writing for the papers, and his abilities
gave him good positions But he became
imbued with ideas in regard to socio!ogi-
cal and financial reforms, and would
leave his places to start papers advocat-
ing these, which failed sooner or later.
He achieved a world wide reputation
by his book "Progress and Poverty"
which none of the publishers would
accept, and which he finally published
at his own expense, setting up much Of
the tyre himself Its success was almost
instantaneous and enormous. Whatever
might be thought Of It's premises and
logic, it showed an inconceivably higher
range Of thought, reasoning, and research,
than one finds in the general run Of
shallow-thinking by those who attempt to
write on these subjects. 1t was the work
Of man who actually tried to think out
great problems, who had studied what
I others had thought, and who had the
ability to put his thoughts in correct,
iorcible, striking English. 1t was soon.
! translated into nearly all the languages
of Europe, and the best thinkers in the
world recognized in it the work Of
master mind. His theory that the land
is natural agency, like air, water, sun
| light, etc, in which no one can have an
exclusive proprietary interest, and that
/ the land should be made to bear all the
expenses Of Government, found ready
acceptance in many minds everywhere,
and raised for him powerful following.
He has been generally spoken Of as a
Socialist, but really he was the farthest
removed from Socialism. His aim was
to sweep away all restrictions and inter
ferences with the production and distri-
button of wealth, and only put under
State control things in which competi-
ton is impossible-to leave to indi.
viduals all that individual energy and
thrift can accumulate, and to take for
the community all that is due to the
general growth and improvement. .
Whatever might be thought of Mr..
Georges theories, it had to be conceded
that he was strong, original thinker,
who was honestly striving to get at the
truth and benefit mankind
In 1886 he ran for Mayor of New
York on an independent ticket, and as
tonished the political managers by re-
ceiving over $4,000 votes. He was
making superb canvass when death
overlook him, and there is no doubt that
he would have received very heavy
vote. His son, Henry George, was put
in his place on the ticket, but there was
seen to be no likelihood that he would
poll the vote that his father would have
done.
GERMANY has gotten into row with
Haiti. What the justice of the quarrel