davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-20

shield of honor. He was no self
seeker; whatever of political aspira-
tion he had was solely in aid of the
advancement of the truths he loved.
Said DIR. Lyman Abbott, "To do
something to lift Gods children to
better plane has been the object of
Henry Georges life" He died as
every brave man would prefer to die,
in the very thick of the struggle.
Knowing his physical weakness when
he went into the contest for the may
orally of New York, and realizing
that its strain might snap the cord of
life, he did not hold back from what
seemed his duty.
He died in faith. too; in the faith
that his ideas would ultimately tri-
umph. Like the ancient heroes of
whom the writer of Hebrews" tells
us, he died mot having received the
promises, but having seen them and
greeted them from afar." "The truth
that l have tried to make clear" he
writes, "will not find easy accept
ance. But it will find friends-those
who will toll for it; suffer for it: die
for it, if need be. This is the power
of truth. Will it at length prevails
Ultimately, yes. But in our own
times, or in times of which any mem
ory of us remains, who shall sayi"
His faith was the outcome not only
of his belief in the truth of his ideas
and in the power of truth, but also
of his trust in God. With the preach
er of old he could say, "If thou seest
the oppression of the poor, and the
violent taking away of justice and
judgment in the state, marvel not at
the matter: for One higher than the
high regardeth: and there be higher
than they" (Eccles. v. 81
Henry George is dead and his life
work done, but "being dead, he vet
speaketh.
OAK PARK, Ill.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-20

country, among them by Herbert
Spencer, Prof. Huxley and the Duke
of Argyle. While Mr.. George has
written much since, his fame will rest,
l think, principally upon this book.
Soon after it was published it fell
into my hands and its reading made
powerful impression upon me; for
many years its arguments seemed
unanswerable and while later study
has brought me to doubt the correct
ness of his ideas upon many matters
and to disbelieve that the application
of his scheme to society would abolish
poverty and bring about universal
prosperity, / have never ceased to
believe that Mr.. George has yet rend-
cred great service to the cause of
economics and that in modified way
some of his ideas will ultimately be
incorporated into our political system.
But what must impress every one
who studies his works is the high
mindedness and humanitarian spirit
which breathes throughout them.
the spirit of eminent fairness with
which he treats every opponent, his
evident desire to find the truth above
all else and to stand for it whatever
it may be, whithersoever her paths
may lead and, mounting still higher
the deep moral purpose and fervent
religious spirit which he every
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-20

sense which confuses so many people
and leads them to wholly misunder-
stand the theory of the single tax.
By rent, Mr.. George means the un-
earned increment. Let me explain.
The value of the land in Chicago de-
pends upon the fact that a great pop
ulation with its many industries is
gathered here, and the demand for
that land is great. Men want the
land because people are here with
whom they can do business. Take
away the population and the land
has no more value than it had when
wild prairie. The owner of land can
do nothing to make it more valuable;
for whatever he adds to it is improve
ment, it is not land, that is, it is not
natural opportunity, and that is what
we mean by land. The value of the
land, that is, its demand for use, is
created by the presence of popula-
ton; society creates it's value, not the
landlord. This is the merest A. B. G.
of political economy. But Mr..
George argues, that. if society creates
the value of land, makes this incre-
ment which is not earned by the
owner, then society should receive
back this increment in the form of a
tax.
Such, in brief, is the theory which
Mr.. George has built up and fortified
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-20
Here we see the strength of his re-

Here we see the strength of his re-
ligious feeling. 1t is not my inten-
ton to attempt to discuss the pecu-
liar economic doctrines of Mr.. George.
However beautiful in theory, they are
undoubtedly open to many serious
practical objections. But his ideas
are so often misunderstood, even his
critics have taken so little pains to
acquaint themselves with what he
really teaches, that simply to do him
justice, who was himself so eminently
just to all opponents, | wish to
briefly state his fundamental ideas.
Mr.. George starts with the assump-
ton that, while, during the last CEN
tury, mans power over nature has in
creased hundred fold; (while now
he harnesses the waterfall and the
steam giant, and makes the subtle
currents of electricity do his bidding;)
while by means of machinery he cuts
and hammers and carries where once
human muscle was employed, yet
society has not reaped the benefit of
these inventions and discoveries.
Could we at the beginning of this
century, he argues, have foreseen the
marvellous mechanical development
it has witnessed and with prophetic
eye seen its labor-saving devices and
accumulating wealth, we should have
expected thatthis development would
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-20

ternity, and the families of mankind
blessed with abundance and happi-
ness which the Hebrew seer painted,
has been touched with still brighter
colors by this modern prophet. The
voice which for many years was like
that of one crying in the wilderness,
where no man could hear, has gone
forth unto the ends of the earth.
Being dead he yet speaketh.
Whatever one may think OF Mr..
Georges theories, no candid student
of his works, no cne who knows his
life, can deny him the role of a great
and pure minded prophet. The Duke
of Argyle dubbed him. somewhat
contemptuously, "The Prophet of
San Francisco" / term him the
Prophet or Apostle of Justice; for
that was what was at his heart, that
was his aim,-no matter how mis-
taken may have been his Methods
to get justice done. He saw on every
side the great inequalities of social
and industrial conditions, the squat
ter shanty stands by the side of the
millionaire's palace; the squalor of the
slums contrasts sharply with the
luxury of the boulevards. With the
progress of civilization the lights and
shadows become Estronger. 1t was
not simply s.theseyinequali les that
stirred the heart of Mr.. George, but
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-20

with remarkable ingenuity. To un-
derstand it in all its bearings and
revolutionary results one must read
his works. Now it is not my pur-
pose to criticise this theory, only to
prese MT it as fairly as possible. What
I am alone concerned with is to do
him justice in regard to it. He is
said to propose wholesale confisca-
ton Of property, in taking away the
private ownership of land. While
undoubtedly this plan would confis-
cate the property of some, and this
is one of the weak points of the
theory, Mr. George argues that it is
only re-appropriating for the use of
society that which has already been
taken from it by private ownership.
The real confiscation, he argues, was
when land which originally in the
history of human society was held
common, was transferred to private
ownership. Society is but recover
ing its long stolen property, and
while this may work hardship to
some bona .fde present owners, this
is no worse than the recovering of
stolen property which has passed
from the hands of the thief to inno-
cent purchasers. The hardship done
the few, by this process, he says, is
outweighed by the good done the
whole of society. We must do him
the justice of understanding his opin-
ions.
Again, he is often unjustly con-
founded with socialists and commun-
lists. On the contrary, he stands at
the very antipodes of thought from
these agitators; he is the rankest
kind of an individualist. He holds
that every man is entitled to what he
can earn and what wealth he can
create. He advocates no division of
property or state management. He
holds we have no right to tax man
on what he has produced. He would
abolish all taxes on buildings and
improvements of all kinds. The
economic rent, which no man has
made alone, but is the result of social
and industrial life, would suffice for
all purposes of government.
While there is no time to make
this more clear, l trust it is evident
that he is no communist or socialist
but is aiming to give to every man
just what he earns, but no more; to
take from him nothing that he has
earned or created, but not to allow
him to hold what he has not earned
or produced. However mistaken we
may regard his theories, we must see
him as high-minded man, aiming
at simple justice.
For these principles he lived and
for them he died. He is borne to his
resting-plaee with no stain upon his
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-20

it was the thought that these distinc-
tions arose not out of the natural
order of society, not from the differ
ences in human capacity, but from
injustice, and oppression growing
out of a disordered social state by
which the few were able to exploit
the many, and under cover of law
turn the golden streams of wealth
produced by the toiling millions into
their own pockets. 1t was this belief
in injustice done, creating the dire
poverty of the present, which made
his heart burn within him. "Our pri-
mary social adjustment" he writes,
Progress and Poverty, 493) sis de-
nial Of justice. 1t is this which turns
the blessings of material progress
into curse. 1t is this that crowds
human beings into noisome cellars
and squalid tenement houses; that
fills prisons and brothels; that goads
men with want and consumes them
with greed; that robs women of the
grace and beauty of perfect woman
hood; that takes from little children
the Joy and innocence of life's morn
ing. 1t is something grander
than benevolence snd something
more august than charity-it is JUS
tice herself that demands of us to
right this wrong. Justice that will
not be denied; that can not be put off
Justice that with the scales carries
the sword"
Rarely has man lived who felt the
denial of justice to his fellows so
keenly as Henry George. The ideal
citizen is undoubtedly he who feels a
wrong done to others or to the social
order as sharply as if it were aimed
at himself and who works as hard 10
right it. In this respect Mr.. George
was an ideal citizen. His whole life
was plea for justice. This is what
l wish to impress upon the reader, that,
however wrongfully or rightfully he
worked as it may seem in his methods
and theories, at heart he was trying
to institute social order based upon
justice. To be unjust to the memory
and aims of such a man is the height
of injustice.
In 1879 while holding small Office
from which hs derived his living,
after four years work, he brought out
his book Progress and Poverty >
which was destined to be more widely
read and to create greater sensation
than any other economic treatise ev, T
published From this time Mr..
George became a marked man. Re-
ceived with some contempt by the
economists OF this country, in Eng
land this book not only had en- r
nous sales, edition after edition being
exhausted, but it was revie we'd by
some of the most noted men of that
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-20

where exhibits. This latter spirit is
80 marked that Mr.. George may not
only be termed an apostle of justice,
but a lover of humanity and a
preacher of righteousness. Had he
turned his attention to the pulpit he
would have been great preacher.
Here is a quotation taken from
Progress and Poverty" which shows
what manner of man he was and
illustrates what l have just written:
"For the man who, seeing the want
and misery, the ignorance and brut-
ishness caused by unjust social insti-
tutions, sets himself, in SO far as he
has strength, to right tkem, there is
disappointment and bitterness. So
it has been of old. So it is even now.
But for those who would
seek Truth and follow her; for those
who recognize Justice and would
stand for her, success is not the only
thing. Success Why, Falsehood
has often that to give; and Injustice
has often that to give. Must not
Truth and Justice have something to
give that is their own by proper right,
theirs in essence, and not by accident?
That they have, and that here and
now, every one who has felt their
exaltation knows" (p. 5O0). What
nobler preaching than that! 1t is
only the soberest truth to speak of
Mr.. George as a deeply religious
man. Yea, more than this, his science
of society is based on religion and
ethics. To his ardent followers the
theory of the single-tax, as it is pop
ularly called, is religion; for does it
not embody in it's nature the princi
Piles of justice, truth and love; is it
not based upon faith in Divine
Order which provides happiness and
well-being for all society, if only its
Adbut al luWb dIO IOllOWCQ anu WAdb
is the essence of religion but to do
justly and to love mercy and to talk
humbly with Godi This is the rea-
soo, l think, why single-taxers are SO
devoted to this scheme, why they
love it so ardently, because it com
prehends more than a mere economic
idea, but embraces a providential
order for society.
at is blasphemy," says Mr.. George,
"that attributes to the inscrctable
DEGREES of providence the suffering
and brutishness that come from
poverty; that turns with folded hands
to the All-Father and lays on him
the responsibility for the want and
crime of our great cities. We de.
grade the Everlasting. We slander
the Just One. Tue Creator sholCers
upon us his gifts-more than enough
for all. But like swine scrambling
for food, we tread them in the mire,
while we tear and rend each other"
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-20

result in lifting the burden of work
from mems shoulders and making
each life easy and comfortable. But
such, he says, is not the case. On
the contrary men have to work
harder than ever and poverty in
creases with accumulating wealth.
He finds the explanation of this
strange phenomena in the fact of
private ownership of land, by which
term he embraces all natural oppor-
tunities, such as use of water. Men
must have land, he asserts, in order
to carry on any business or to live;
we must possess land even to have
standing room and place. Land be-
ing the prime requisition for life and
business, he who owns the land holds
a first mortgage on all mans efforts
and powers of production, yea on his
life itself. To the land is to own
the men who must use that land.
The land owner has been able to ap-
propriate in the form of rent all the
wealth produced by labor saving de-
vices. So fast as mans power to pro-
duce wealth increases, the land owner
raise, his rent accordingly. From
this rent no one can escape, because
land he must have. To this fact,
mainly, is due the poverty and dis
tress we see on the one hand, and the
enormous fortunes on the other.
To obviate this Mr.. George pro-
poses to abolish the private owner
ship of land, that is to abolish the
essence of it, the power of the in
dividual to take rent; he proposes
that the government shall take this
rent in the form of tax for the use
of society. AS the claim is made
that this rent or tax will yield all the
revenue needed for governmental and
social purposes, it would constitute
all the tax of any kind whatsoever
that need be levied and so this theory
is popularly called the Single Tax.
OF course, this term rent is here used,
not in its popular, but in its economic
sense, meaning what would be paid
for the use of land over and above
the amount paid for the poorest or
least valuable land in use. This tax
does not fall upon land improve
ments, that is upon houses, stores,
factories, etc, but upon the land it.
self, or more properly upon land
values. Land which has no value
for use would pay no tax. An inn
proved lot or farm with buildings
upon it would pay no more tax than
an adjoinipglot or farm equally good
for use, which is not improved OF
used. 1t is the failure to understand
the profound distinction between the
term rent as popularly used, signify,
ing the rent of buildings, machinery
ETC., and its use in this economic
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-20

The Universalist church is appear
ing before the world in a new light.
1t has always been deeply religious
body, full of inspiration and cheer to
the devout soul; but in these later
years, for the first time in its history,
is it taking its righttul place in the
popular estimation as religious
force. 1t has been regarded as do
mestic institution, and its chief work
has been held to be controversial.
But the Chicago convention begins
new era, and the church is Fastening
forward as an evangelizing move
ment, and seeks the field OF the COM
mon life of man as the most appro-
pirate arena for the exercise of its
divine gifts of love and help.
That transformation Of energy is
not strange and foreign to the facts
of its history, or the nature of its
being. 1t is living organism, full
of the spirit, and seeks to help men
in the actual life they are now living
1t addresses itself to the amelioration
of human life as it now is, not as it
was thousand years ago, or will be
five hundred years hence. A church
of today, for men and women now on
the earth,-that is the law of its be-
ing and the secret of its history.
The fathers of the church found
the world beclouded with the shadow
and shame of medieval Calvinism,
and the immediate work before them
was its absolute and complete de-
struction. At no point did it touch
genuine Christianity. 1t was a hid
eous and monstrous perversion of
God and man, and as long as its
blight rested on human life, there
was no hope for progress. AS long
as the devil was enthroned in heaven,
his work would go on in the midst of
men. And SO it was that the rallying
cry of all who were working for the
moral redemption of the world in the
opening years of this century became
"Down with the devil and all his
works'
How completely this was done, the
history of the century shows. 1t
would be foolish to claim all credit
for the liberty and love that have
come to the world as the result of the
work of our church fathers. But
without them and their renovating
influence, there can be no doubt that
the world would be very different.
If in certain benighted regions of
this country the old Calvinism still
fingers, and the old orthodoxy has
still place, it is dead in all the great
centers of life and energy. 1t may
linger in Texas or North Carolina,
but from such arid soil spring forth
no currents of progress. They break
out from hearts that are warm with
human love and souls that are in
stinct with the desire for truth. TIE
great institutions of learning that
sway the thought and life of this
generation, bear. it may be, sectarian
names, but they all belong to the
great broad church of God-loveIs
and men-helpers, and their inspira-
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-20
MONEY AND MISSIONS.

The two things go together; they
cannot be separated. If the Univer-
salist Church proposes to do mission
airy work, either at home or abroad,
it must Eprovide the means for such
service. Under the conditions now
existing, there must be organized,
systematic efforts put forth, to collect
large sums of money, without which
no importan missionary movement
can be made efficient.
To apply these propositions is the
demand of the hour. Making such
an application, we should both hear
and meet the present urgent call for
means to sustain our Mission in Jap
an. The General Convention Board
appeals to the church at large for the
sum of $10.000,ss. ith which to sustain
the Mission, ano to enlarge the scope
of its usefulness. Do our Universal
ist people propose to raise this amount
promptly and cheerfullyi This can
easilysbe done, if we take hold of the
work sunitedly, realizing its import
apce,ssbeing animated by a resolute
purpose to stand by the Mission and
to keep it in successful operation.
This is our business, brethren and
sisters of the. Universalist Church.
We have entered upon the work; we
are committed to it, and by every
principle.of. honor and good faith we
are bound to carry it forward. What
reason indeed, is there for any
tn ought of withdrawal from the dis
slant field never more inviting than
it is today . Certainly we could not
justify withdrawal of aid at this
time, by saying that we have COM
p leted the enterprise which we un-
dertook less than eight years ago; or
that we have met with such failure as
to show the inexpediency of contin-
ued effort. Neither may we say that
there is no longer need for the mes
sage which we have to bear, or that the
way of service is obstructed SO that
we can no longer work to advantage.
Nor yet have we any right to affirm
that the burden is greater than we can
sustain. 1t will not be regarded as
a burden, if we have missionary ardor
prompting us 10 give and to do for
the advancement of Christian work.
To meet the present call will in no
sense be burdensome, if only there is
a united and hearty movement to
rightly divide the amount required,
and a general purpose to give one's
full part, in response to the appeal,
with perhaps something over to make
up for unavoidable deficiencies.
There is a claim; let us recognize
it; there is duty, let us perform it;
there is pleasant privilege of CO. op-
Grafton in this cause, let us so appre-
ciate the privilege as to make gen.
erous offering, either on the approach
ing Japan Sunday, or at some other
early date, to the end that the Uni
versalist Church in Japan may be es-
tablished on permanent foundation
and the kingdom of our Lord be adj.
vanced among men.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-20
CONTENTS.
oHrcAso. SATURDAY. NOV. go. 1897

SATURDAY. NOV. go. 1897.
Page One.
The UniyersaIist Church in New Light
Henry George.
Page TWO.
Fourscore Years.
Page Three.
The Sunday School Lesson.
Page Four.
Editorial:
The New Paper.
Thanksgivings Old World Ancestors.
The Alcohol Disease.
Views of the Editors.
Page Five.
Church News and Correspondence.
Page SIX.
The Family Page. Farm. Garden and Dairy.
Page Seven.
Our Boys and Girls.
Page Eight.
News of the Week.
Acknowledgment.
Chureh Notices and In Memoriam.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-20

Rev. ]. J. Lewis is in Iowa this week
fulfilling several lecture engagements.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-20
OUR CONTRIBUTORS.
THE UNIVERsALIsT CHURCH IN A
NEW LIGHT.

BY REV. L. ]. DINsMoRE.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-20
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The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-07-03

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