The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-05-08
pet,er Tbnn slavery.

I'll Campo. Texas. April 25.-The land
rent received in England by the few thou-
sand land owners is more than these few
thousand would receive we're all the Eng
lish people their slaves.
This seems impossible. but is easily
found to he true II we take the average
price OF slaves in our Southern States
before the civil war we very nearly nave
the average return from slave labor. From
this we can deduct how much the Eng
lisb people as slaves would produce for
their masters It is found TO be much
less than what the land owne<s receive
as rent. This is only a paradox at
frs, view. We know free labor produces
more than slave labor. And slaves could
not live on less than the common people
OF England do. Those people are now sut-
fering from want TO live on less would
be starvation. This. then, surely is bet
ter than slavery mean for those who
draw the rent
For the people themselves it is doubt
full They work harder and fare worse.
They are free. 1t is true. But what Kind
OF freedom Work from morning till
night and, often. not even the ability 10
leave the employer who collects their
life blood for the landlord. The factory
laborer does one little thing requiring
some skill. He has not the time nor
means to learn something elsr. But he
must every day, from morning till night
through his long dreary lie, work at this
one thing. When he becomes sick he
will be cast aside II he WIRE a real
slave his master would take care of hini
TO get future work But the master of
this free man loses nothing by mis- death;
others can take his place. Possibly the
State poor house will take care of him.
but this is not certain. he may have 10
starve. The laborers in the country arc
a little more fortunate. they sometimes
can leave an employer, but they must
serve some one or at least work and give
the produce of their labor for the privilege
Of living on some mans earth. And they
must work to their utmost Not because
OF the slave overseer's whip. but from
stronger, perhaps more civilized incen-
tives-hunger and want. With their ut
most exertion they can satisfy the most
craving of these. Our Southern people are
inclined to smile in disbelief to such tales
OF hardship, thinking we have more free
dom. Yes. we have But wait till we
have advanced to become a thickly set
tied country. 1t should be much better
then; and 1t will be-for the landlord. He
will then receive a tremendous amount OF
land rent. life blood of his slaves, in fact,
though not in name. But the poor man
will find that what the landlord leaves
him is Just enough TO keep from starving
too soon. That this is the path we are
going can already be seen in parts of our
country. In places where four or Ave
dollars rent per acre is taken for farm
land this is found to be more than the
renter can pay. But the landlord will
not take less until he is forced TO 1t. be-
cause that much can not be produced
from the land. And then he will take
only so much less as to leave the renter
just enough to live.
This great amount of land rent, more
than the produce OF slave labor. explains
VIII" all this want and suffering and at
the same time more foodstuff and cloth
ang than can be used; or. in other words
II explains the strange phenomena of
want and overproduction. If every tiller
of the soil received all he produced he
would have more than sufficient. such Is
the bounteousness of nature But why
support all these parasites on land called
landlords? We can get rid of this parasite
without trouble by taxing the land to the
extent Of killing the parasite.
II, A. FRANKIE