The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-01-26

the earth, for man i; a land animal, ant as MT. Spencer says in chapter XI. o, "Justice:" The earth's surface canno be denied to any one absolutely without rendering life-sustaining activities i'm practicable In the absence of stand. ing ground he can do nothing and hence it appears to be corollary from the law of equal freedom, interpreted with strictness, that the earth's surface may not be appropriated absolutely by | individuals, but may be occupied by them only in such manner as recogni- zes ultimate ownership by other men; that is by society at large" Sufficient has now been advanced to show that if man have a right to life, he also has a right to the means of life, and that if these means are always open to him he will avail himself of them in the same way that the lower animals secure food and shelter for themselves and their young. And surely with his added in- telligence man should make a better showing in this than they, yet the con- trary is the fact, for the birds have no soup kitchens or philanthropy at per
 
 the ravens and that our heavenly Fath- CT feeds them, but let me ask you what would become of the next generation of ravens if the present lot had the wit to adopt land system like ours, so they could keep off all the new corners ex- cept on their own terms? It is easy to see the ravens would then occupy po- sition similar to that obtaining among us at the present time.
 We are thus forced to the conclusion that no man, except the physically in capacitated would be at a loss to pro- vide for himself had he the opportuni- ty which God has given him. and the fact of his not being In possession of that opportunity proves conclusively that some one has taken 1t from him. The history of how this was gradually accomplished is study in itself, but still open to any who care to investi- gate it. Our present object is, however, to state the fundamental principles upon which society must be built if 1t is to endure, and we have already stated the basic principle to be the law of equal freedom. The next question that naturally occurs is how can state of freedom as given by Mr. Spencer be secured at the present time? To an- swer this it will be necessary to make few statements which we believe to be truths. and granting that they are, we shall then be in possession of firm foundation on which to build, and an abundance of material for the most glorious superstructure We have the ability to conceive of.
 list. All men have equal right to life.
 2nd. Life depends absolutely upon land
 srd Therefore all have equal right to land.
 4th. Some must occupy more valua- ble land than others.
 9th. Equal right demands that land- holders pay the yearly value of land into a common fund for common pur- poses.
 Granting these five points it is easy to see that every man would be free to use just as much of the earth's surface as he cared to- provided he recompensed the others for the privilege of the mo- nopoy they had granted him. It is also clear that each man would be left in ab- solute possession of all he produced; ne who produced much would receive | much, and he who produced little would 'eceive little, yet all would have the | same opportunity. Thus each individ- lal would be put upon his merits, sur 'ounded by an environment suited in every way for the development of his | highest capabilities; he could use or | lbuse his opportunities; if he refused | o take advantage of them all would | lnow the reason, and society as whole | would have done all that society Is re- ponsible for in the matter. And the eason society would have no responsi- ,ility Is this, that having previously provided for her children in securing quality of opportunity, providing that he keen witted ones should not be able, trough unjust and crafty laws, to take dvantage of the duller members. So- ietys responsibilities would then be arrowed down to lovingly caring for q ew physical and mental unfortunates, gho, as the causes that produced them re removed will gradually become so ew that no special provision will be eeded
 Sufficient has been said to show that the rights of the individual are se-