The independent., 1903-07-02

A snort review OIL events III the lilc
oil The Independent, occurring within
the past two or three months, may be
of interest, especially to our increas-
ing list OF new subscribers.
AS all our old subscribers know land
we have many of them who came all
the way over the trailo) The lndepen-
dent is now and always has been a
populist paper; that is to say, It is a
supporter of the peoples party and a
teacher of the economic reforms as
enunciated at its national convention
in Omaha, 1892, and later.
But some OF The Independents most
energetic subscribers have been OF
that school of political economy deyel-
ored by Henry George, and for want
OF a better name known as the sin
gle tax" From time . time in the
rast The Independent has published
communications from these single tax
subscribers and argued with them edi-
torially--for The Independent then be-
lieved and still believes that the mon
ey question is the vital, pressing, urg-
ent one before any other.
However, these single takers showed
such hearty good humor in all their
controversies with The Independent,
that il was decided and announced on
April 8 (wholly without consultation
with any single taxer) to issue spe-
cial number to be known as the Henry
George Edition the single
takers might take the whole paper for
presenting their side Of the case.
How well they did it may be in
ferred from the fact that the Henry
George Edition was sent to persons all
over the civilized world-to Scotland,
England, Australia, Canada. New Zea-
land; in fact, wherever the works OF
Henry George have been read and
studied Able writer's furnished The
| Independent enough well written
manuscripts to fill hundred-page pa
per, of which enough was selected to
fill s. pages. Something over twelve
thousand additional copies were print
ea and these were bought and circu-
lated by the single takers.
The Independent had made a rate
| of 81 per hundred for the Henry
George Edition, barely paying the
mechanical cost of producing the pa
per, depending upon the extension OF
it's subscription list as a reward for
the large amount of extra work de-
| volving upon the editorial force in
handling the single tax manuscripts
| if we must use the commercial glasses
now universally prescribed by our
economic eye-doctors. The rate was
| the same whether the hundred were
| IT, be sent direct to the purchaser in a
bundle, or mailed in single wrappers
tc aShundred different persons, whose
names and addresses the purchaser
| furnished.
The success of the Henry George
Edition, especially as an educator In
political economy, was too much for
| the plutocrats to stand, and Car
| Madden began the tactics so familiar
| to those who have watched his course
| with reference to Wilshire's Maga-
zine The Appeal to Reason and other
publications He notified the post
master at Lincoln, and the postmaster
in turn notified The Independent that
! comnlaint had been made that
'large number Of copies of
the issue of Ma IA, 1908, were
mailed at the pound rate of post
age to names furnished by persons
interested in the circulation of the
publication, in violation of para
graph S. section ass, P. L. & r."
To this The Independent answered
setting up the facts just as they were
ccntending that no violation 0of the
laws and regulations had been intend
ed and holding that the test of viola
ton in case like this hinges upon
what the department means by the
word interested" In order that Mr..
| Madden might know what sort of
interest" the single takers had in
circulating the Henry George Edition
letter was written to all those who
purchased copies (which were mailed
to list of names furnished by them)
asking that they write the third as
sistant postmaster general letter in
forming him. Copies Of these let
| ters wer ealso sent to The Indepen-
dent, and they are such interesting