The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1903-01-22
THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE.
CONTINUED from Page Four.)

iNoHlndNu ifOui tdbt foN'f
Baer and company have a perfect right
to do az they will with their own, and
during n period OF prosperity they may.
II they Will, increase prices, but tho
raise I'm prices of coal Is not due. is not
result OF prosperity. tits due TO the fact
that owning all the supply, IL Is optional
on the part of the coal barons. to raise
prices. they could just as easily lower.
That they do raise them, IL no argument
whatever. The law OF supply ana de-
mand fails 10 hold good where coal lands
are monopolized. The supply or neces-
sity Is entirely I'm their hands. They are
not Obliged To hire more help or lncre"se
wages, they do not. necessarily ehu 10
the increase OF prosperity, but with ev-
cry arbitrary land IL IL entirely arni-
trary) raise In price. they do tend 10
bring on the expectant panic, or depres-
sion. which always has followed, ana al
ways must follow, under present condi-
tion period of high prices ana prosper
ty. They are a mill stone around the
neck OF the people. and must In the ma
ture OF the case. be A mill stone, whlch
n lesser or greater time. must SINK us
into poverty and hard times.
Analize II little further-the butcher,
the baker and the candlestick maker sud
denly receive a large increase OF orders.
Prosperity has begun DO prices GO up?
Possibly. very probably: but butchers and
bakers and csndlestick makers are soon
found growing on every bush, and COM
petition soon brings prices down. but the
Increased demand for coal. which the IN
crease OF business brings. does not nnd
new set OF coal barons growing on every
bush. There IL no competition In the
production OF coal The price OF that
necessary article goes up. and increases
as prosperity increases, sucking pros
perlty's very life blood. As II Is with
coal so IL Is with iron, copper. oil and
every natural product but the natural
tendency OF all, products OF labor dur
ing n period OF prosperity Is to decrease
I'm price and in fact do decrease, IL you
will deduct from their price the Increased
cost OF their manufacture, due TO the In
crease in the price OF coal iron or other
monopolized natural product which enters
into the product itself, or is necessary to
produce II. not forgetting OF course. the
Increase in prices permitted by the de-
crease in competition produced by pro-
teCtIve tariff.
To make this clearer or rather TO sum
marize. prosperity reduces prices. mo-
nopoly increases prices. The reduction
OF prices Is due 10 competition. but where
monopoly exists competition is abolished.
A man produces shoes. The increased
output permits q greater proht at re-
duced price for each pair of shoes II
everythlng else was equal. The Improve
ment in machinery would still further
reduce the price. but II coal keeps going
UP In price II soon ahsorbs the print and
forces the price up, and the still greater
decrease I'm price which would result from
improved methods OF production. instead
OF going TO the consumer goes TO the coal
barons and eventually they (the coal
barons and other monopolists OF natural
resources) absorb all the benefits Of pros
perity and then comes a panic.
The mistake OF the whole BUSINESS Is IN
- har ~ y
blame them? simply because they mako
tire best % their opportunity. simply be-
cause they raise the price n; what tncy
own TO what seems, and is. prohibitive
figure? Every laborer asks the highest
price possible for his labor. Every busi-
ness man and manufactures does exactly
what the coal barons are doing-demands
the highest price possible for his product.
The blame Is not with the coal barons,
but with ourselves. We are ignorant
Wherein does our ignorance lie? Simply
| In not recognizing the difference between
! property I'm hand and property In the
| products OF labor applied TO land. The
coal lands are not property and should
| not be recognized as property. any more
than the air we breathe. Recognize this
difference (Which Henry George has made
so plain I'm his great work Progress and
Poverty'D and the remedy is simple.
Recognize this difference and you will
recognize also that the only cure IL the
Single Tax, which by taxing the entire
yearly value OF the coal lands into the
public treasury Of Pennsylvania. or even
into the national treasury. would bring
this great natural opportunity itself
under the benefcent law OF competition,
which would regulate the price of coal
the same as the price OF any labor pro-
duct and then. and only then, will coal
he sold TO the consumer at a natural
| price Two dollars ton Is enough for
| the very best coal. ). Nj.