The Cairo bulletin., 1907-11-19
LAND AND LABOR
MAIN FACTORS
IN cpUNTRYS PRODUCTION =
HENRY GEORGE ADDRESSES
SINGLE TAX MEETING.
SPECULATION IS AFOOT
In All Times of Prosperity--George
Says Prevent This and There
VIII BE No Financial De-
preston.


! New York, Nov. 1S.-The Single
Tax Conference held its first session
lof the present meeting here today
! Chairman Henry George, Jr., address
led the gathering on the subject up
Epermost in the public mind today.
i Mr.. George prefaced his remarks
!, with discussion of the late financial
/ upheaval, and as remedy for cur
irency stringency advocated the postal
lsayings banks system. Even this,
however, or any other elastic cur.
lency plan, would not prevent busi.
ness depressions. he said because
| the cause Of such depressions goes
! deeper-goes to the root of prcduc,
ton, the land"
THE two fundamental. primary
factors in production" continued Mr..
George, are the natural factor. land,
and the human factor, labor and
whatever touches either of these
goes to the seat of business activity
because It reaches the foundation Of
all production.
In all tines of prosperity specuia.
iion is afoot: and of all forms Of
speculation that which is most far.
reaching and important is i'm land.
Witness tho recent era of great pros
perity and, as a consequence behold
over the country today land specula-
ticn rampant! In the greater and
lesser cities. in the towns and VIZ
lagos; in the farming and timber ana
raineral regions; in the East, the
West, the North. the South: am
through stfi0 gIseat saliaa OF fsfe MIS-
sissippi, there has been marked iii
crease in speculative rent.
This means that land, the natural
Factor in production, is made in
creasinely harder to get 1t demands
and must obtain as the price of it's
use larger and larger share OF the
fruits of production. Labor and cap |
is a form of labor being
stored labor-must be content to
divide between them a less and less
share of production. until suddenly |
in the chain of EXCHANGES |
this circumstance or that, trifing at |
another time snaps the strained gem
;ral credit and banks call in and re. |
use loans. Loans are the breath cf |
Industrial life and being cut off, mills |
md factories stop, commercial enter.
)rises fail, multitudes of workers are
brown into idleuess aud the country
sinks in the grip of an Industrial de.
PRESTON.
ON the one hand are large stocks
VI commodities of al kinds. and the
'ry is that there has been an over.
'rodction; but this seems to be true
My because on the other hand a
arge mass Of workers. suffer enforced
dleness and hence are unable to buy.
and speculation has produced the
lie workman and the oyerstocked
lerchant.
"This is what we see enacting
bout us at this hour The currency
anic was oIfly the small thing at the
op that snapped general credit. At
he base of all production monopoly
as been making land, the natural
actor, artificially scarce. until the
tarting of pebble at the mountain
rest was all that was needed to pre-
ipitate an avalanche into the valley
Glow.
How prevent these depressions?
~ preventing land speculation. How
revent land speculation BY tax.
tion. Lift all the tax burdens from
lbor and the fruits of production and
lie them on land values regardless
( improvements-on ground or on
rent. That would destroy
md speculation-kill land monopoly.
he price Of land wouM not then
lcunt to eat ort Industrial pros
erity; and an industrial depression
! what should be a country of plenty
,r all would thenceforward be
hing of the past