The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1908-02-15
REAL. ESTATE !! n Dg||!Q!AING n !! :.
CAUSE. O. HIND I!!|||| times
Inflated Real Estate Values Work
Great Injury 70 . City's
Prosperity.
Are An Absolute Curse to Every
Individual But the Real
Estate Speculator.

Said spider to 4 hy: Come into
my parlor. It is The prettiest little
parlor that ever you did spy" The
unwary fly enters and Is caught in
the, trap. 1s
Like the willy spider, the. real estate
boomer prepares. hi1 attractive little
parlor. ss&'
He first gets a corner on the land.
If it he city land. hesuses his influence
to secure factories, bstensibly for the
purpose Of furnishing employment for
labor and business for. the merchant.
The factories Gomez the laborers come
Enriehes Only sthe spsouiator.i
AS a. prosperous slave owner in
creases in wealth, he increases the
number Of slaves on his plantation,
but the larger number of slaves get
only what the smaller number got
maintenance. s4s
So the larger number of working
people that come with the factories to
swell the populationSof city get only
what the smaller number got; just
about the same rate Of wages; just
enough for subsistence. The much
vaunted prosperity !enriches not the
laborer but the. property owner and
the land speculator who forestall the
opportunity.
And Vacant Lot Owners.
The newcomers must have some
places to live. There are not enough
houses. You can not build more
houses without using more land. The
SPECTATORS own the vacant land.
They have g. corneron It, a lockwood
cinch." You must pay tneir price or
emigrate. The price is as much as a
desperate situation can compel you to
disgorge., The scarcity Of houses
caused by the high price Of vacant
land, makes all rent abnormally high.
It is all the same whether you are
paying rent or making payments on a
home. You pay too much. The rent
is too high. The price of a nome is
too high. In either case, the regular
payments must, in many cases, exceed
the ability to pay The most pressing
obligation must be met first. The
landlord or mortgagsholder has. the
first lien on a MANS sswages. On ac-
count Of his extortiohs the remnant
of wages is not sufficient for nfe's
necessities. zs !. ,..:c.. H.. =.
u , a IEtfeet.on ,otha Business. ~ =. !. =, :,
a-As tae real estate hoom advances,
and rent gets higher and homes get
higher in price, the increasing portion
Of the peoples earnings required for a
place to live leaves less and less for
the purchase of other things. Then
business becomes dull The doctor
bill, the grocery bill, the butchers
bill, being only party paid, become
! larger and larger.
BY and by, the merchant has so
mucn outstanding that he can not
meet his own obligations. Money
thus becomes tighter and tighter
When the situation becomes general,
business failures are in order and peo-
pie lose confidence. Banks suspend
payment and hard times come.
Meaning Of Hard Times,
Hard times simply mean that the
owners Of the earth's surface have
been absorbing a larger portion of the
peoples earnings than the business
| world: can stand. In their greed for
! unearned wealth, they have over
worked an dkilled the goose that laid
| the golden egg.
| The only way to prevent hard times
from coming is to stop the real estate
booming. The only thing that will
stop the real estate booming is a land
value tax that will absorb the profits
Of land speculation, and there is no
city on this continent that stands
more in need Of protection against the
operation of real estate sharks than
does Duluth.