Evening journal., 1908-04-03
Peoples Column
Thinks Single Tax Would Do Il.

Editor THE EVENING JOURNAL
Kindly permit an exile from Peach
town to answer a paragraph in one
Of your editorials of Saturday, March
rs. The section to which / allude reads
as follows:
The cause and nature Of the de-
preston has never been satisfac-
torily explained. The wayfaring
man knows that President Roose-
welt had big row with the 100
financial rulers" of the country as
Senator Lafollette terms them, and
after mutterings and rumblings,
coupled with the exposure Of
crooked dealings of some financiers
In the insurance scandals, and the
bursting Of banks a depression
came from which we are still suf-
fering.
Now a word. The reason why the
public" suffers through these proven
bial periods known as hard times" is
simply because the public is a "chump"
II those 100 financial rulers" with
whom President Roosevelt. Senator
Lafollette, our esteemed townsman,
Washington Hastings, william ].
Bryan,-the labor leaders, who don't
iead-a whole lot OF ministers, a large
bunch Of "philanthropists" and like
wise a carload of professors" are
quarreling, should happen to own the
atmosphere-"th air."-then beyond a
doubt we would have "air powers"
People starving for air" Aye, we
would read in the Morning Bugle."
THE Evening Dodger'' and the sun
day Stradler" such gems as these:
IL
was dying from lack of air" Peter
Brown shot his wife. six children and
himself They were insane from want
of air" 'Mr. Jones was arrested yes
tArday. He stole a basket of air"
THE Central Labor Union will hold
meeting to protest against the high
price OF air" THE Ninth ward Air
Union viii meet this evening" And
We will also read such items as these:
"The Daughters Of Heaven win hold
a basket social at st. Dollars Church.
All real Christians are urged to donate
at least one basket Of air for the relief
Of the worthy" Also that "The Hon.
Mr.. Graft, president of the American
Air Trust has donated 100000 cubic
feet Of air for the relief of the worthy"
see some of your preachers-and
some Of them think they are ChristifW
or reformers. aye, labor leaders-and
see them sniff and shout BAH What
rot. The idea of anybody owning the
air. The people would not stand it.
Why people could not live without air.
God made man subject to the law that
they must breathe or die. God created
all, Men, all men, are His children.
How could any man or set Of men
claim to own the air?'
Not so fast my Christian friend
What else must all men have as well
as air? Is it not trus as Gospel that
all men depend absolutely on the use
of the earth, on access to the SOIL on
the use Of the land. to live. What Is
the food you eat, the clothes you wear
the house you live in-all thiags you
use from necessity or choice, all the
way from a plug Of tobacco to a hymn
book from ice cream TO a coffin? 1t is
simply land transformed by labor. Ask
yourself a few fundamental questions.
Whose earth is this? You say Code.
So do T. So I learned in Sunday
school. But is Il? A duke died in
England the other day. He never earn
ed a meals victuals since he was
born. He lived seventy years on the
fat Of the land, at the rate of 100000
per year. How could he live If he did
not work? Now we get at the milk in
the cocoanut. The duke owned 10000
acres Of the little island Of England.
When other men, women and children
piled up like rats the duke kindly per-
mitted them to stay on Gods earth as
long as they gave him all the product
OF their labor. He worked the same
game as DO the powers and holy bond
OF patriots. Ryan, Rockefeller, Selig-
man, Carnegie Let us see. There are
some 1s6000O00 square miles Of sur
face on the planet Some parts Of the
planet is covered with. say, 144,000,000
square miles. That leaves Of dry land
some 100000 square miles Of desert.
OF swamp there are some 100000
square miles. That leaves $1,000, 900
square miles Of soil. on which the 49,
100000 human beings must live, II
they live at all Whose earth Is this?
or. to come near home, whose country
Is it the property Of Messrs. Ryan,
Rockefeller, Seligman and the other
"97 fnanciers?" Then why kick? II
anyone does not like their mode Of
running things, then ''get out" In the