The Washington herald., 1909-05-03
Suburban Property.
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Editor T6e Washington Herald:
In his interesting letter to The Wash
ingtoa Herald last Monday. Mr.. F. ".
Collins intlmates that Congress should
pass laws preventing suburban property
owners from Telling their own trees grow
Ing on their own land This proposition
is dangerous IN the extreme, II not alb
soluteIy aEaTchistic
II IS admitted BY practically every one
that our present civilization is founded on
property rights. II the principle that
the owners right to use his own prop
erty may be made subject 10 restrictions
placed thereon by nonowners. then the
fundamental institutions upon which our
civilization rests are invalidated-
This sinister principle. once established
must OF necessity grow more and more
tyrannicaI- Step by step the rights OF
the property owner VIII be invaded It is
only short move forward from forbid
ding & landowner from telling his own
trees. to forbidding a factory owner 10
employ Immature hands IN his establish
nent- To grasp the enor1nity Of this So
cialistic idea. We have only 10 remember
that n the cotton mills Of some OF the
Southern States alone 20e.O90 child work
ers are employed. II the owners OF these
mills were prevented from employing
these workers several million dollars
annual decrease IN profts would result
This case Is cited merely 10 show the
harmful results that would follow the es-
uablishment OF the principle advocated In
the letter under discussion.
IN fact, It Is more than likely that the
question OF child labor viii receive the at
tention % reformers sooner than VIII the
loss Of trees SO much regretted by Mr..
Collins For, from a humanitarian stand
point are not those 10000 little ones OF
more Importance than a handful OF decay
Ing ozk trees2
Political economy tells Us that the main
spring OF modern achievements is greed
Without the stimulus, there would be no
i.--eptive 10 accomplish any work Of i'm
portance, and we would soon degenerate
into a condition Of savagery, where greed
is unknown
One Of the most foTceful objections 10
socialistic society is that greed is not the
main incentive to work therein. Any
argument against the necessity for greed
IS. therefore. potentially ar argument for
socialism, and surely no faT-seeing patriot
VIII allow himself 20 be fnveigied into
furnishing arguments IN favor Of this for
elgn idea so contrary 10 our American in-
BtitutiOns.
The President pointed out over q year
ago, IN speech delivered IN Boston.
that within the next decade OF so the
American people would be called upon
either to preserve OF TO discontinue OUT
present property Institutions There Is
no question that these institutions are
rapidly approaching q crisis A slight
cause may prove the determining factor.
Is It not better that the oak trees IN the
suburbs should fall than that our present
civilization should faIl7 He who oues-
tions the sacred rights Of vested interests
to-day Is playing with fire As President
TAFT pointed out, the exclusive issue will
soon be property vs. humanity Any &C
ton n favor OF one. then. must OF neces-
sity be detrimental 70 the other. But
when We champion the cause Of human
1ty regardless OF property, We are work
ing with the socialists, whose pornO-
graphic literature Is now flooding the
country. Hence, every respectable indi-
vidual VII champion the cause cf prop
erty, which has no pornographic litera-
ture- P. H SKINNER.
Sr-iu7-17u Va