The Owyhee nugget. ([Silver City], Idaho) 1905-1984, 1909-02-12
Collective or Non-ownership of
Land VS.. Private o Ownership.
(3y W. H. scenck.)

ership dates from "the beginning, or
perhaps to speak more correctly, the
idea Of an individual owning land was
not thought Of IN 1.-THE beginning"
Cain seems to have been the first one 10
try to control or exercise ownership of
land. ("aud he builded a city.1)
There can be no doubt but that a just
God must have given the earth as free
as the air to all mankind. But man
has worked outmany inventions he has
not only deprived many Of hisfellows Of
fresh air, pure water and sunshine as
"The Outlook" puts it, but has taken
the earth as we'll.
10 demonstrate what wish to in re-
gard to the ownershipor control of land,
will refer to the settler upon piece
of unsurveyed public land. (Land
owned collectively by ALL of the people
Of the United States, and free TO any
one who may wish to settle upon it,
land not subject to our present land
laws.) Where a man can settle and
make home for himself aud family
aud no one can remove him so long as
the land remains unsurveyed, there be
ing no record of it in any Land Office
in the United States. But when this
land is surveyed, maps made and filed,
and records made, this man must,
WEATHER he wishes or not, procure title
to this land in given time or leave his
home. Therefore he is more than likley
to procure title.
Title once procured, the home OF the
owner is then in jeopardy. It is not
only subject to all of the taxes TO run
our schools, County, State, and General
Government, but is subject to COM
mercial tax to build and support the
towns and cities of the country, togeth-
er with tax to support the present
banking system. There is no telling
what the commercial tax is lit is beyond
comprehension: but the tax levied and
collected by the banks in the United
States today is sl4.O0 per capita annu.
ally for every man, woman and child in
the country, These taxes are what has
robbed the people of the "fresh air,
pure water, and sunshipe," and the
right to establish home upon the earth
that God freely gave them. The land
has been taken from them, or the bur.
den of taxation has been so great upon
the producer that the young man will
not stay upon the farm, but HES off to
the city where he can himself turn
hand and live from that he has not pro
duced.
Ii the land was all free so the poor of
the cities and towns could occupy it,
with, but the school, County, State and
General Government tax to pay, and
they could not be dispossessed bya com
mercial or bank tax, the congested
districts of the cities would be relieved,
and these people would have homes,
where now they have but dens to live
in, and hoodlums to associate with, and
either die or become hoodlums them
selves
As the land now owned collectively,
Chat is Government land) is being dealt
out, more or less of it goes to land spec
ulators, in fact the greatest portion of it
is more or less speculative, and the price
is so high that poor man (Rnd the
most of us were born poor) has no
chance to get home.
There are in Idaho today thousands
upon thousands of acres of the very
best ofland that is idle, men hold this
land for the money that they expect to
get out of it.
Every man should be entitled to what
land he can use and needs to support a
family, and be able to hold it against ex-
ecution, in health, and in sickness,
through evil as well as we'll as good re-