Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-07-18
Things You Want to Know e; s;: :'

Englishnen. secure in their snug COM
placency. look across the Atlantic and pity
the poor Americans engaged IN a titanic
struggle with the trusts. and phariscally
give thanks they are not IS the rest Of
men. But as q matter Of fact q third Of
the people Of England are hungry because
Of the extortions Of a trust more powerful
and more wicked than all Of the American
monopoIles together.
The land trust Is the curse OF Eng
land. since Il controls not only practically
all OF the land. but also because that con-
troll has the approval Of law and custom,
because that trust has q permanent major
ity in the upper chamber OF Parliament
and because. owning the land II controls
/ all Of the products OF the land. This trust
| is not organized on a New Jersey holding
I company principle. but IL is none the less
/ a compact and effective organization II
has no president and no board Of directors.
but IL Is none the less susceptible to the
control Of the captains OF privilege. ard u
is bound together BY the strietsst Of sen
! linens agreements in an eternal eommun-
| fly Of interests. To utter a word in deroga-
ton Of that trust Is to breathe treason
against the state and against an organ
1 ized civilization. In the estimation Of con-
servative Britons Even the miserable ten
ant peasant regards the proposition %
cut UP his iodship's estate as a monstroua
! crime.
| But eu Britons are not conservative
The liberal party, now in power In the
! commons has determined TO attack this
! gigantic land monopoly, and II possible
| to Amenorate its evils. An American OBJ
I server could not but sympathise with the
/ araor Of the radical hosts who, In the re
cent campaign. sang as a rallying song
to the tune OF Marching Through Geor
gia.' these words:
sound a blast for freedom, boys, and sent
Il far and wide!
March along to victory, for God 10 on GU
While the voice Of Nature thunders O'e
the rising tide
God made the land for the people!
The Iandi The land
I Twas God who gave the land
| The land The land
Why should we be begsars with the oal
lot IN our hand7
God gave the land to the paople-"
II is true that some good American
might have been shocked TO see the por
trait Of their compatriot Henry George o.
the back Of the song book, but IL IL pos
sfble that even they would think more c
CeAMaAM pan u EANhA011 - A-A~s -
brought face to face with a certain var
ETY. Of poverty.
The burden OF the land trust IN Ene
falls heavily upon both city and countr
dweIler but for the purposes OF nlustrI
| ton IL VIII suffice to consider the situs
| ton in the rural districts. England m
Wales. with a total population Of abo'
& aoaa ge have S0O0609 people living in a
country. The land cultivated by thei
s0oa 0Oe people produces considerably MOI
than does any similar acreage in the Unite
| States, showing that the farmers q
thrifty and industrious husbandmen.
the S06o,ee aSout = own the farm
: which they tn. An of the rest OF the Ian
approximately S009O0o acres. lie owned
about Zoo landlords. and the greater pa
il owned by fewer than EGO landlord
n many Of them being peers and membe
a Of the House of Lords. In other word
q ss2 per cent Of the farmers Of England q
= tenants II that condition prevailed In q
Z United States there might be song bool
+. there with Henry GeoT se's picture on q
back.
When the further fact that these tenan
! pay all Of the taxes on this land and tn
the owners pay. none whatever, is TAX
It into consideration, then one can form sor
r idea Of how Onerous Is the burden OF ren
Is which these tenant farmers must pay
"a support the idle landlords in that part1e
n lar style Of luxury attaching to "EnglI
NJ country Hfe."
~ In the time Of Queen Elizabeth cottage
were compelled to own at least four aeT
/ OF land to support each house At the q
II OF the seventeenth century there We
IL 10 900 land holding peasants In EngiAE
II At the beginning Of the nineteenth ceutu
y there ware more thar twice as many Ian
owning farmers "a there are today, a
there was q vast amount Of comm
land which was used and enjoyed by I
community In general In the first half
the nineteenth century, when 10 land ON
ers returned from rOtton boroughs a n
lority Of the House OF Commons. this CO
mon land vas enclosed" and became .
waite property. the most OF It going to ,
large the estates OF the peers and Oti
gentry.