Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1910-04-07
S%andsprlng Farm,
March 25th, 1910.

ss'il'o MEL
The earth hath lie given to the chill.
dren OF men"
"Tine profit Of the earth is for ALL"
To those who would rule their con-
science by the word of God, the fore
going texts afford room for renrxion,
which will avail nothing If from reflex.
ION no action results; that man il simply
u coward, who sees an injustice and dare
hot utter a protest. The first text clearly
shows that the earth is a gift OF God. and
this is what Pope Gregory the Great
thou slt OF IT,. "rhose," SAID he, 'that
make private property OF the gift of God,
pretend in VAN to be innocent, for by
thus withholding the subsi tence of the
poor they are the murlcrers OF those who
die daily for want OF it," WI h . cath
ole has a doubt concerning the lnterpre-
tation of a text Of scripture, lie goes to
his parish priest, who may refer him to
his bishop, who may send him to the
pope. II the pope call a council, aud,
after prayer and deliberation, lie inter.
,rcts the text rcferfed to, the Catholic
world accepts the decision; for the pope.
when speaking Er CaNrAu, is infalli.
Bile. Pope Gregory declared it against
The moral law to hold private property in
land; 1t was his oplnion, and though he
took no stock in this sin of the world, as
he gave no remedy except the goodwill
OF men, the ain remained; and with the
increasing p ice Of land caused by labor
saving machinery. the evil has reached
n point where all tue nien are called up
on to reflect and to act.
As the profit Of The earth is for all,
let us examine the nature of this profit.
1t is evident that labor only can give
profit to land, and years ago land was
common, because the only profit derived
from II vas directly by the laborer IN
fruit, or gram, or from grazing herds;
there wac plenty Of land for all. The
discovery Of the printing press causing
by interchange Of thought, soon revolu.
ton lcd the methods OF production and
exchange. The profit of a portion Of the
earth containing coal was more than
doubled 10y the use of gas, it was in.
creased one thousand per cent Gy lie use
Of steam aud electricity. and with every
labor saving machine increasing the eff
caCy OF labor the profit Of land increases.
To illustrate: Say that | bought for a
l,nkItJ al 80. IN urfas IF uhtiva.tta rI.i
land from the Indians in Pennsylvania, |
cleared The land and raised wheat and
corn; Won car see that when coal was
discovered the profit Of my land in
Creased, the Wheat and corn was the
wages Of my labor; but the profit now
from the opportunity 20 labor L~c,un.ed
TO all the land Is now wor'l. one mil
lion dollars an acre aud I own H.. With
machinery wuith Sl0O,OJJ my cop Of
coal, hrourh hired labor, comes to sew
cral millions Il year. No matter how
much wealth labor creates on my land,
the increase. or added profit OF the earth
goes into my pocket. You NAV strike,
you may prohibiuumil-, You MAJ start
soup houses; It'll the prisons and peni.
tcn,iaries will rise IN the shallow Of your
churches. You can never replace justice
hy charity; you know il is a failure, for
you have tried it. Let the profit Of the
c.rtl, go to all and you have the remedy
III a nutshell, So simple. 80 true.
What is the rrnit If tie eart!lo 1t is
the interest OF the value of the opportuu.
ity to labor. It amounts to billions OF
dollars. take II for revenue. ard take ev-
cry foam of tax away from Labor.
N~bREl,fNAN