Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-05-02
Washington
w LETTER
BY n. B. WALKER
THE LAND MONOPOLY
star Stan Correspondent,
Star Bureau.
Metropolitan National Bank Bldg,
WASHINGTON. May 2.

Is the only one that works hulO-
matically.
When gasolene jumps from ten to
sixteen cents gallon in q few
months we know that Standard OIL
is taking bigger profits and moro
taxes from the public.
When railroad rates are increased.
or high rates are maintained to keep
up dividends on watered stocks and
bonds, we know who is doing it, and
why.
Increased food prices, rates for
transportation, for utilities, for cloth
ing and commodities, are deliberately
made by men. Individuals, or groups
of individuals, controlling trusts and
monopolies, say when these Increases
shall take place and what the in
creases shall be. These men are given
special privileges by the public in
the form of railroad or utility fran
chises. tariff protection, patent rights,
bank charters, which enable them TO
dictate the price the public shall pay
for commodities. service or con-
veniences. and they simply take ad-
vantage of these privileges.
But the one form OF monopoly
which nobody is conscious of using to
advance cost of living is the land
monopoly.
The unrestricted right of the indi-
yidual to hold land he does not use
enables these holders of unused land
to say what others shall pay for its
use. About two thirds of the people
in New Jersey who own no land must
pay to the other one-third who own
the land such price for purchase or
rent of place in which to live or DO
business as the one-third demands.
For instance, if the landowners
in New Jersey shall all agree to
double all rents and the selling price
of all land upon certain day the
two-thirds who do not own land
would have to pay the price. They
must live on the land and they must
pay whatever price is demanded by
those who own the land for the priv
ilege of living.
But nobody is conscious of advanc-
ing rents or land values. The man
who has bought a vacant lot or a
farm discovers some time later that
| he can get more money for his lot
OF farm than he paid for 1t, although
lie has done nothing himself to give
| 1t more value. What has happened
is that other people who have i'm
proved their land have made the COM
| n
sirable as a place to live or do DUST
ness, and he profits by the enterprise
of the others who have made inn
provements. But the monopoly works
automatically No man is conscious
of deliberately advancing the value
of unused land.
Same with rentals, The owner of
house, office building, factory or
store discovers that there are sew
eral people who want his building
and land for their use. They are
willing to pay him more than he
has been getting, and he raises the
rent. Why he can do so he has
probably never stopped to inquire
The more desirable the locality for
any purpose the greater number Of
people want to use land in that
locality. So when Improvements,
utilities and conveniences come TO II
locality rents and land values IN
crease
In an urban or suburban section,
for instance, people must live near
trolley or railroad. So there are
congested sections close TO lhe troi-
leys and railroads everywhere
where rents ana land Values are
high, while a few miles away tnere
is unused land which mas little COM
parative value and Yhere rents are
very low.
Recently / wanted to rent house
in the suburbs of the national cap
ital TwoSowners offered me places
each in different suburb. Both OF
these sections are on trolley lines.
One of them has good service and
a five-cent fare to the city. Inc
other has rather poor service ana
the fare to the city is ten cents. The
rent asked for houses of about the
same size and desirability was al
most twice as much in the section
on the five-cent car line as on the
ten-cent car line, although the high
er-priced houses are built on small
lots and those offered at lower
rental have large grounds surround
ing them.
A favorite argument of Socialist
orators is that one monopoly is as
bad as a thousand. And to certain
extent that is true. Harking back
to the familiar argument you may
destroy all the other forms of mo-
nopoly and give me monopoly OF
salt, and l will make you give me
all you have, for you must have
salt.
But this argument is only partly