The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1916-12-09
LAVDL0RD|SM IS
GREAT PLAGUE IN
PRESENT SOCIETY
By SCOTT NEARING.

IOLEDO, Dec., S.-The frontier
was the economic shock absorber of
the early American democracy. 1t
made a place for the venturesome,
aggressive, disconnected spirits that
failed to find a place in the more
closely knit society Of the older
world. The frontier, like the oceon.
was open and free. =
: So long as there was plenty of I'M
Cultivated land, the man of energy
and thrift could secure a piece of it
for himself, and by dint or hard work
and care, he could obtain a living for
his family in fairly direct proportion
to the amount Of work which he was
willing to do.
When all of the desirable pieces of
Mother Earth are taken into individ-
ual possession, the direct relation be-
tween effort and income gives place
to an indirect relation in: which land
ownership becomes a source OF in
come, irrespective of any effort ex-
pended upon it.
Landlord Gets Power.
landlord has taken it's place in
! there and everywhere
The increase of land values is in
tvitable in the United States. The
total amount of land is limited. Each
Land scarcity enables the man who
owns a piece of it to exact rent
from the man who wishes to use it.
Rent can exist only where the
amount of desirable land is limited.
If land were as abundant as air and
sunshine, the landlord might wait to
eternity before his land would yield
him a penny.
The frontier has gone and the
increase in the population of the
! country makes a greater demand for
land. Each progressive advance in
| civilization which leads to new uses
for the products Of land, makes a
greater demand for land.
Step by step, the people of the
United States are moving forward
| and upward along the path of de-
veloping civilization. Step by step
they are adding to the total value
of the resources upon which that
civilization depends.
Land Values Rise.
The memorable character of this
increase in land values becomes
more evident if selected areas of land
are considered. The facts are patent
in the case of an Illinois farm, which
sold in 1880 for $25 per acre, and in
1910 for $3.50 per acre. p.
The farm land, without buildings,
of Iowa, was valued at $1,256,751.9S0
in 1900, and at $2,S01,873,729 in
1910. The land ON which Boston
stands was worth $340,404,975 in
1889 and in 1913, $716,435,80O.
Greater New York reported land
valuation of ;$3,367,233,74O in 1906,
and Of $4,643,414,771 in 1915. The
choice portions of the land of the
United States are rising in value.
Each year adds to the power which
their owners have over community
earnings.
Much has been said and written re-
garding the increase in city land
values. It is insignificant when COM
pared with some of the increases in
farm land values.
Increase Is Enormous.
Compare, for example, the increase
in the land values of New York city
with the increasing land values of
the grain states of the vast north
central group.
The population of New York city
is just under 100000; Of Iowa,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Ne
braska ana Kansas the total rural
population is almost exactly the same
as the population of -1ew York city.
During the years for which figures
are available (19O7-1916) the land
values Of New York rose from
$3,367, 100000 to $4,643,000, 00O-an
increase of more than one-third in 10
years.
The total value of the farm lands
in the states named, was, in 1910,
$500, 100000. In 1900, this same
land had been valued at $4,000, 000,-
900.
End Is Not Yet.
In the interval of 10 years it had
increased almost exactly S5,0oO,00o,-
900, about 200 per cent.
The total value of farm lands in
these five years is now one and one
half times the total value of land in
New York city, and the rate of in
crease in the value of the land is
four times the rate Of increase in
New York city.