The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1916-03-18
WALSH SPONSOR FOR
UNEMPLOYMENT BILL !!
Champions Crosser Measure That
Promotes Welfare of Coun-
try's Workers
LAND TITLES SHALL
DEPEND ON THEIR USE
Would Prevent Speculation And
Private Monopoly In Ma =
tional Resources.

WASHINGTON, Mar. 16.-Indorse- d,
ing the principle of the Crosser bill,
(now pending in congress, for foster i
ing, promoting and developing the
welfare of the wage earners of the
United States by creating new oppor- ,
tunities for permanent and profitable
employment" Frank P. Walsh, chair j
man of the committee on on industrial
relations, has issued the following
statement:
'"rhe bill invokes and applies to the
lands of the public domain in the abb
solutely right doctrine that the title
to land shall depend on it's productive
use.
The CrOsser bill is not only right
in itself. 1t points the way that legis-
lation should go to prevent specula-
ton and private monopoly in natural
resources. It recognizes as far as It
goes the 'unalienable right of the COM
munity to take for the welfare of all
the values that the community creates
and it recognizes the equally divine
right of the producer and toiler to get
and keep that wealth which his own
labor has produced.
Change Tax Laws.
The most searching and widespread
Investigations Of the United States ;
commission on industrial relations
into the frightful and preventable
evils of unemployment and tenant
farming and the bad distribution of
wealth make the following recon-
mendations of the main or Manly re-
port of the commission unanswerab1e
to all fair-minded men.
Il. The revision of the taxation
system so as to exempt from taxation
all Improvements, and tax unused
land at it's full rental value.
"2. Vigorous and unrelenting pro-
secution to regain all land, water,
power and mineral rights secured
from the government by fraud.
."3. A general revision of our land
laws, SO as to apply to all future land
grants the doctrine of superior use,
as in the cases of the water rights in
California, and provision for forfeit
ure in Ease of actual non-use.
I'VE would go far toward the solu-.
ton of our Industrial problems if there.
were printed in letters of gold and
hung in the halls Of congress and In
.
republic these words of Joseph Fels:
Everybody Should Work.
''I believe tha+ all are violating the
divine law who live in idleness on
wealth produced by others, since they
eat bread in the sweat Of their
brothers brows.
IT believe that involuntary poverty
and involuntary idleness are unatural
and are due to the denial by some of |
the the right of others to use freely ]
the gifts of God to all.
"Since labor products are needed !,
to sustain life and since labor must be !
applied to land in order to produce, I ]
believe that every child comes tnto1
life with divine permission to use landj
without the consent of any other childd
of God. !
"The enormous incomes and in !
heritances that imperil our republic
and the enormous power. over others
that go with these fortunes are based |
on the unnatural possession by a COM
parative few of our mines and our !:
highways of commerce and of most of |
our city land much Of ou richest
farming lands. :!
'The inquitous mother of poverty !
is privilege. To abolish poverty, pri-
vilege must be killed. Power in the ,
hands of the producers and toilers, !
through organization and collective /;
bargaining, is one necessary weapon
With which to kill privilege. Power;
in the hands of the people. through
laying such burdens on privilege that
privilege shall be abolished and be
taken off the back of labor, is the.
other necessary weapon for Destroy
ing it,