The labor world., 1918-03-09
WHAT OTHER PAPERS SAY
WHY NOT DESTROY LAND
NnN0DnTvp

MONOPOLY? ..
The Los Angeles Citizen: Uncle
Sam is enlisting two million boys be-
tween 16 and ~ Tor service on the
farms.
The labor of these boys will be az
big contribution to the winning of
the war as the work Of several divi-
sions Of soldiers.
Work in the open will make better
men of them. The knowledge that
they are saving the world from famine
will teach them the Joy o&servite.
Why not keep those boys on the
soil: This country needs, not two
million emergency farm hands, but
two, four, ten million additional farnar
ers-ren who own their own farms
and their own souls. f.. 4
Can these boys stay on the land?
Not unless they are willing to become
migratory, underpaid, casual labor
ers or farm tenants living from hand
to mouth. Farm lands are out OF
the reach OF ali except tho wealthy.
They are held for speculation. Their
market price is far above the sum
on which one OF the boys could earn
SoS3 SsCkA oAICA AS1SA OSSOA1lC
an expert farmer. Nearly half the
farming land of the country is held
out Of use in this way.
Why not squeeze the water out Of
these land values and throw the land
open to our boys by taxing land
values and exempting all improve
ments from taxation? That would
help not only the boys, but the strug-
Cling farmers already on the land,
whose taxes increase in proportion
as they make the land productive and
serviceable.
The government has two obvious
duties to these two million young
sters: Destroy land monopoly, and
destroy the transportation, storage
and marketing monopolies that suck
the vitality out of agriculture for the
benefit Of the few who own our rail-
roads, grain elevators and cold stor-
age warehouses; The first can be ac-
complished by the taxation of land
values; the second, by public owner
ship of transportation, storage and
marketing facilities.
SHOWING HORRIBLE CONDITION
The Mesaba Ore: The government
investigation of the meat packing
plants is showing up a horrible condi-
tion of affairs-proVing that the priv
ileged class regards the government
merely as a means to be used for in
creasing their unholy holdings.
The same condition exists in nearly
every line of business that supplies
general commodities, but some Of the
concerns show little more respect
for constituted authority than do the
packing house hogs.
OF course, we, expect the govern
ment to break up the condition of
enthrallment, some time, but it will
be a slow process to replace their
tools in congress and legislatures with
men that will play the game honestly
with the people. But we really can
not command much sympathy until
we take brace and do something for
ourselves.
Right now is a good time to start,
too. Instead of electing corporation
bundle carriers, we should ourselves
select the men to represent us in the
law-making bodies of the land. We
can never hope for relief until we
take the management of our own af-
fairs into our own hands-the cor
porations work for themselves only,
you know:
The Minnesota state legislature is
filled with corporation bundle-car-
riers, and we send working quota
to congress every two years.
The people can always have what
they want, but so long as they per-
nit the Bi g Fellows to tell them what
they want there is not any hope of
betterment of the present order of
things.