The Denver Jewish news., 1919-08-06


for recdperation and enjoyment, the
tireless pair bought land upon which
colonies were established with the de
sire to solve the problem of life. But
earnest as were their endeavors, ami
inspiring as was their leader, the plan
fell thru. The reason for that failure
lay in the perverted system of land
values.
A diligent farmer who toiled over
his plot and by dint of his own efforts
made the land bloom and producG in
abundance found that By his energy
the adjoining land of his indolent
heighbor went up in value. Should he
desire to purchase piece more, he
must pay the value whicn he himself
bad placed upon it by mis- industry.
Then again, should he make an i'm
provement upon his home, add another
story, repair the roof. install sanitary
plumbing, or add an attractive coat
OF paint to his home, he found that
the government had increased the tax
on his holdings.
These prevailing conditions were
wrong. These were the conditions
that produced misery, that brought
about housing questions, that
encouraged sloth 1t was with these
perverted principles to combat that
Joseph and Mary Fels determined to
realize Henry Georges plan of the
Single Tax, whereby all additional tax
ition, outside Of that based upon land
value, which in turn should be decided
only by site, would be abolished. With
IL single tax to pay, tax determined
not by the industry 4 ones neislrbor
or the amount and extent of improve
Inents on the land. but by the site and
locality of that land, the dwelIer might
reap the profits of his labors and
keep to himself the harvest that he
earned by the toll of his Ten fingers.
1t was back In 1900 that the clear
visioned planners. ever disappearing
Of waste in any form, found a field
for both profit and enjoyment in the
| HdSaht iot5. VI tiC pEAs
spots with their rubbish heaps were
I'M eyesore to the weary city dwellers.
A bit of industry could turn them in
to pretty green plots that would not
only be the source of keen exhilara-
tiOn but would bring considerable
financial reward. 1t was to the schools
Of the land that they both loved that
the Fels first made known their plan,
and when thousands of school children
all over the city Of New York were.
spending their after-school hours in
the vacant city lots. turning them into
vcrdant, green plots. these two carried
their gospel to England.
| The advent Of the war proved the
efficacy Of their plan. For when so
many thousands Of men left to give
their lives in the fight that was raging
across the channel, 1t was in these va
cant lots that the husbandless women
and fatherless children found their
salvation. Not only did they raise
enough to suffice them for their own
needs, but more than three million
dollars worth of produce raised where
battered cans, papers, and dirt heaps
lay before, was sold.
In 1914 Joseph Fels died and Mary
Fcls was left to carry OIL the work.
Small, frail, her tiny, soft hand miss
ing the stronger clasp that had held
II all these years, her round, kindly
tace with its luminous eyes and sensf-
| tive nostrils bearing on 1t the stamp
fer the great good that is to come of
1t, she picked up the threads of the
life that death had broken. In II short
time she, who had rarely ever spoken
to an audience, who had always had
u timid shyness for reporters. found
herself speaking to large assemblages
all over the world. She learned to
receive and answer questions, to give
interviews, and to explain and direct |
the work that had been built thru her
great love for man.
And today Mary Fels is approaching
the realization Of the dream that came |
iuto her life with Joseph Fels. With
the 'Judaizing of Palestine, lnnd
where no century-old taxation system
prevails. where Gods suffering wan
tiercrs, people of her own kin. who
have felt the lash in unfriendly climes
are willing to take up bigger, boider
fight for life, where the ancient tradi-
tions upon which greater world has
Lecn erected were first conceived. and