The Monroe journal., 1919-01-14
Noxus Homo Discusses RcconstTuc-
tion Problems.


secretary OF state on June -. 1896
shows that these pioneer cciOnisis
who wanted 10 control labor Ia order
4 TO keep il under and make wealth for
/ themselves saw Yery definitely hov
. 10 do it. and this is how;
i Now I'm order 10 secure m; con
sjaUt supply OF IA OF for A;yc. I've
things are necessary. LIST. Thg. ,he
requisite number Of laho~ers shall b
conveyed to the oo.ouy; and. second
F When they ere 50 convened, they
aouia cCuIMUe rs nn'ad lahoreis th-
II the arrival OF other gA'.t;uts u
supply their places IN Tie lotor mar
kei.
f As 4 means OF keeping ihn emf
i sraut wage worker. The teto-t rec
f esaM,nds an increase ia ihe rlce q
+ i,nd in The following lau.
"l.Jnyo I'M deteralnile tln tt;ce ol
1'b ,c lands TEA IT, new co.o8.'. w1
. gomts rave 10 be COZ siGe.Ad. First.
+ tre N Zee necessary 10 con a., 20 the
/ colony ;he number of laborers
required 20 cultivate the land m the
most profitable manner: and s"conG,
/ The price necessary 20 prevent The Ia
/ hororS So conveyed from acquiring
property in land. before they have
worked for wages for , sufficient pc
riod.
In order 10 accomplish the latter
object, il is not improbable tha, AT an
early date after the arrival of the
governor II may be desirable to raise
the price OF public lands We there
fore venture 70 hope that your lord
shin viii approve OF oar having au-
horized the colonial commissioner 10
advance The price OF public land.
should tue iaborers conveyed 10 the
colony by the Emigration fund begin
70 cultivate smdll iarms ON their own
account, before the arrival of other
latorers TO work tor hire in their
stead"
This method OF Procedure shows US
clearly how the eolonist proposed to
enirench tHel selves in the new coun-
Try. Those of them who were early
eomers would so manipulate the
price of land as To keep il Just out of
the reach OF the later comers, and
thereby force the latter TO work for
them. Otherwise. they argued, TO
quote the report capital would
waste and perish fer want of labor to
rse it,"
Seemingly the commissioners were
taking it for granted that the govern
or would honor their report. Blu;
even ii he did. further difficulties
We're possible in districts not yet un-
der their control. and in order 10
hedge against such the report sug-
sested further that were the price
Of land in any district raised suffi-
ciently high TO take out the proper
supply of labor. while in some adja-
cent district the land should be sold
al lower price or be granted free,
those who obtained their land at a
lower price, or for nothing. would be
IN condition 10 offer higher wages
10 The emigrant laborers than would
these who had expended a portion of
their capital in contributing To the
cmigrant fund. by paying a higher
price for land. therefore the emigrant
lahorer would be attracted BY the
higher price of labor and the lower
Price OF land and thus the capitalist
who had invested in the emigration
fnnd. with 4 view 10 controlling labor
thereby would be deprived of his ex-
pectcd returns"
That the chief concern was not so
much to make n country of happy
homes but TO get cheap labor is
made clear by the following para
graph
without either slaves or convicts,
capitalists of every description will
obtain. without cost. as many labor
els as they wish TO employ, and en-
gagements which laborers may make
for term of service will be main
tanned. The means of securing all
this is a proper price for land"
As we said at the outset, If our
statesmen could just see so plain a
truth as was clearly discerned by
these South Australian settlers nearly
one hundred years ago and would act
in such way as TO give vent TO their
professed holy desires, they could at
one fell stroke relieve themselves of
the gigantic burden of looking out
for us.
Just give the people the chance TO
work for themselves and the wage
trouble and the hours of labor and
the child labor question and the
charity workers would all be disposed
of and everybody could get busy
working for themselves and adding
10 the great fund of national wealth
instead Of as now a large portion all
the while consuming wealth in their
endeayor TO relieve distress that has
been manufactured by grafters in or
der that said grafters may hold in
their power the right to deny human
beings their God given privilege.
a proper price for land" and the
| trouble is all over.
You can never make me believe
that men do not see these facts. They
do see them, but they imagine that
they are profting by these unholy
conditions and are loathe to give up
But as Henry George said some forty
years ago, THE struggle that will el
ther revivify or conyulse in ruin
has already begun ''-Novus Homo
President Wilson beat Kaiser Bill
TO Paris, after all.-Lowell Courier
! Citizen.