The Dayton forum. [volume] (Dayton, Ohio) 1913-1949, 1939-09-01
Centennial Celebration
Of the Birth Of
Henry George
r. ,h~ Editor of the Forum

Il
tat;on and reconstruction followed.
In those years appeared remark
ahla III ume of American literature
from the pen of an economist, pn'i
osopher and social thinker VINO many
claim (among them John Dewey
ranks with Plato among the Wofia
area4 minds. That volume has been
translated into Almost every IAN
puage in the world. So careful ana
faultless i it's argument that = mas
been used to teach logic 10 aohhs
Hopkins University. The power ana
inherent strength of its thoughtinl,
restrained persuasion have placed !.
one q rlane which has been reached
hv few economic trcatises.
That volume is Progress and
Poverty" by Henry George
In this one Of the most palnstak-
inp studies of the Fundamental pfop-
lcms Of wages and capital, and q
poverty amid plenty. After careful ,
consideration of the laws Of dis'ri-
button. Of labor condemned TO m
i luntarv idlcncss, Of the effect of
industrial progress upon the distrl-
hution Of wealth, George arrives "
tho basic cause Of recurring indus
trial depressions. That Fundamental
cause he believed to be in the specu-
lative advance in land values.
In every progressive community
nop,l alton increases, nd 81
thrives. and improvements succeed
one another All Of these influences
cause and increase IN the value o.
land. Thus an increasing portion 81
production must be paid out IN rent.
Steady increase in land value leads
to speculative activity on the nope
of future increases. In this way
land values 60 to point the paying
for which encroachcs on wages and
interest Payment for land must be
made before production. It Is OIL
ten paid bv the producer to a non
producer, landlord. What III lei
after rent and land charges are paid
may 20 to labor and capital. With
The return to labor and capital thu
.lcplctcd production Begins 10 dc
line in An ever widening 'clicle.
Trent determines the level of wages
III intcrcst). Of course there arc
other immediate causes Of depression
ach rs the growing complexity and
interdependence Of machinery Of
production, defects of currency and
credit, protective tariffs, and bar
RS to interplay Of productive
force, but beneath all factors, ae-
riding to Henry George, lies the
ndamental first speculative ad-
nee in the value Of the primary
source of production, land
Up to the time that Progress
and Poverty" made its appearance
tr e.1 raj decades afterwards
there was a westward flowing from
tier. Land was freely avail able to
immigrants and Fasteners dissats-
fed with factory wages. Each sue
ceeding panic added impetus to the
flow Of Eastern blood to the unset
tied west. During this tima som
the most notorious land frauds q
he early American gamble took
psace. At one time 3O,000,0oo
acres comprising most of the present
states Of Alabama and Mississippi
were sold to four separate land conf
panies for abolt half cent an acre
With the introduction of TIC
corporation and large scale produ
ton, stocks and bonds have becapf'
The favored medium for speculation.
But Henry George shows US how
thev oify obscure. not change, thf
underlying basic factor Of specula-
latiye land values Bankers and
credit men talk Of fixed assets. :
These fixed assets arc primarily real
estate and buildings, rolling stocks,
eipe lines machinery. tools. public
utilities, mines. Whiles pimary IN
cstmcnt today is in corporact Sc
curities. corporations in turn come
rom "thc land" which land reflects
the value Of soeia activity, with un-
armed increment accruing to the
nwner.
Tf The fundamental motoply ltl
and can be broken by society col
lecting The unearned increment u
i. ground rent--the props of
an monopoly will have been loosen
ed Until we remove the possibll-
ity of private individuals collecting
the social values in Land little pro-
rrcss can be made in solving the
riddle nf great wealth a ongslde dire
poverty. So long as unused land
and i.i e men exist III the same area,
the definition Of private property
has been extended beyond the
bounds Of justice, says Henry
George to a modern world. The
whole of what he has to say is more
than fiscal reform. more than an
economic theory it is a great moral
and social ideal which we would dc
wei to understand more fully.
MrLDRER JENSEN,
na,rtnn Qhin on VACATION.