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Show LIVING Warren SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, FRIDAY, JULY 15, VOL. 4 LABOR QUESTION IS LAND QUESTION. As long as the land the only raw material of wealth is the subject of a close monopcompetition oly, the consequent among the workers will always tend to force down wages to starvation point. The labor question is, in short, the land question, and any reform short of the settlement of the land question can accomplish nothing for the THE cut-thro- at workers. Inventions may double, treble or the productivity of multiply a hundred-fol'and as monopoly continlabor, but as long ues the iron law of wages will always force down wages to the minimum on which the workers will consent to live and reproduce his species; the workers will get no higher wages, all the benefits of the improvements in inwill ultimately go to the creased rents. And such must be the result of any improvement in the department of exchange. Of course, the natural effect of such improvements would be to stimulate trade and industry and to raise wages but at present unnatural conditions prevail. The land is monopolized. Now if trade and industry be stimulated, the retailer, the wholesaler and the manufacturer naturally wish to extend their business premises to take advantage of the revival, and th( workers crowd in, anxious to secure higher wages. More shops, warehouses, factories and dwellings are therefore needed, and there is an increased demand for building materials and for goods of every kind. But each shop, each warehouse, each factory and dwelling-hous- e requires a site of land, and all building materials and the raw materials for every industry come out of the land. Therefore, in proportion as trade and industry revive, so does the demand for land increase. 1 hings go on a vimmingly lor a time, but as land values keep mounting up and up, the hand of the land-ageitches for commissions, the nt boomer sets to work, land speculation sets in, grows feverish, runs riot and, at length, the price of land is so fabulously inflated that no man can pay the rent or the purchase price demanded and yet make a living profit. Crash consequently succeeds crash, a crisis sets in, workers by the thousand are thrown out of employment, wages are forced down still lower than they were before the revival, and it is a case of as you were against the problem of work and wages, which yet remains to be solved. On the other hand, granted freedom of access to the land, the workers would be economically independent for no man would work for another for longer hours for lower wages, or under worse conditions than he need work for himself on the land. How, I would ask, could the capitalist sweat, oppress or rob the worker under such conditions? I would also ask how any system of exchange, nO matter how complete or from equitable, would prevent the bare all means but the of worker the robbing of existence? Free the land and you free the people. The Single Tax will do it. Arthur Withy, in Twentieth Century. d land-own- . er land-own- er A few days ago we picked up a little pamphlet entitled The Man Who Owned the Earth, written by A. J. Chittenden. It tills the story of how a man with a shipload of metal buttons became shipwrecked in a storm that blew him onto another planet. The people of the planet had plenty of everything, but no money. They traded and trafficked with each other and all were happy and contented. He, however, introduced the use of his buttons for money, and the plan worked so nicely that he soon induced the inhabitants to mortgage their lands to him for his buttons, agreeing to pay him 5 per cent, interest for their use. He put his business into the hands of a trusted agent and went his way, and returned after twenty years. When he returned he found that the people had returned all his butrons in inter est and, not having any buttons left with which to pay the principal, he found himself the sole owner of the planet and all the people his slaves. It is a great lesson. We wonder why it is that we as a people have been doing, are doing and propose to continue to do just what the inhabitants of this planet did. Cast your eyes about you and see if we are not. Successor to THE 1898. INTER-MOUNTAI- ADVOCATE. N WHAT SOCIALISTS WANT. after a few hours' sickness than linger for Every human being to be well housed, months or years? And for a large proportion f tie race civilization means a long, sickly clothed, fed and educated. life, The adoption of a social and industrial sysThe only redeeming feature we can see in tem that will put an end to profit, interest, our all forms of usury. present stage of development, or retrorent, and Land, water, machinery, all the means of gression is that some men seem to be comproduction and distribution, and ail the avail- mencing to realize the need of a radical able forces of nature, to be odned and oper- social reconstruction. Yet even that has its dark 'shadows because of the intense disaated for the benefit of the whole people. The gradual elimination, and finally the greements of men who should work together aboliticn, of all useless and unproductive toil. against the actually retrogressive armies with Every person of suitable age, and physical which we are surrounded. Monopoly is our and mental ability, must work or starve. He common enemy, if we reformers want to be franl with ourselves. If so, that will not work shall not eat. why qualify that No child labor, except in the form of health- monopoly as proper and improper, natural and unnatural, or any other two words, as manual training. ful, The plain meaning of monopoly Every one to receive the full value of his some.-dois robbery legalized by law, that is, made or her labor. The Coming Nation. respectable, the worst kind oi robbery. Any ' Carlyle once put it this way; There is other 'meaning is ' simply 'trying to hide not a horse in England able and willing to (thoughts under forms of language, No reform shall be injured by acknow-ledgin- g work, but has due food and lodging, and jplthat land monopoly would come to goes about sleek coated, satisfied in heart And you say a like treatment for man is im- an end through taxation on land values up to possible. Brother, I answer, if for you it be the extenLqf making it impossible for any- NO.'. If th number Is on the label conyou had better taining renew your name, as number of the nextmighty Issue. quick, that Isthe s well-direct- THE NAKED TRUTH. O. H. WILMARTH. Teach the people how to LIVE, Ye who knowledge have to give; Nature, wisdom will supply To show her children how to die. Show the people how to WALK, Ye whose tendons never balk; Wings.if needed by and bye, With them cometh skill to fly. Tell the people what you KNOW, Ye who fountains overflow; That which lies beyond your reach. Trust Omnipotence to teach. , impossible, what is to become of you? It is impossible for us to believe it is impossible. The human brain, looking at these sleek English horses, refuses to believe such impossibility for Englishmen. Do you depart quickly, clear the way soon, lest worse befall We for our share do propose, with full view of the enormous difficulty, with total disbe lief in the impossibility, to endeaeor while life is in us to die endeavoring, we and our sons, till we attain it or have all died and ended. We say, shame on any foolish, fainting heart that believes that we have reached the acme of economic perfection. body to h&ijjnd but used in full according to the conditions of each locality and social status. And who has the right to doubt that that would invite co operation in all forms? There would be nothing to prevent its rapid spread through the whole industrial fabric of society. Gvilization itself is nothing but cooperation vitiated by land monopoly, and hence i&falily limited to the few whom we allow teftakh possession of most of our land supply. Sous objectors to Socialism ring in that chestnut about the workers under Socialism supporting the idlers. Please call their attention to the fact that they now support the idlers. Take a man who never works lives by his wits. He eats. Somebody earns his food. He dresses, more or less in fashion according to his success in getting something for nothing. Somebody makes his clothes. For every ouch idler, whether a rich man or a pauper, you, and all of us who toil, have to work harder and pay more for what we buy. Under Socialism it would be better, for all who are now idle because they can get no work would be laborers then, and eventually the class of idle rich would disappear. Are these not benefits enough .of themselves to make us hustle for the good time? Further than this, however under Socialism it would be work or starve; for the. workers alone would recieve the. necessaries, comfort and pleasure of life; heV who idled ;jrould get nothing; as there would be no dtmjcev to. live , by his wits,-- , he wouM. soon baP a worker, Nobbing brings aman to hia senses i so quickly as the kickers. They cant answer it. The Ocala, Fla. -- Now, whk about the money reformer who makes fud ofcall land reform? Is he working for co; operation? He is .working against it, eveniif he does run mean He wants to Here is a nut for the gcldbugs to crack suppress capitalism while ietyidg landlordism that is full of good meat for them. The jjiwijen- - the ifjndivisibe,aa 4 Mar1 New Era says:-- . "Someof the wise meir lied civilization since Abel? Cain murdered us ever the of that the govkeep assuring stamp ernment adds nothing to the value of the The land capitalist, the only possible one, for metal on which it is impressed. Well, we evil. No capitalist can do any special harm Land rent taxers are abolitionists. They are heartily in accord with the statement. but in proportion as his wealth rests on land would abolish all taxation on industry; all But we would like these wise men to explain deeds or on securities, themselves fines and penalties on labor and the products how is the stamp of the government on a being nothing but title on land and improvepiece of silver, which can be bought for 40 ments somewhere, specific or general mort- of labor. They would abolish all licence laws cents, makes it pass everywhere, without gages on the land deeds of the nation, or on which compel a man to pay for the privilege of engaging in a useful business. They would question for a dollar. We can explain it the laboring masses, if you like it best. which is as As for money, what is that but a draft on abolish the infamous poll-tax- , from our point of view, and agree that the mean and wicked the of on part the state as is stamp of the government adds nothing to the wealth? Under monopoly rule money is also value of the metal, but we should like io see a draft on land and land values, the source highway robbery on the part of an individual. these wise financiers explain it from their of all the wealth. It would not be so any Then they would proceed to draw all needful more as soon as taxation on land values had public revenue from the only proper source point of view. destroyed land monopoly. It would then re- provided in nature, namely, the location valEvery thinking man and woman in the main a mere instrument in the exchange of ue of land. Do you see the cat? Pittsburg United States ought to read Henry Georges labor created values, when all money would Kansan. works. We believe that no man can read drop in the hands of the wealth producers. We believe that a man who, through them without feeling after he gets through Why not? Where else could it go with the exorbitant rents, interest and charges, takes that he is a broader, better man than he was land capitalist out of the way? from the food the helpless poor so that they before. The persons who most need to read But suppose you let him remain around, die, is as much guilty of robbery and murthem are the preachers. It will afford them and expect to frighten him out of his wits der as though he had by sheer physical force many pleasant surprises. It will open their with a mere money reform representing, say, taken from them their earnings and delibereyes to fields of broader humanity and cause a 500 per cent, expansion in the money vol- ately shot them down. Can you see where their hearts to feel what has hitherto been ume? The land capitalist shall quietly raise the difference comes in? We cannot. The unfe't by the orthodoxy. Take our advice his land values, land rents and the like, 700 effect is exactly the same. for once and read what Mr. George has said. per cent, a few months before that increase David asks: of money reaches the market. He shall then Lord, who shall abide in who shall dwell in thy holy No flace in the entire public service take that money gold, silver, paper, dog thy tabernacle, affords so many places for worthless, lazy, tails, or whatever it may be. Where else can hill? He that walketh uprightly and worketh bloodsucking barnacles as does the army and it go when that money shall still be a draft righteousness; that doeth no ill to his neighnavy. Hence this disposition upon the part on land and land values, and the land cap bor and putteth not out his money to If there is a preacher in Utah who of that class to have the United States annex italist is still doing business at the old stand? usury will preach a sermon from the above text we everything in sight and out of sight. The Only a few people can see all that as yet. days of small armies for the United States are because humanity is like a man just trying will come and hear him, if he will give us past, that is, until the people rise in their to get up from a bed of darkness ia which notice of it in advance. power and break the chains that now enslave he has had a sixty centuries nightmare, and Congress might just as well have ordered them. Plunder is the mainspring that moves the follow is still covered up with lots of that all the expenses of the war be the entire annexation craze. heavy blankets economic superstitions. It outright borne by the laboring classes, as to have it may take a while for humanity to get up, form of taxing corporations MONOPOLY AND when the Hydra of land monopoly shall be go through the and giving them full power to shift it onto What we call civilization has, so far been strangled and the Co Operative Commoncommon herd. Witness, the tax on the nothing but a brutal struggle for the suprem- wealth shall then step in, according to the telegrams. acy of some individuals over the rest. We regulations that the men of the day may dont really see any special difference be- think best. Jose Gros, in The Twentieth If some of the Populist papers that come to our desk would devote as much space and tween that kind of social development and Century. energy to the discussion of the issues of the the worst conditions of savagism, relatively the W0Uid Profitot ?ke day as they do to the abuse of other H speaking. To merely suppress evil in its MSingleiTa-people would lists who to with happen disagree them, most outward and open form and replace it then have a chance to support themselves. be would some there excuse for Tom the Watsons be hidden can and ones refined papers' Paper. hardly by called more than savagism with a mask to Nothing truer was ever stated in so few existence. make it look tespectable, and thus give it a words. It would not only give the people a j After having tested the power of the longer lease of life. The more we hide evil chance to support themselves, but it would United States, Spain has certainly made up the more difficult it is to dislodge. Then, we at the same time stop the thieves from rob- - her mind that when the Geveland-McKinlecan only hide evil by prolonging its effects, bing them. To our mind, there is no one gang insists that we are too weak to run our and hence the pain and distress it brings. thing on earth that will do this except the financial affairs without the help of England For instance, who would not prefer to die Single Tax. that this same gang are a lot of liars. , . ujust , art'emptJlrfmary J y V , lhCl or, so-call- , ' A - Oi |