6
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT
MAY 14, 1903
5 ;
4
it
Single Tax and Socialism
(Written for Henry George Edition
cf The Independent)
Let me say at once, that. I am not
of those who look upon socialism as
merely one of the vagaries of human
aspiration an Utopian scheme framed
in imagination and finding shelter in
the minds of well meaning, but Il
logical people, whose exalted sym
pathies carry them ' beyond the dic
tates of reason, andjead them to in
dulge fanciful Ideas of a social state
in which the poverty, , wretchedness
and social Injustice of existing society
shall have an end.
There was a time when socialism
was a mere nebulous notion, when
in Its aspiring .weakness it pictured
to itself, lofty ideals, and followed
fancies born within the enchanted
castle3 of the brain. But that day is
past The socialism of today, as for
mulated by Marx and Lassalle, and
advocated by the German school, is
possessed of a scientific character, i-3
based upon generally accepted doc
trines of orthodox political economy,"
and boldly challenges its opponents
to open encounter in the arena of
. scientific discussion.
From a vague ideal that for cen
turies flitted through the minds of
men, tincturing the teachings of the
fathers of the church and the sages"
of philosophy, it has developed into a
theory armed with all the logic of the
'schools. ,
It has been asserted that the single
tax is but a stepping stone to social
ism, that to continue logically in the
path of its principles is to emerge
upon socialistic ground. No douVit to
many persons having but a superficial
knowledge of the scope and character
" of its aims and principles the single
tax may appear to lead in such a di
rection, but in reality there is all the
difference between them that there is
between freedom and , restriction all
the antagonism that there is be
tween opposing forces in nature.
Thi3 may be made clear by briefly
contrasting the principles of the two
doctrines. '
The theory which the great Ger
man socialist, Lassalle, borrowed from
the English economists, and from
which he drew all his deductions, U
that theory which has been termed
the "iron law" of wages, and which
is briefly this: That the tendency of
wages is the minimum necessary to
existence and reproduction ; that how
ever wages may fluctuate, this is the
point to which they inevitably tend.
This has been the accepted theory
of political economists from Turgot
to John Stuart Mill. That such is
true under existing adjustments can
not be successfully denied, for how
ever much wages may rise during an
era of great invention and while we
are wooing the virgin soil of a new
continent, the ultimate and inevitable
tendency is downward. It is this ac-
ceptance of doctrines of orthodox po-"
Jitical economy as taught in the
schools that gives to socialism its
formidable character. It is the re
lentless logic which they apply to
these tenets that wins for the social
istic theory such favor in cultivated
minds. With faultless reasoning they
show how the wage-earners pitted
against each other in fierce competi
tion, bid away a greater and greater
share of what they produce, In ex
change for the mere privilege of pro
ducing; resulling ultimately in the
, acceptance of a wage barely suffic
ient for their subsistence.
Regarding this law of wages to be
as immutable as the laws which gov
ern the physical universe, the social
ists declare that in order to rescue
the wage-earning class from its re
lentless force, all the means and in-
. Etruments of production should be
owned collectively, as being the only
possible way in which labor can se
cure its full earnings, unimpaired by
the profits of the capitalist or the ex
actions of the landlord." There are
-other arguments which the socialists
advance in support of their program,
but they are merely Incidental to the
theory and in no wise form any es
sential part of the basis upon which
their, scheme rests. -
That socialism : finds its great
strength in current economic doctrir.es
Is evidenced by the fact that Leib
kriicht, a socialist leader of great in
tellectual ability, in addressing the so
cialist congress at Halle, took occa
sion to warn that body against coun
tenancing measures that would tend
to divert the movement from its econ
omic basis. So long, he declared, as
they adhered to that basis, they' were
impregnable; but that the hour' they
abandoned it, they were lest
Now, the new political ecoromy
which we single tax men have es
poused denies that this law of wages
is a natural law, or Is Incapable of be
ing altered. On the contrary It teaches
that while this law may hold good
tinder existing conditions, it is, never
theless, the result of artificial adjust
ments upon which it is dependent
If this so-called law of political
economy, from which the deductions
of socialism are drawn, merely ex
presses what, is true under conditions
which, are the consequence of vicious
legal enactments, what becomes of it
when the restrictions which give rise
to these conditions are removed? Ia
It not clear that the whole fabric
must give way?
If it can be shown that the dimin
ishing returns to labor result from
the power which ownership of land
gives, 'of appropriating a gradually
increasing share of what labor pro
duces, it is not evident that under a
condition in which land owners are
deprived of that power, that the "Iron
law" of wage3 will no longer hold
good. ...
When, we make clear that this law
13 true OQly under a condition that
permits ot tne private appropriation
of rent, we shatter the foundation
upon which the. whole structure of so
cialism rests, and when we show how,
by a method both simple and feasible,
economic rent naay.be restored to la
bor, thus giving to it the full unim
paired product of its exertion, the last
vestige of the scientific basis of so
cialism is swept away.
' The' gist of the whole question lies
in meeting this law of wages, and
we claim that the single tax is a
simpler, easier and more natural so
lution of the problem than the social
istic plan; that competition, under
the conditions of real freedom estab
lished by the single tax, would become
a natural and mutually beneficent
form of co-operation.'
Instead of competition being the
demon which has its hand upon the
throat of labor, as the socialists would
have us believe, it is the private ap
propriation cf rent, which, following
in the wake of advancing production,
swallows up all the increase in wealth
which springs from the increase 1
skill and efficiency of -labor, and the
invention of labor saving machinery.
It is true there is competition,
merciless competition among the dis
inherited, but it has no basis In na
ture. It springs from the restrictions
which men have laid upon the boun
ties of nature, from the existence of
social laws that rob humanity of it,
birthright, and send the masses of
men forth into the world disinherited,
and dependent upon the few for the
privilege of toil. '
But, says the socialist, why should
the value of land be singled out for
collective appropriation, and capital,
machinery, the artificial factors o
production, be allowed to remain in
the hands of Individuals? We , an
swer, property in . things which are
the product of labor, and property in
land, rest upon widely different prin
ciples: That sacredness which at
taches to property in the products of
human labor, the fruits of human ex
ertion, has never attached to property
in land. We claim that what a man
produces is ;ustly his' own, that his
right to it springs from his owner
ship of himself. Man is a bundle of
wants and desires, he is also a bundle
of muscles, and nerves, adapted in
their organization to produce the
things necessary to supply those
wants and desires. That which he
draws forth, or produces from the
storehouse of nature, through the in
strumentality of the one, he has a
right to apply to the satisfaction of
the other. His right to It springs
from his right to himself, and it
should be his against all the world.
But no man made the land it is
the free gift of God, or nature, as you
will it was intended for man not
some men, or a few men, but for all
men. It is the reservoir from which
all wealth is drawn. Man himself
springs from it, is nurtured by it,
must live upon it, and without it can
not live at all. The right to land is
as sacred as the "right to existence it
self. It is a common, equal and in
alienable right, and cannot be bar
tered away by princes, or parlia
ments. Not only have all men an equal
right to land, but It is also true that
the value which attaches to land in
civilized communities and which
makes city lots worth thousands of
dollars a front foot, attaches to it by
reason of the growth of the commun
ity. It is a value which reflects the
productiveness of aggregated labor. It
is created by the community, and not
by reason of any effort on the part
of the individual owner, for we see
that it attaches to land, often in th-
highest degree, upon which the owner
has never done anything. The right
of the community to this value rests
upon the same principle as the right
of the individual to what he produces
as having created It
We carry the principle to the sac
redness of private property, in its
true forms, so far as to declare that
what a man produces is his by so
indefeasible a right that no govern
ment even can justly take from him
one jot or tittle of It to defray the
expenses of .the community, so long
as mere is a miue created by tne
community, such as the value of land.
which may be applied to that pur
pose.
This is why, in determining the
right of the community to control the
means of production, we distinguish
between capital or property In th"
products of labor and property in
land, and stand as the advocates of
freedom as against restriction, and
for the sovereignty of the individual
in the sphere of individual action as
against the sovereignty of the state.
J. B. SHARPE.
Pittsburg, Pa.
Why the single tax, why only one
tax? The answer to this becomes
plain as soon as one understands that
we now pay two sets of taxes one to
public treasuries and another and
much larger one to monopolies, the
object of the single tax being to abol
ish the latter. W. 11. T. W.
AN OVER SHADOWING CURSE
(Written for Henry George Edition
of The Independent.)
California, the "Land of Sunshine,
is unfortunately overshadowed with
a curse that militates against the
prosperity that could and would, be
enjoyed by its' population, with a few
exceptions. - '3-
I refer to the curse of landlordism.
Or, in other words, land monopoly.
And by the term land I mean all
varieties of natural resources. Not
only is the soil Itself monopolized, but
the water, the mineral deposits, the
forests, the a!r and the sunshine aro
elements on which greedy' eyes are
fixed, and ruthless combinations ol
capital are used as if God had- de
signed those essentials only for the
strong, and the greedy.
The earthlord3 do not monopolize
sunshine and other natural elements
by holding umbrellas over the heads
of their victims. They do it by
simply monopolizing land.
This means that they can, also con
trol the other essential elements, and
make fortunes by dealing in them as
so much merchandise. -This condition
of affairs has been going on ever since
California became a state, and thJ
blighting effects of such a system are
now visible on every hand. True,
there are many ; families living here
who enjoy all the comforts and many
of the luxuries obtainable in this
progressive age. But there are thou
sands of others who are hard pressed
for even the ordinary necessities of
life. Yet 'they work 'as steadily and
strive as hard for a living as do their
more fortunate fellow citizens. The
wide difference between the condi
tions of the two classes is the result
of permitting one man to grab natural
resources and hold them for specula
tion, while scores of other people
either directly or indirectly pay toll
to the monopolizers.
Our laws, which are supposed to be
made for the good of all the people
alike, uphold . land monopoly In ill
ts varied forms, and all other monop
olies that seriously oppress wealth
producers are buttressed by the mo
nopoly of land.
At every election the intelligent
diot who prides himself on being' an
independent Toter walks up to the
polls and automatically drops in a
ballot to further tighten the chains
of industrial slavery on himself and
his fellow imbeciles. Then, between
voting days, he wonders why it is
that with all his hard work and rigid
economy so little cash comes into iis
pocket and so little sunshine into his
life.
I often feel like, asking the auto
matic voter how it would do for him
to find out what he is really voting
for; but that would necessitate his do
ing a little independent thinking-
which is not in his line.
Land monopoly is not a personal
matter; it is an institutional evil, a
national curse, a far-reaching octopus,
and in order to expel it from a com
munity, 'a county or a state a ' ma
jority of the jvoters legal voters, I
mean there must be concert of ac
tion, coupled " with sufficient moral
courage to do what reason and con
science pronounce right The people
can have such legislation as they de
sire, if they will demand it One of
the worst drawbacks to the better
ment of our social conditions is lack
of moral courage among men who
know that a change is needed. Single
taxers, however, pause not to inquire
whether our principles are popular or
unpopular, here or there. They are
constantly inspired by the principle
outlined by the poet, who wrote these
words:
"He's a slava who dare not speak
For the fallen and the weak;
He's a slave who dare not be
In the right with two or three.1 !
RALPH HOYT.
Los Angeles, CaL
TRUSTS GOING
OUT OF BUSINESS
That is a head-line you don't see
in the news columns of this paper.
The trusts are not breaking up into
the smaller concerns that were
merged into them. The trusts are
the greatest labor-saving invention
yet made, and they will stay till
they can be replaced by something
better. -
There is only one trouble with the
trusts. They enable men to pro
duce more wealth with less waste of
energy than was ever possible before
but they take most of the wealth
away from those who do the work
and give it to those who do the own
ing of stocks and bonds.
Suppose that we who work for a
living should decide to do the own
ing ourselves, and to run the trusts
for the benefit of all.
That would be SOCIALISM.
If yoo want to know about it, send for a
free booklet entitled "What to Read oa
Socialism.' Address
CHARLES H. KERR & COMPANY
56 FIFTH AVE., CHICAGO
HFl M AD'QHist.prccfcms metal
UUL TAI 93; Hist, money $2
Hist. Monetary crimes, 75c; Science
money, $1; Hist. Money in America,"
$1.50; Hist money China, 50c; Hist..'
money Ketherlands,5oc; Cambridge
Press, Box i6a,M. S. New York.
" THE SHORTEST ROAD 1
I TO THE SINGLE TAX " j
a is h oook or 104 pages, containing
J Henry George's great work on tbe
f" Condition of Labor," and other
Information on the Single Tax. i
Everyone should read it. Send
f'lO cents for a copy, to
cuiric Tiv mm rr
508 Schiller Bids. CHICAGO. ILL
Sexology.
There is no subject on which there is
such a lack of knowledge. Persons oth
erwise well informed are lamentably
ignorant on these lines. I make a spec
jalty of books dealing with this subject.
I handle only the very best I will have
nothing to do with trash. Interesting
circulars sent for stamp. Postal cards
not noticed. Address,
A. W. RIDEOUT.
70 St. Paul St. BOSTON. MASS.
CPVPN Chillicothe Normal College
LI1 Chillicothe Commercial College
nnrir Chillicothe Shorthand College
UnCAl Chillicothe Telegraphy College
POI I PGEQ Chillicothe Musical College .
bULLLULO Chillicothe College ol Oratorr
For frA CAtaln rlriraiia Af.f ItK unnuii
Pres't, Chillicothe, Mo. -t
Professor Waite. in charee of th
"true wealth" investigation of census
of 1890, says he found that "really,
tjuiy iarmus farmers., who farm
ana owned less than 6 ner cent of
the nation's wealth, but was tnM hv
Commissioner Porter that the repub
lican party managers said it would
never do to publish this fact, as th
armers were already a little off in
the west that he must increase it -to
20 per cent Refusing to be a party to
this deception. Waite resigned and
another man made the change. Thorn- -as
G. Shearman's iron-clad figures
and other investigations show . that
farmers' now pay at least 68 per cent
of all national,, state and local taxa
tion. As producers and consumers,
without a monopoly the Incidence of
taxation is shifted to their shoulders.
Under the single tax farmers would
pay only in proportion to their, land
values about 5 or 6 Der cent Insf end '
of 68. W. H. T. Wakefield.
As a measure looking to universal
peace I would do away with all tarlX
taxes, I would abolish private owner
ship of land; so that trade, land, and
men, might be free! William Rilefc
Boyd.
G