6
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT
DECEMBER 24, 1903,
The Philosophy of Freedom
An Open Forum for Singlo Taxeri
THE PARAMOUNT QUESTION.
, Editor Independent: I see you put
the money question paramount to all
other questions. I did, too, until I
learned of the single tax. I was a
greenbacker since Seymour ran on a
greenback platform, and am yet a
greenbacker. I have studied the mon
ey question to the point of profundity,
but I know that all Reforms in gov
ernment like all discoveries in the
sciences and inventions of labor-saving
machinery accrues to the landlord
and does not benefit the producer of
wealth. All structures to be durable,
whether material or social, must be
foundationed on the earth. I care
not what social structure you build,
if built in the air, it may be blown
down by the first adverse wind. All
social structures must begin on the
land to be durable and of benefit to
the masses. The land question must
be the first plank in any platform to
succeed. All platforms have been cas
tles in the air and all governments a
failure because not foundationed on
the earth for all.
Money is not so essention as life,
liberty and the equal pursuit of happi
ness, which cannot be without free
access to land.
Money Is not a rear necessity. Com
merce would go on, but not so well,
even without money. Money is more
of a function than a substance. As
Herbert Spencer shows, in order to
understand sociology, one must under
stand biology. Society is a body politic
in more than a metaphorical sense.
Society has every organ and function
'that an animal organism ""has, and I
have searched in vain to find an or
gan or function in an animal organ
Ism corresponding to money. Money
is a convenient counter of wealth and
facilitates the barter of wealth, but it
is not wealth nor is it absolutely
necessary to the production of wealth.
Money is an excresence growing on
the body politic like the mistletoe on
the oak which the Druids worshiped
as we do the greenback. It is like
worms in children till they pass the
age of adolescence. We are in our
transition stage of evolution, through
our worm age or money age, but will
slough It off soon. But land will al
ways be a prime necessity.
Money has been erroneously called
the blood of a nation. Money circu
lates and so does blood but there the
simile ends. Blood is wealth it is
carried by our arteries, our rivers,
lakes, and railroads, and deposited to
build up broken down tissue and de
velop muscle and strength. Money is
not deposited as wealth is.
Money simply represents wealth and
is not wealth. A piece of gold or sil
ver is not wealth while it is used as
money. If the wealth in a gold piece
was utilized for a ring or a watch
case it would cease to be money. The
two values, the real and representa
tive, do not co-exist in a piece of gold.
One or the other is in abeyance or an
nihilated. While a piece of gold is
money it has no value. Then how
foolishly wasteful it is to make money
of so valuable a commodity as gold
or sliver. A twenty dollar gold coin
cost twenty dollars in labor fifty
years ago, and the interest on tbe la
lior at 5 per cent amounts to fifty dol
lars, which added to its original cost
makes seventy dollars a twenty dollar
gold coin has cost the people wnen a
piece of paper would have performed
the function of exchanging wealth as
well.
Men speak of money as a measure or
standard of value as though there
could " a standard or measure of
val; allies vary, like any other
emotion. Value depends on desire,
aud desires vary with people which
makes commerce. Thero can be no
more a standard or measure of value
than there can of love, hate, beauty or
any other emotion.
A man wna tossing an onion In his
hand plaj fully In Bawson and a by
stander naked him what he would take
for It. He answered that he would
not sell It he brought it from his
mother' garden, "I will give, you Ave
dollar In gold for It," said the would
m purchaser. "No, 1 will not soil
It ald the owner. The blunder
carnally remarked that he would nut
Rive o imnh for It, but he had a uk
friend who longed for an onion. "Ta' o
it and give It to your Uk friend,"
paid the owner, and would take no
ritCney fur It. Now, whhh w.m the
fttar-dnrd of value, the onion, the roJI
lr the iiiplthy for the nick?
So loni a we hive money, the rov
eminent tdiould Untie It nil to time It
uniform, atd tal e It out of corpora
Hon Hutehm, Hit let u nettle the
land o.uetlon and the money question
will settle itself. Most business is
done without money anyhow, but no
business is done but on land.
A good platform would be: One tax
(on land values), one money (of pa
per) , one brotherhood of the race; free
land, free tra.de and free men. Any
party taking the above for a platform
could win. There would be a clear
cut difference in principle between it
and all other parties. There has not
been a difference, but a mere distinc
tion, in per cent of perfidy between
the two old 'parties. Both want gold
and silver, both want a tariff, both
want war when it s'uits them, both pay
pensions to soldiers to encourage
butchery,' and there has been no dif
ference on principle between them.
With a president nominated on
a S. T. platform, men can enter the
campaign with enthusiasm and dem
onstrate every plank in the platform.
The people can see It, and the people
are honest and want a change. The
platform would simplify government
and eliminate many laws and officers.
We are too much governed. "That
people least governed is best gov
erned," said Jefferson. And Spencer
said: "The freest form of govern
ment la only the least objectionable
form." The great aim of the people
should be to abolish government as
far as possible instead of complicat
ing It with more laws. Simply abol
ish taxes, abolish tariffs, abolish wars,
standing armies and navies, abolish
pensions and chaplains encourage
peace, homes, and the production of
wealth. Abolish poverty by giving all
equal access to land upon which all
can make wealth. Repudiate our na
tional debt. I did not make it and
my name was forged to the bonds.
J. C. BAxvWES.
Hindsboro, 111.
(Where several things are vital nec
essities, it Is quite a matter of taste
which shall be regarded as THE nec
essity. Men are just as necessary as
land; sunlight is just as necessary;
fire is necessary; SOME government
is necessary and some revenues are
necessary. '
Now, the fact is, until we make a
radical change in our revenue laws,
which include the coining of money,
the single tax as many single taxers
present it is lame. Dr. Barnes be
lieves that to abolish all taking of
revenues except economic rent, would
settle the money question. Would it?
If so, how?
How would the economic rent be
paid? Could the government use, and
would it accept, a piece of land or a
piece of land value as revenue? Dr.
Barnes' own definition of value shows
how ridiculous such a thougnt is.
"Emotions" do not pay officers sal
aries. Then how would the ret be
paid? Under our present system the
rent-payer would be obliged to seek
the owner of a disk of gold, duly
stamped by the government, and sac
rifice some portion of the products of
his labor applied to the land in ex
change for the disk; and then present
the disk to the tax collector. How
would the abolition of customs duties
render it unnecessary to make terms
with the gold gambler?
If each occupier of a piece of land
could- pay his economic rent with a
portion of the things he produces for
sale, then Dr. Barnes' contention
would be correct; but to make that
possible the money question would
have to be settled that way. It makes
little difference upon what taxes are
levied; so long as the taxes tnem
selves must be paid In a particular
thing, which no one can produce for
himself, yet Is made as a gift to the
owner of gold bullion, just so long
will the money question be the most
important subdivision of the ques
tion of taxation.
Dr. Barnes makes no distinction be
tween "money" and "coin" or coined
money. "Money," the system of ac-
ovntlng, Is almost Indlspenslble to ex
changebut "coin" I not. Yet
"coin." an the system has evolved. Is
nn absolute- necessity In paving taxes
and cancelling court judgments,
"Coin" may not be blood. Suppose we
liken It to Rail, It ha Ha place In
the human economy and there li no
substitute for it. It I not blood-but
the bkHd need It Associate Kdltor.)
Trad Balances
HdUor Independent: I commend to
your nolle an article of mine entitled
What Become of Our Trade Bal
ance?" In the July-September Issue
of the Bewaneo Uevlew (published by
th t'nlverslty of the South). It U an
rnUrpement of a previous article In
the (New York) lUnkm Magailne,
July, H72.
The article aims to solve one of the
most important financial and economic
problems of the day; namely, why it is
that instead of getting any cash from
abroad in payment for our great ex
ports of merchandise, we have t,o bor
row immense sums from foreign bank
ers to avert panics in the stock and
money markets. (The New York Even
Post, October 11, 1902, estimates these
foreign borrowings at the enormous
sum of $500,000,000.)
In support of my views of this mat
ter I have cited the reports of foreign
dealings in our stocks on the New
York stock exchange for the years
1893, and 1898 to 1902, which have nev
er before been given to the public.
The reports for 1893 will certainly
surprise those who remember that for
the past ten years it has been claimed
that the panic of that year was
caused by the return of stocks by for
eign investors who had become alarm
ed over our silver policy. In his ar
ticle on this subject in the Yale Re
view, November, 1900, Mr. N. T. Ba
con says: "The heaviest losses of
English investors were made in the
panic of 1893, which was immensely
aggravated by their dumping all man
ner of securities on the New York
slock exchange for anything they
would bring.",
Mr. Bacon is considered the highest
authority on this subject and his la
ter article in the New York Times,
January 15, 1902, has been quoted ap
provingly by leading Wall street press
agents. But the above statement
proves that he knows very little about
the matter. The reports show that in
1893 the purchases of stocks for for
eign account on the stock exchange
exceeded the sales in eleven months
out of the twelve. The net excess of
purchases for the whole year amount
ed to over 800,000 shares.
I trust that you may find the ar
ticle sufficiently Interesting to repay
perusal. W. H. ALLEN.
348 Reid ave., Brooklyn, N. Y.
Buy a
FARM
That Will Pav
you 50 to 80 per cent annually. Rented
will pay you from 20 to 30 per cent an
nually. A sure crop every year, and the
brightest prospect of doubling your
investment in two years or less. These
farms are located In the Box Elder
valley, northern Colorado.
There are six million dollars in
vested in sugar beet factories in this
valley. Farms are paying enormous
ly, as they have a sure crop and a big
one every year, ample water supply,
14 reservoirs, and more than enough.
We are selling farms in this valley at
$50 and $60 per acre, and several have
been rented during the past year at
$10 per acre cash rent, paying 20 per
cent on the investment. Four miles
down the valley from where these
farms are located farms are selling at
$150 to $200 per acre. Twenty miles
further south in the valley, farms are
selling at from $200 to $250 per acre,
paying on this valuation annually 20
per cent. Land that we are offering
is equally as valuable when fully de
veloped and improved as the farms
that are selling at $250 per acre.
The crops this year will run about
as follows:
Alfalfa, 6 to 8 tons per acre.
Wheat. 45 to C5 bushels per acre.
Sugar beets, 20 to 30 tons per acre.
Oats, 50 to 110 bushels per acre.
Barley, 65 to ISO bushels per acre.
We have yet about 4,000 acres of
this land to sell with perpetual water
right and are of the opinion that any
one purchasing a farm In this valley
will double his money w ithin one year.
Wo will certainly have all this land
sold soon.
The man who has a good farm In
an Irrigated country, and a good irri
gation right, knows Its value. He
never sella out and goes back to the
farm In the east where too much rain
or too protracted drouths distress and
disappoint. In any line of bnslnehsf,
certainty is the element most desired.
Farming under Irrigation la the neat
est approach to a sure thfe
covered. Some question of chance en
ter into almost every business cal
culation excepting Into the eonibina
tlon of pood noil, and Rood water,
(liven these two, and a man's note Is
p.vld, his credit li established and hi
bank account U assured. Irrigation Is
simply putting enough water on the
growing crop, at ex4tly th time
tnont necessary; not too much anj nut
too little. That la rrlitloi,riOihing
more and nothing less. Then, Um, th
J lilt In the water fertilize the s.ll
and r'.ewi It from yenr to year with
out either labor or expense. This nat
ural fertilization, and the exact
amount of moisture at the exact time
brings the greatest yield of all crops,
doubling and sometimes quadrupling
the returns over farming in the east
ern states. -
Wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, sugar
beets, alfalfa, fruit, all vie with each,
other in quantity and quality. The re
sult is, farming by irrigation is ideal,
and peace and plenty abound.
In comparing irrigation farming
with rainfall farming, the Wyoming
Experiment Station Bulletin on irri
gation says:
"The increase from Irrigation is
sometimes four-fold and seldom hss
than double. It is estimated that if
only one acre in four could be re
claimed it would still bring the prod
uct of the arid region of the United
States up to the product of the bal
ance of the country."
The clippings furnished by us speak
for themselves, for they are the story
of the contented and prosperous farm
ers of northern Colorado, whose lines
have fallen in pleasant places and
among whom discontent is unknown,
and poverty never met with. It is
probable that nowhere on earth are
there as many prosperous farmers as
in that section ofhich Fort Collins
is the center. '
The building of the new ditches
and the cultivation of the new lauds
in this vicinity, together with the
erection of the great sugar factory at
Fort Collins, open up new opportuni
ties and provide a place for new farm
ers, who have only to see and investi
gate to appreciate the wonderful priv
ilege extended to them.
Which is the better investment:
buy Nebraska land at $50 an acre and
rent it at $3 an acre or buy Colorado
land at $50 and rent it at $10 the Ne
braska, farmers gets 6 per cent and
the Colorado man gets 20 per cent on
his investment.
EXCURSIONS EVERY WEEK. ;
For excursion rates and further in
formation apply to
Woods
IIIVEStMENT COMPANY
Office, Lincoln Hotel.
Lincoln, Nebrask
Property to Trade
No. 662. Ranch with 155 head of cat
tle, worth , $9,000, to tradei for good
farm.JNo. 714. $4,500 equity in ranch
to trade for farm. No. 659. Ranch
worth $2,000 and 25 head of cattle
to trade for a farm.No. C65. Ranch
worth $4,000 to trade for farm land
or income property. rNo. 699. Ranch
worth $10,000, rented for $1,000 per
year cash rent, to trade for farm land
or good income property. No. 696.
Choice stock farm worth $8,800 to
trade for good farm land. No. 720.
400-acre stock farm, improvements
worth $4,500, irrigated land, first-class
in every particular, worth $12,000;
will trade for grain farm in eastern
Nebraska. No. 608. Ranch worth
$3,500 and 80 head of cattle to trade
for farm land. t No. 611. 320-acre stock
farm worth $8,000, to trade for farm
land. No. A42. 640-acre stock farm
worth $25 per acre to trade for well
improved grain farm. No. A15.
Ranch worth $12,540 to trade for any
good income property. No. 6721&.
1,440-acre ranch and 100 head of cat
tle, 12 head of horses, etc., worth
$14,500, to trade for good clear land.,
No. A45. $2,000 hotel to trade 'for laud.
, $6,000 equity In hotel worth $12.'"
to trade for land.vNo. 650, $1,500 law
library and some cash to trade for
good farm land., No. 787. 3-story
brick block, rented so that it pays 5
per cent on $60,000 above all expenses,
mortgaged for $2.000, will trade
equity for land. No. AR3. Beautiful
5-acre tract near College View, good
buildings, etc., worth $2,500, to tr '
for lamUNo. A81. $3,500 Lincoln
residence to trade for a farm., No.
r.,i $2,000 residenco In Valparaiso,
Neb., to trade on a good farm. No.
AC9. $9.8.10 equity In farm In Merrick
county to trade for stock of meichan
dlse.No. fif7, $,ooo stock of marble
and building worth t2,f0 to trade for
good land. No. 57!. A splendid build
ing and stock of general merchandise
worth l.noo to trade for land or city
property.. No. MS. Building and
stock of hardware to trade fur l.nd
and Rome money worth No,
All Spier did two-iit or y brick block
and ttix k of renrrnl merchandise fof
traie for farm hnd. ,N'o. ATS. Stok
of dothlng and dry good worth 2".
ixl and bulldlnr worth $l2.Vo to
trndrt for pood furni land. Hundred
of other properties fur exchange; If
oi fciv anrihlnx to trad wrle; we
can find whftt joi want. Weber A
Iirrls, Lincoln, Nb.