The Settler's Nightmare.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 383, 10 July 1889, Page 3

The Settler's Nightmare.

(From " The N; Z. Farmer,") Thbbb is no doubb that the property tax wouldsoon.be abolished, with ail the injustice and injury it entails upon our most industrious and enterprising settlers, if only the small farmers were not afrajd of a 1 -land-tax on the unimproved values of their farms. We recently replied to a series of ' questions from a Southern farmer knowing how such a tax wortid work in the 'case 'of • small farmers. In - . those replies :;w© ,en';deavo*ifed to'ppint OjUt^oWi this class would , not be injured, but 'benefited by the substitution of a tax 5 on land' values exclusive of irrifprovements for the present tax upon intelligence, hard work and thritt. ' Since then we have had brouglit under our notice "an extract from Henry George's paper The Standard, which touches upon the equity of the proposed changes in the case of people who have purchased land from the Government. As the extract is both amusing and instructive we reproduce it here for the benefit of readers who fear that a land tax would crush the farmer. THE DREAM. To the Editor of The { 'Standard : Your paper is anything but soporifiq, yet I must c'ontess I fell asleep while reading tne last number. No doubt tho hearty dinner i> hadjuist eaten Bad somethmgto do with my mental condition, and it will bo quite in order for, you to/say ihat the dream which I am about to relate, and whiCh I beg you to interpret, is due to, the same cause. ' We do things in our dreams that We 1 should ne.vcr think of'doing in .our w.aking.mompnts',' and tb,is ,will explain why, as the paper fluttered to the'floor. 1 started wept, bought a. Bract'ofjgovernment land and went to tanning.. I built a cabin lor my family, by hdrcl work cleared'iip a part oi" my land; and, having sold my first crop,, I was thinking about replacing my oxen witu faster ammalb, when a horse dealer happened along and, alter the customary bargaining on my part and much, wrestling with tho truth on llts. I bought a good', strong animal. ' ' Just whan that horse had- established his character and'become the pet and pride, of the family thohorso dealer rdturned- one 'night with a pale face and a frightened manner. Taking me out behind the barn, atid speaking in a trcmuJous wnisper, the man told me that he had stolen tho horse he sold to me. " It's a case of downright conscience with me.' said the penitent horse thief, and as lie said this he hitched hi* belt around, accidentally ot course, but it brought the stock ot a revolver under the moon's rays. "I want to do the square thing," he continued, "so I'll give you b ick your money, and will Stake the horse and return him to his owner." - I soon saw that the horse thief's desire to lead a bettor and a nobler life was so strong that he would not hesitate to use his pistol against any one who attempted to swerve him from the straight and narrow path of rectitude on whicli ' he had just entered ; so I gave up the horse and got back the one hundred and twenty dollars* I had paid for him. The next day I discovered that half the money was counterfeit ;• but as it was in. the reformed thief's power to have paid me the whole in spurious paper, I reasoned that lor a man with such a past, he liad made a very fair start in his new career. The next day 1 had another visitor, a tall, un , gaiifly man, with long leathery jaws,>keen, gray eyes and a tuft of chin whiskers. Ho wore a high woolly hat, -his trousers were alternate stripes, ot red and white, and they were kept from flying above his knees by strong straps. Ho had an old-fashioned blue coat with long spiked, and about the breast and collar there was a galaxy of thirty-eight stars, half of thjoni woQllon and the rest cotton. . ''Let mo introduce myself ,as a kinsman of yours," said the stranger with an air of mingled kindness and authority. " I am your Uncle Sam." I shook hands with the gentleman and was wondering if he had heard ot the counterfeit money, which I had neglected to destroy; when he set my mind at rest as to the object of his visit by saying : , I '• You must give up your title to this farm, my son." " Why so ?" T asked, in surprise. "Because it is no good," ho growled. - ' But, sir, I got it from you and paid for it." "That's all very true, my son ; but since that little deal I have discovered that I had not the power to parcel out to a few what really belongs to all the people ; and then between you and me, my original title ,was smirched." Then sinking his voice to a whisper and bringing his mouth close to my ear he added, "1 stole the land in the first place from the Indians." " Then let the Indians come and claim what is theirs," I said angrily. "Tho fact is, lam ready to be interviewed by Indians— a few at a time." ' ' • i i "Oh, the Indians have been killed off or cooped up ; and then, you know, they've got no votes. 1 guess their title has lapsed; at any rate, ,they wou'l debate that point with, me. But though it's a little latp, I'm now going to do the fair thing. You , m ust surrender your -separate title to, this larni, and pool it with the 'common domain." " But," I asked, angrily, " when did you learn that the title you gave me was not good?" ' " Since I have been studying Henry George's books on the land question. You read them carefully and prayerfully, tny son, 'and you will become not only reconciled to the change, but glad of it." , " And my buildings, improvements and crops?" I groaned. " Oh !" said Uncle Sam, qxiickly, " they are the fruits of your own labour and belong to you. And let me console you by saying that you can continue to reside on this land and to work it as you will, provided you pay the same rental as others may bo willing to pay for the adjoining quarter sections," " So," I said, "another man, without paying one cent, to you, can take his money to improve the leased land, and he is taxed no more than I am ?" " Just so," " Then the money I paid is a, dead loss?" "Oh, no," replied Uncle* Sain, as he stroked his goatee and looked thoughtfully up at the sky. " Your few hundred dollars are enjoying the aristocratic company of a great many millions I have locked up in my vaults at Washington, But read Mr George's books and you will sco clearly that landowners should not be compensated. The ablest men in tho country, are coming to this conclusion." . " But the honest men !" I shouted. t " Honest men ! Come, my son, I have 'a world of patience, and my capacity for long suflering is oceanic in its immensity, but when you reflect against my honesty it stirs my dander like all creation gone mad! .What l am after now is the common good, not the uncertain rights of the individual. There is my much beloved ncphaw, Dr. McGlynn. He gives up a steady job and makes Rome howl on the i land question, for which he receives nqihing. Another nephew, not so well known, is Dr. Pentecost, and he is fast getting the people of New Jersey to believe that it would be better if they owned the state themselves than permit tho railroads to buy and sell it as they please." At this juncture I recalled the substance of a motto I had seen on a banner in a labour procession, and 1 interrupted by shouting out : " An injury to tho least is the concern of all. Take my land, for, like tho horse thief, you have the power, but imitate the thief by returning mo a part at least of the hard earned money I paid you in such good faith!" "Ha! methinks I sniff an incipient rebellion. I am accustomed to stamping out such things." Undo Sain raised his % foot and ho must have kicked me, for- the nextfiristant 1 awoke on the floor. Now, that dream still perplexes me ; for I recall that tens of thousands of honest, hardworking men have invested their savings in a part of tho public domain, believing that authority that gavo thorn their deeds would protect them in their rights. Should the money they paid for their land be retunded to tlipse poor pcQplo— it is' tho fruit'ol their labour — Or do the land reformers hold that ignorance "of a fundamental law is no excuse for its^ violation, and so these people must pay tho. penalty,, just as if they violated any other natural la w»? • Here, to me, is tho heart of tho land question. If the individual can have no vested rights in reality, then in common t honesty the government should rotsurn even th"o capital received as .purchase monoy from the settler. What-do you say? W. G. THE INTERPRETATION. You do not tell your dream as it occurred, nor all of it. It was not a penitent horse thief who camo to you ; it was the lawful owner of the horse, and he did not show you tho stock of a revolver, but a writ of replevin. Nor did he'return the purchase price half in counterfeit money ; ho gave you nothing. Yoirhad bought something to which the seller Md no title, and when tho real owner came you were compelled to yield up the property to 1 him. Thus far there was nothing remarkable in your dream. ' The same thing happens every day, as many a luckless buyer of stolen goods can tell you. In actual experience instances far more unfortunate may do cited.' For example, it you had dreamed you bought a farm, and.jthat in. conse-, quence of some fundamental flaw which y,ou ! had overlooked the title proved defective, and that the farm with all your new improvements

was taken from you>without compensation, and that you were forced to pay over all the profits you had made during your G,Gcupaney, the dream would not have been in the slightosl degree lanciful. Your report of the interview with your Uncle Sam is singularly defective. He did not say you> must give Tip your title to the, farm: he told you ho ,was -going; to; take all taxes off your improvements'- afld^crops and put them on the- Value of <JancFiri ; its ..natural condition. And it was in iKat jcqnn'p'cjitfr* that he told you the improvements we're the fruits of, your own lahour,. . Itist^ue, tha^s you, in the mental confusion to which men ate'subject in dreams exclaimed: " Then the money I paid for this farm is a , dead loss?" t . .. , , ,^-i But your uhclo Sam did, not reply as you report him. Ho asked you how much your .clearing, buildings, fences,' stock and crops were worth, and you replied a thousand dollars. He then asked how much your land was worth, and you told him ft ye hundred dollars, " Well, my dear nephew," said he, •'* wouldn', you rather pay taxes on five hundred dollars the value ot your. land, than on 1,500 dols. the value of all you own 1" This almost woke you up, but your Uncle Sam went on : " Now, for nearly k everything you buy at the store you mxist pay a protoctive tariff price. I intend to abolish the tariff, so you will be freed from that tax, too. Have yoti any objection, my boy?" It was at this point that you mumbled something about other people who get land for nothing having the same advantages, while you were out oi" pocket what you paid for your land. To use your own expression, which is a*3 nearly correct as could bo expected Tinder the circumstances, you said : "So another man, without paying one cent to you, can take his money to improve the leased land and ho is taxed no more than I am." But you blushed, in your dream, when your Uncle Sam told you that, this other .manjmight be your r own son, who, without this Change of policy, would, when he came of age, have to pay a' great deal imore than you did for. a piece of land, or else ,move a long distance away, or bo somebody else's' hired man. ■ ' ' ' The'dre'am might have ended here, had you not tried. the, old man's patience by shouting something to the effect that 'honest men were opposed to tHe plan. '* ■ ' "Honest men!" your Uncle Sam dried. "I have a world of patience, and my capacity for Jtmg suffering; is-pceanic in its immensity ;. but when you talk about the opposition of honest men you make line inrld. .'noirestmetf.-who own millions of i acres which they are holding until the necessities of- the, people- enable them, by selling or renting it, to live on the' labour of others! Honest men, who fence in thousands of buildih'g lots in 'cities and ciowd the poor into squalid tenements, neither building nor letting othei'3 build, merely for their own enrichment at the expense of the thrifty and industrious ! Honest men, who encourage the withdrawal from use of the greater part of the surface of the country, so as to increase the number of the unemployed, and, by making a competition among working men, press wages down to the lowest point ! Honest men, who put a private tariff on coal mines, ore mines, gold and silver deposits and oil wells, and when they want to raise the tariff lock them up! Honest men, who to perpetuate their own plundering, appeal to the avarice of fools like you ! Honest men, indeed ! "Why, you eternal idiot, if these beggars were bribed to stop their piracy, who would have to pay the briba ? You and the rest of the donkeys, wouldn't you ? And if you got baok what you paid me for this -pesky little farm of yours, how much of it ..would you have leljt-after paying the fellows that are trying to tomfool you? ' - • . - v I " Here you've gotonehundred.and sixty acres of ground. There ain't a neighbour within two ,miles of you. When you want to go to the store or the-blacksmith shop you must travel twenty miles. What you" buy you hajve to pay two prices for on account of the tariff tax. Once a year the assessor comes around and taxes you on everything jou've got, ' a»n,d,,t;he harder you work, more you .produce, ' v the higher he taxesyou.' And' all around youris just as good land- as yours, 'which nobddy uses because some dog-in-the-manger: 6wiifl.it. and wants a big price for it. NowM ccwpie around and propose to tax land values instead of other things, so as to bring all this land in use and give you plenty of neighbours, and bring your score and blacksmith shop twenty miles nearer, ..and give you goods for one price, and make the assessor confine Ms taxes to the value of the land you use, regardless of whether you work* hard or not or prod,uce little or much, 'and open up land free for your son when he comes of age and wants a farm, instead of forcing him to work for some one else for a mere living — and you haven't any more gratitude-than to whine about that §200 you paid me, and talk about honesty! Was there ever such a fool ? " Why, you talk about taxing the value of your land ; what do you suppose youriMand is worth, anyhow? Not a single red ! "You say it's worth §600. So it is now, because all this other land is taken up and kept out of use, and people would rather pay $500 for a' "piece "of land like th.s than nothave any land. But when I take taxes oiF other things and put- them on land values the • speculators who htyld this vacant land will drop it like a hot potato,' and a man can got all the land he wants to use, just as good as yours, tor nothing. ''What will your land be worth then? It won't be wotth anything, for there ain't any fools to buy land when they can-get just as good for nothing. I And iiyour land, ain't worth anything you won't pay any taxes" at all when all taxes are put on laud values, will you ? Now, ray dear boy, for I think a good deal of you in spite of your stupid greed, just charge that §200 to profit and loss, and with your wages and capital freed from all taxes, and your land free, too, until population grows so thick around you that it acquires a real value, go to work and make up the loss, which you will do on the first crop; and don't 1 cry if your son does get the same advantages that you have under a good system without losing §200 as you did under a bad system." At this your eyes twinkled, in your dream, for you thought you had your benevolent uncle in a corner when you said : " Uncle Sam, I'll pardon these complimentary remarks oi yours if you will tell me how you expect to raise any taxes if all, taxes are to be put on land values and land is to have no value.'' "Well I never?" said Uncle Sam. "Had ever a man such a jackass for a nephew? I didn't say land was tb have no value. I said your land, away out on the prairie, twenty miles from; anywhere, and nothing much but vacant land between, wouldn't have any value. libw would I expect to raise taxes ? Why. out of" tlic •bloodsuckers who own 1 land- in New York worth from a million dollars an acre down : out of the saviours of society who own twenty and thirty thousand acres of valuable land in tho immediate neighbourhood of New York ; out of tho men that own coal mines in Pennsylvania, iron mines in New Jersey, and city lots and. ianey tarms in all the states. Wouldn't that be enough ? guess so. I wouldn't have any custom house 'po keep up or customs officers to pay ; a grea tart ot the taxing machinery in all the states would be abolished; registers for recording titles would go out of business pretty near ; almshouses wouldn't have any taxes; police forces could bo reduced ; and in a great many other ways my expenses would be cut down, Enough ! Why, I would have enough left over running expenses to k p ep up good schools everywhere, maintain resorts for widows and orphans, hospitals for the sick, public halls, libraries, parks and art gallerips: and what more, I wouLl n't have a million nephews hunting around for a job to keep tho wolf from the door. No one who wanted to work would ; have to beg for a chance." Your Uncle Sam raised his foot to go, and, as you awoke on the floor the next instant, you thought he had kicked you'; but you were misi taken. It was simply the weight -of Uncle Sam's plain-spoken arguments that crushed the foolishness out of you, and made you try to kick yourself. ■ Loo is F. Post.

Taking the World all "over, it is supposed that one pers6n in every thousand is blind. " Promoted to glory "' is how the " War Cvy " speaks, of the deaths of prominent Salvationists. . ( A Japanese giantess, eight feet high, weighing 3001b, and rising 15 years, is being exhibited in China^'upt now. A hundred years ago English speaking Christohdom had ho foreign missions ; now there are 150 organisations, raising a yearly sum of £2,500,000 for foreign missions. An English Episcopal clergyman was licensed as ".perpetual curate "pf- a church an 1810, and- after 70 years .he. is still occupying the position. His title seems to be no misnomer. .One- thirtieth of the. whole population of Iceland emigrated last year, mp.yed, ib is \ said,rby the unpopularity of the Danish Government and the , olandishments of Canadian emigration agents. The cremationists are not succeeding as well as they hoped to do. The people generally are (So intend on earning €heir living that they do not hare time to devote to the question of, urning^thei^ dead. The son of Penpoo hVs arrived at Zanzibar froth Central Africa, arid 'states' that he left a'lai'ge caravan at' Unyambe^to'-'awaib the arrival of To Tibippo. - •.