ANTI-POVERTY SOCIETY.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 387, 24 July 1889, Page 3

ANTI-POVERTY SOCIETY.

Auckland, J uly 20. The Wesley Hall was well filled last evening to hear Rev. Dr. Hooper on the question of a land tax. The Vice-President (Mr Hould), in introducing the lecturer, oxplained that the Society took ibs name from the Anti-Poverty Society of New York, founded about two years ago by Father McGlynn, and that its main object was to spread the teaching of Henry George, as set forth in his work on " Progross and Poverty " — namely, that tho main cause of the prevailing poverty of our day ib to be found in our system of land tenure, and that justice demands that the natural annual value which the land derives from tho moio presence of the people, should be held sacred to' public purposes only. , The Rev. Dr. Hooper refoned in opening to the poverty arising from lunacy, blindness, etc., and intemperance, but said this was a mere fringe of tho ereat mass of poverty, and might be ■ left to private charity and education. He thought it undeniable that there was a crying necessity to remove this great mass of poverty, which was increasing with the advance of material civilisation. The unemployed industrial slave \va's'wol v se off than a savage, who is at least- free. The division 1 of- labour, which has done so much bo increase* wealth, means to him deeper poverty. We were beginning t6 feel the pinch of. evils which accompany modern civilisation in the Old World, and cd'uld,no ■ longer afford to be inactive. No vidlenoo such as at Trafalgar Square has characterised our unemployed, and they only deserve compa&sion and help. Land tax is v remedy lor this crying poverty. Now, all wealth,' all food every man enjoys comes ■ from land, directly or indirectly. This brings oub on apparent paradox which we have to solve. (By '-' land " he meant d vei y $ia( <<?Yd, ojQwrfatnity. ) . Th c i emedy of this evil t must}, jsje. removal, of cause. It is plain th aj^ cause df poverty' is the lack of sufficiency of anything that is neeespary to men's subsistence or enjoyment. There are three methods by which man obtains subsistence — land, wages, or interest. The three are not co-ordinate. Capital rests wholly upon labour, A great mistake is made of ' supposing that capital is its enemy. ' 'Capital is merely stored up labour, and, taken, alone, could easily be starved out. Wages rise with interest and vice, rcr^a. Labour depends upon land, and must do so. A man may have utmost willingness to labour, but if he has not access dhectly or indirectly to land he cannot live. The labourer, also, requires a spot of ground to live and house his family upon, and thus again depends upon land. He who owns. tho land has the key of the position and is able to make his terms With tho labourer and capitalist. Here we see the cause of the poverty, which increases with the increase of aggregate wealth and labour-saving inventions. The speaker showed by an illustration of three men on an island representing land, labour, and capital, how rent a-6s"orb l s all the increased wealth caused by labour-saving inventions. The " single " land tax would do away with the evil and abolish landlordism, making ib impossible for the landlord to take advantage of tenants, ■ and through them of the labourers. It- Will do away with land specuiation, and bow^fydn settleis will take up the land, and' buildings cover the valuable vacant town lotsT • The Reason why "occupiers of land should pay taxes (it being understood thrit revenue is needed for exipenses of government) is simply because tltey occupy that which they never could' make and the Creator provided for all, and ought to pay tor the special prhilege. The value ot land is created by the piesonce of the community, and land occupieis ought to return something to the community. Tho land tax is the only tax which could bo collected without any evil effect. Income and property tax, and Customs duties, were most distinctly checks to productiveness and industry, and gave rise to fraud. This would be impossible with a landtax,as nobody could assess his land for less than it is worth. No bettor remedy for poverty than this of Henry George had yet been propounded — all others were beside tho mark. Co-operation might niin a few capitalists, but the money was with the landlords. Family labour was bad in principle and eflect, and should not bo necessary under 1 proper social arrangement?. The splitting up of large estates would not in the long run abolish poverty. In agriculture as in everything else concenti ation must obtain greatest results, and with increase of population a large number must be' landless. As to Communism, '-it was impracticable. 'An objection m,a<ie to the single tax was that io would burden tho small farmer. ''The reverse "would be tho case. It would relieve^Tiim of all taxes on improvements (property tax) and implements, etc' (Customs), and leave only the bare value of his land to be taxed, which he would hardly feel. Tho bulk of the single tax would come oiit of town land. Ib was also objected by some that the proposed tax would bring in, too little, and by others too mnch-. In the former «ase (though he did not think- i 6 would be necos3ary) the tax might be supplemented till the country \yas rapri populated/ byj some other ta\'.. In the latter the surpliii' 'lftighb 1 be ! devoted to free railways, water or gas. The speaker strongly denoxinced tlio'-Ma'lthneian theory, and concluded an able and interesting address by expressing the opinion that the sooner private ownership in land was abolished che sooner would an earthly millennium be possible. At the conclusion of Dr. Hooper's address questions wero, as.ked by Rev. J. S. Hill, Messrs J. B. Graham, Me Man us, McLaughliri, and otliers, and were ably replied to by the lecturer. Mr Adam Kelly vigorously attacked our present land system, and stated that the people of South Australia had the honour of being the first modern community to adopt and apply the only true and just, method of raising a public revenue.

It is gaid that the Australian cyclists, Burston and Stokes 5 who are touring round tho world, and are now in India, find tho roads rio good that they rode 1,017 milos in eleven days, thus showing an average of over 92 miles per day. When we take into qonsideration the climate ol Hindoostan, this wants a lot of believing — a very con siderable lob. It is^ now certain that there will never, be anything more than an estimate of the. extent- of the calamity at Johnstown. An exact statement will be impossible. Of 20,000 bodies nob more than 600 were recognisable. Fifty thousand people inhabited the district, which has been swept cleaner than can be desctibed. No more debris or wreckage can be found than on untilled ground, and not one brick or foundation stone or piece of timber remains on four square miles. Abundant instances are given of the absolute extinction of entire families. Bullet wounds found on bodies indicated that some had committed suicide in despair or in mortal agony. Tho debris at the bridge is likely to continue to smoulder for Several days. People are now beginning to think that the docbora' advice to let the pilejof wreckage burn was, after all, the bosfc as a prevontafcive of pestilence.