SOME POINTS OX THE LAND QUESTION. 507 

 SOME POIXTS OX TIIE LAXD QUESTION. 



Er OLIVER C. BUNCE. 



IN" a recent number of a religious periodical there occurred the fol- 

 lowing sentence : " There can be no question as to the abstract 

 proposition that land is not a proper subject for private ownership ; 

 that labor alone creates wealth, and labor does not create land." 



It is obvious from the appearance of a statement like this in a pub- 

 lication of high standing that many worthy people are half ready to 

 accept Mr. Henry George's theory of a common ownership in land. 

 They are not ready, perhaps, to sanction his scheme of ruthless con- 

 fiscation, but they are saying to themselves that at bottom his theory 

 is right, and they are wondering whether land can not ultimately be 

 restored to the community, to which, it is said, it rightfully belongs. 

 My purpose, therefore, in reply to the proposition so confidently 

 affirmed by the writer I have quoted, is to make good the following 

 points : 



1. That land, no less than other things, is a proper subject for pri- 

 vate ownership. 



2. That labor alone does not create wealth. 



3. That labor creates the conditions that make land wealth just as 

 much as it creates the conditions that make other things wealth. 



And, in continuance of the subject, I hope to show — 



4. That the greater part of the land is now practically held by the 

 community, for it enjoys in common all that the land produces. 



5. That the confiscation of the rental value of land by means of 

 taxation would in the main be a confiscation of the proceeds of labor. 



6. That unearned increment in land, of which so much is said, is 

 not more hurtful to the community than other forms of unearned in- 

 crement. 



7. That the accomplishment of Mr. George's purpose would be 

 destructive to the best interests of the community. 



It will be said that this is attempting a great deal in the space of 

 one short magazine article, but let us see what can be done. 



Now, it is true that labor does not create land, for land primarily 

 comes from the hand of Nature, but then it is equally true that labor 

 does not create gold, or silver, or coal, or timber, or grain, or wool, or 

 any other of the primary gifts of Nature, commonly accounted in the 

 market as wealth. Labor discovers, transports, cultivates, fashions, 

 blends, makes useful in some way the free gifts of Nature, and they 

 become wealth ; labor also clears the land, drains it, fences it, fertilizes 

 it, plants it, builds roads and bridges that make it accessible, and it be- 

 comes wealth. We find, therefore, at the very beginning of our quest, 

 that land stands just where other kinds of property stand, and be- 



