vin NATURAL AND POLITICAL IlKiHTS 'M>\ 



The laws of nature are the decrees of the Creator. There is 

 written in them no recognition of any right save that of labour ; 

 and in them is written broadly and clearly the equal right of 

 all men to the use and enjoyment of Nature : to apply to her by 

 their exertions and to receive and possess her reward. Hence, 

 as Nature gives only to labour, the exertion of labour in pro- 

 duction is the only title to exclusive possession. (" Progress and 

 Poverty," 1889, p. 237.) 



II. There is no foundation for any rightful 

 title to ownership except this : That a man has 

 a right to himself; to the use of his own powers ; 

 to the enjoyment of the fruit of his own 

 exertions (p. 236) ; therefore, to whatsoever he 

 makes or produces. 



III. The right to that which is produced 

 is " vested " in the producer by natural law 

 (p. 236). It is also a " fundamental law of Nature 

 that her enjoyment by man shall be consequent 

 upon his exertion " (p. 241). 



IV. Land is a gratuitous offering of Nature, not 

 a thing produced by labour (p. 238) ; all men 

 therefore have equal rights to it (p. 239). These 

 rights are inalienable, as existing men cannot 

 contract away the rights of their successors 

 (p. 240). Every infant who comes into the world 

 has as good a right to landed estates as their 

 present possessors, by whom he is, in fact, robbed 

 of his share (p. 240). 



This, I believe, is a complete, if a succinct, 

 statement of Mr. George's case. And I, for one, 

 am quite prepared to admit that, if it can be 



