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On True Political Economy
(The Whole-Hog Book)
John Wilson Bengough
1908
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Notes and Links
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CHAPTER XXV:
TRUE FREE TRADE
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| There is no land on earth, where, as yet, true Free
Trade has been tried, for, to make Trade free in a real
sense we must make land free. That is to say, the right
of each man to live on the earth as a son of God, with
no fee to pay to any man for that right, must be set
down in the law. God made the earth for all, and all
must be able to use it. But how is the law to fix it
that this may be done? |
free land, equality, equal
opportunity, land as
God's provisioning for all |
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There are some Ways in which it can not be
done.
1. The land can not be cut up so as to
give each man his due share. Such a plan is not to be
thought of.
2. The land can not be held by all in such a
sense that no man has the right to the sole use of
any part of it.
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property
rights, land
redistribution |
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We must find a plan which is in line with these
two truths:
1. That all men have the same right to
life and to the means of life.
2. That each man has a right to own the whole of
what he makes by his toil and thrift.
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created
equal, oneself, rights, right to life,
he who
produces, property
rights |
| These two truths go hand in hand. For if we are to
leave to each man the whole of what he earns, we must
keep those things which God has made, for all. We must
set it down in the law that no man may own and get rent
for the light of the sun or for rain, or for land; else
he will get what he does not earn. But if we so fix it
that each man gets all the fruit of his toil, and may
own nought else, then no one can own what is not the
fruit of his toil. |
land as
God's provisioning for the community, ownership, land
different from capital, land includes,
unearned
increment, theft, fruits, |
It is not hard to see how the law could fix this.
It is no more than is done day by day. Four or five men
own a ship. How do they act? They share up what the
ship earns by trade. In the same way they may own a
horse or any means of gain.
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| So with the earth. Who owns it? All who live on it.
How are they to deal with it so that each may get his
share of its worth? Let all who hold any part of it pay
a fair rent for that part; and let all parts not thus
held and paid for be free to those who wish to take
them up and pay the rent. Let this rent be paid to the
State till, to be spent for the good of all in each
land. Thus all will get a due share — and all
will stand on the one base as the free sons of God. And
the till of the State will be full though there is no
tax on goods. |
rent, sharing rent,
created
equal, equal
opportunity, natural
opportunities, public
spending, (not) paying twice,
(not) God's eldest
sons, |
| Ah! you say, that would have been the right plan if
it had been set up at first, but it is too late now. It
would cause a great row to change at this late day; it
might bring on a war! But bear in mind that no one asks
that it be done all at once. We need but to take the
tax off the fruits of toil step by step — off
food, barns, stores, and the whole list of wealth on
which we now pay — and make up for what we thus
take off by more and more of a tax on land rent. When
in this way we have at last got the whole of the rent,
the thing is done. Of course this will be grim death to
those who live on land rent, but what are they but
drones in the hive? Each man who works with brains, or
hand, or funds, will gain, for he will then keep all he
makes. If such a man owns land, of course he can not
then let it out for rent, nor sell it at a "rise in
price" — that source of gain will be done for
— but he will gain more as a bee than he
will lose as a flea. |
compensation,
transition, |
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This plan:
1. Would be a great spur to trade,
since it would throw down the bars that now keep toil
from the source of all wealth; and give new vim to
trade, as there would be no tax put on any thing that
was built or made or grown.
2. Would give a source of funds for the State that
would at all times be sure, and this while it left
the whole of the wealth in the hands of those who
made it.
3. Would put an end once and for all to
the ground hog — the Great Thief that now takes
"all that is left."
4. Would pave the way for those steps
on the path of right which all good men long to take.
With true Free Trade in vogue, each new man would
mean new wealth, and a gain to all, and we might then
say with truth "there is room and a fair chance for
all."
5. Would rob the drink curse of the sway it now
has, and put an end to many of the ills we now
mourn over.
6. Would be just, for it would give to each man
what was his own of right; and to the State the
funds which spring up on land by mere force of the
growth of the crowd, and costs no man the sweat of
his brow.
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incentives, trade, public
spending, theft, prosperity, equality, equal
opportunity, natural
opportunities, desperado, panacea, the remedy, justice, population
growth, fruits |
| True Free Trade means in fact that there shall be
no such thing as a tax at all. It means that the walls
shall all come down, and that there shall be no charge
of any kind on trade in or out of the State, but the
one charge, a fair rate for the use of the bare land,
and it is wrong to call this a tax. When a man earns
any thing it is his of right, but to have the
sole use of any one piece of the world which God made
for all is no man's right. It is a grant, as it were,
from all the rest, who waive their own claims, each one
of which is as good as his. It is not a right
but a grant, an act of grace on the part of all, and
that he should pay what it is worth is no more than
fair. It is a chance for the man, and when there is no
tax at all on what he makes by the use of the chance,
be his gain great or small; the fee he pays is not a
tax. Yet as we must have a name for it we may as well
let the word stand. |
single
tax, necessity
of collecting rent, user fee |
| In the term Trade there are two clear parts. When
goods are bought and sold, brought in or sent out of a
land, that is but one half of it, though it is thought
of as if it were the whole. Ere goods can be bought or
sold, they must first be made, and no odds what their
form may be they are got out of the ground first of
all, and then put in shape by the skill of men's hands.
This, too, is a part of trade; it is in fact the base
of trade. If, then, we are to have Free Trade
we must have free land — it must not be held in
the clutch of those who will take toll for its use.
Free Trade means that there shall be free scope to make
things as well as free scope to buy and sell
them. |
natural
resources, work, natural
opportunities, free land, free lunch,
windfall,
surplus |
| A State can not go on if it has not funds,
but much hangs on the plan by which funds are got. It
is the food the State lives on, and just as in the case
of a man, wrong food is sure to bring forth
ills. We have shown that to get funds by means
of a tax on goods must be to rob those who work of a
part of what they earn. This is not just. It is wrong,
and we see the fruits of it on all hands. |
theft,
revenue
not primary, |
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There are two forms of tax which would be just and
fair:
1. If it were worth while to do so, a
tax might be put on "style." If rich folks see fit to
have coats of arms and such things just to show their
wealth, they might be made to show it as well in the
form of a tax to be paid each year on their
"frills."
2. A tax (so to call it) on land rent.
This is not the same as a tax on land. It is on what
the land as bare land is worth in each case, and of
course it does not touch what may have been built on
said land, or done to it in the way of drains,
etc.
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tax
justice, rent,
land value
taxation, |
| This tax would make a free way to the land for
Toil, and as it would kill off the drones who now get a
share of the wealth it would tend to a fair spread of
wealth in the world. With true Free Trade, each new
step in the arts would lift the whole race as it ought
to do, but as it now fails to do. |
wealth
concentration, unearned
increment, civilization,
technological
progress, abolishing
poverty |
| True Free Trade would set free the wage slaves of
our day. |
wage
slavery |
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CHAPTER
XXVI: THE LION IN THE WAY
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| The way to True Free Trade is clear, but there is a
lion in it. At this dread beast men who see the path
and know it is the right one to take, shake in their
boots. To set the land free, as well as trade in goods,
would be to stop the game of those who live on rent,
and as this means of wealth to those who toil not has
gone on a long time, it has in some way got to seem a
"right," and men shrink from the thought that it must
be put an end to. Of course it is not a "right," but,
as we have shown, a "wrong," and it must be brought to
an end if men are to be made free in any true sense.
Then, it is not only those who live on rent, but a
great host of those, too, who; though they earn their
bread by work of some kind, yet hold land and hope to
make gain in this way as well, who take a firm stand
for things as they are. These, for the most part, do
not know that to all who work the tax on land rent
would be a great gain, which would more than make up
for what they would lose in rent. But the drones, who
sit on the back of Toil and live on the toll they get
for the use of God's earth, would be slain by such a
tax. That, in short, is just what it is for. The lion
must go so that the race may move on; or the race must
sit down and give up hope. |
unearned
increment, property
rights, privilege, special
interest, created equal,
theft, speculation,
speculator,
underused
land, wealth
from land appreciation, dog in the
manger, three hats, civilization,
conservatism,
I was there
first!, foresight, free lunch,
windfall,
surplus |
| The "rights" of the lion will not bear the light of
day. As has been well shown by one whose name is high
in the halls of fame, the first deeds were drawn with
blood, and not with ink, with sword and not with pen.
That is to say, those who held the land in the first
place took it by force -- stole it. You can base no
sound right on theft. But even if the land had at first
been bought from the whole race, the case now would be
just as bad, for had the race in that far off day a
right to sell our claim to the use of the earth in our
day? The law holds, as it has done from the first, that
the Crown owns the land and that those who are said to
own it do but hold it at the will of the Crown —
that is, of ALL. But in the mean while there is no
doubt it is fear of the lion in the way that makes
those who would fain be the friends of man sing so
small when they talk of Free Trade. They do not dare to
speak out for the real thing — Free Land, Free
Trade, Free Men! |
theft,
privatization,
enclosure,
commons,
intergenerational
equity, free lunch,
windfall,
surplus |
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CHAPTER
XXVII: CHOKE OFF THE BIG THIEF FIRST
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| A great host of ills may spring from one cause, and
a cure for all of them may lie in one and the same
thing, but it takes some thought to see and grasp this.
Men are prone to the idea that each phase of ill in the
world of trade needs its own cure, or that there can be
no cure but to make the heart of each man right; or for
the State to take care of all. |
the
remedy, panacea, fences and small
bandages |
| Hence at this day we have a score of "cures" held
out, and men who no doubt have the good of the race at
heart are at odds as to the thing that ought to be
done. But there can be no doubt of one thing — if
a man is set on by a lot of thieves and there is one of
them who "takes all that is left," his right course is
first of all to down that thief. When this is done he
will at least have some of his goods safe, and can then
get strength to fight off the rest. That is to say,
first set the land free, and take the tax off what a
man earns, and he will have the means to stop the small
drains he now has on his purse. But of what use can it
be, to put an end to the small thefts if you leave that
big thief who will then but get the more? |
theft,
land, untaxing wages,
fences
and small bandages, free lunch,
windfall,
surplus |
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Up to this time the Trade Union is the one and
only shield Toil has had, and this has on the whole
been but of small use; while the great mass have not
even had this aid. To get their full rights by such
means is as hard as for a man in a crowd to get room,
and by sheer strength to push back those who press in
on him. The whole base of life is wrong, and it must
be made right; it is built on the lie that God made
the earth for a few to own and rent out to the race
at large, when the truth is that the earth was made
for all, and that hence the rent of land must be for
all.
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trade
unions, God's eldest
sons, created equal,
natural
opportunities, |
| Some say the sure cure is for the State to do all
things, to run all the shops and find work for all who
can work. This calls for wise and good men, men who are
all but gods, at the head of the State, and how are we
to be sure to get them? Such a plan would not do till
all men were made good. But there is no need of such a
plan. There are some things the State can do and should
do — Take charge of those lines of trade which in
any case must have the aid of the State or of the town,
such as railways, trams, gas, phones and so forth. But
all lines in which a man could start on his own hook,
which do not need to wield the powers of the Crown,
should be left for the free will of each man. The true
rule is — to each man what is his — to the
State what is the State's. So long as man may own land
on the terms that are now in vogue, so long will it
seem that the two forms of Toil (Labor and Capital) are
foes. They are not, but the true foe of both is the
land lord as such. It is due to the same cause
— that some men now own the earth — that
there seems to be a great wrong in competition. We can
have, in fact, no such thing as true competition where
land is held in the way it now is, for one part of the
race is tied up, as we may say, and has no
chance. We could not live if we had no air, or
if all the air should press on but one side of us, for
then it would pin us down and kill us. As it is, we are
free so far as air goes, we can breathe all we want of
it, and it is all round us so that we do not feel its
weight at all. In the same way, give men a free path to
the land so that, if need be, they can in any case work
and live, and not have to beg the right, and
competition would be fair, and would prove a good thing
for all, since each would get his full due. |
is
this socialism?, command and
control, government's
role, labor,
capital,
land, landlord, competition,
air |
| There are men in this day who are so rich that
their names are known all through the world. They did
not, of course, earn their great wealth; not one of
them could have done so. In each case it is toll, due
to laws not of God but of men. Some take toll on goods
through the High Tax, but for the most part the toll is
land rent in some form. Give us the tax on land rent
and True Free Trade, and we will see the last of this
gross wrong of some who grow rich in sloth and the
great mass who starve for want of a chance to
work. |
wealth
concentration, theft, monopoly,
privilege,
special
interests, free lunch,
windfall,
surplus |
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CHAPTER
XXVIII: WHAT WILL YOU DO?
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| The cause of True Free Trade is the cause of the
Rights of Man, and as such, where once it is known it
goes to the heart, and calls forth all that is best and
most God-like in us. To pack it all into a few words
— we must make the earth as free to all
as air and light and the warmth of the sun are now
free. We may be sure that had Greed and Grasp
been able to build walls round the air or the light
these would at this day have been held for rent, and
the law would back up the "rights" of those who thus
held them. And we would find those who sought to get
true free trade in air and light, as well as in goods,
would have to bear the name of "cranks." Well, though
air and light are now free, land is not, and we need it
just as much if we are to live. The time has come for
the fight. Let us draw our swords and press on. The
cause is one we may be proud to fight in, and if need
be to die for. What, then, shall we do? Take the first
step first. Break down the High Tax wall. Seek to have
the tax on goods cut off. Seek to get a law that will
give the folks of a town or State the right to tax what
they think should bear a tax, and to set free what they
think should be free. And while at work in all these
ways and in all ways that are on the straight and true
path, let each man spread the light with tongue and pen
as best he may. Let each take a part in the Free Trade
fight which is now on, for this is on the right line,
poor as the end it aims at is. Yet it gives a chance to
throw light on True Free Trade, and on the path the
Bull must tread to get the twist out of the rope that
now holds his nose to the post. He must go step by step
in the track which leads to the great truth that man
may not own land rent, since he may not own men. |
property
rights, equality, created equal,
slavery,
ownership |
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CHAPTER XXIX: TO SUM UP
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| We set out to make a search for the truth as to
which of the two plans was best for "those who have to
work" — the High Tax, or what they call Free
Trade. We have found that the High Tax plan has no help
at all in it for this class, and can but harm them. It
is, in short, a scheme by which the few may by law tax
the many. We have found that Free Trade as they have it
in John Bull's land, though a step in the right line,
does not prove to be the boon it was meant to be. And
the cause of this we have seen in the fact that though
trade is free (that is, there is no tax on most goods
brought in) land is not free. The source of wealth is
shut off, or held for rent or toll. We have found that
land rent is the one thing that goes up, with each step
the world takes, that all that art and skill have done
to make toil light and wealth great, counts for next to
nought for the mass of men; they get no such share of
the loaf as they have a right to. Those who hold the
land have a right by law to take "all that is left," so
that no plan or scheme can ease the lot of the wage
slave while that state of things lasts. If it should
rain food and clothes and all the forms of wealth we
need from the sky, it would not help the man who has no
claim to the land on which they would fall. The end of
our search, then, has brought us to this clear truth
— the plan that will aid one and all and be fair
and just is True Free Trade, in which the land will be
set free as well as the things which are made from the
land — in which men will be free to work as well
as to trade. It is in the path of this True Free Trade
that the wage slave must go to loose the rope that now
binds him to the post. The work first to our hand is to
get the tax off goods bit by bit, and with each step in
this line get it put more and more on land rent. In due
time we will reach the point where land can only be
held for use. The day of the ground hog who holds it
for a rise will be done; he must use it, or drop it and
let some one else have a chance. |
land
value, civilization,
technological
progress, population
growth, unearned
increment, theft, wage slavery,
manna, rights, natural
opportunities, trade, untaxing labor,
underused
land, speculation,
dogs in
the manger, highest and best
use, free
lunch, windfall, surplus |
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Thus have we gone through the whole wage theme
from end to end, as we might pass through the dark
shaft of a mine. We have with care sought to find out
the truth, and we have found it. The full light has
now burst on us. It is the light of True Free Trade;
'neath which joy and peace will take the place of age
long wrong, and God's will shall be done on
earth.
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peace,
on earth as in
heaven |
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