1 10 4 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/25778/archive/files/a875d3401b42f5826d827d04b0b43784.pdf?Expires=1773878400&Signature=I9G%7EWuZdtwDVbQHBHyxXoqCRa0VtwoxFnWuIR6wfDeBcXLt-gyK7TtW6atQkbWwMQp93CWsr9nM05Sd4KTjOWsFp7pUhu1-irDYNgiYapM4RUD6aZ8g6njjSMRNgbN6CmBeljZdB9JKiSINFlgQvLZG%7Efg7xMMxQxnCQE97IIeRJLjR8%7ELL9RJyDB82mqfcSSDG%7Ey9rRkcmvr-70krzc0FbduRbKErrxdY4jKqf1kLkwLjKPYTm45b9octrQUL-I9v-apnG0SgPhb-Ek-IucMgeCqQ82tH6U1xTryTeQziaPmOQ38ALtwn6hW8kGBYNiYJ51B1L3b-KhyJb7UNW4Jw__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 682d1577276342de03827c28cfe213a2 PDF Text Text | gg NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY English Land Restoration League. No. 4. (3d..per 100. "FREE TRADE IN LAND.” Would it Benefit the People? / “ The notion,” says Carlyle, ” of selling for certain bits of metal the ‘ Iliad of Homer,’ how much more the land of the World Creator, is a ridiculous impossi/ bility.” Yet this ridiculous object is what the recently-constituted Free Land League propose to themselves to attain. The “ Great Liberal Party ” is just now badly off for a “ cry,” and Mr. John Bright and Mr. Arthur Arnold are chiefly responsible for supplying it with one of the worst conceivable. They desire to knock down the land of the World Creator to him who can bid for it the most bits of metal. This news must of all men rejoice the soul of Mr. Winans. The depopulator of the Highlands abounds in bits of metal, and when the Free Land Millennium sets in he will be able to carry on his favourite business of supplanting men by deer to his heart’s content. Free Trade in Land is an excellent trade for those who have accumulated or stolen plenty of bits of metal; but for such as have not—that is to say, for the vast majority of honest poor—it is simply a mockery and a snare. Did the institution of” Slavery in the Southern States benefit the “ Mean Whites ” with empty purses, who could not so much as invest in a single Slave ? On the contrary, it degraded them far below the level of the corresponding class in the Northern States. ' Now, Free Trade in Slaves and Free Trade in Land are perfectly analogous institutions, and it is doubtful if the evil effects of the latter are not even more far-reaching than those of the former. Both are contrivances by which the few are enabled to rob the many of the fruits of their industry. The private ownership of land clothes one man with the power of depriving his fellows of shelter, food, and raiment. It invests the few with a life and death control over the many. Now, it is easy to see that Free Trade in Land is as false an application of the Free Trade theory as was Free Trade in the bones and blood of factory women and children. Free Trade in commodities that can practically be supplied without limit has unquestionably been an immense boon to this country; but it does not at all follow that Free Trade in an element which no human ingenuity can augment by a single atom would be similarly beneficial. On the contrary, if the soil of England, like its manufactures, is to be brought within the grasp of the .great capitalists, undivided power will be delivered over to the already too powerful upper middle class, and then woe betide the workers! The yoke of the capitalist will be more complete, and assuredly it will be none the less heavy than that of the feudalist. The.evil of ‘‘unearned increment” is as great in Broadway, New York, or in Bourke Street, Melbourne, as it is in the City of London. Free Trade in a natural monopoly like the land is simply a contradiction in terms—“ a ridiculous impossibility.” Carlyle saw the absurdity at a glance; but then he was a genius, whereas the Free Land Leaguers are at the best but a superior order of bagmen. In its very essence land can neither be purchased nor mortgaged. It is common property, and the community which parts with it to individuals voluntarily is a. community of imbeciles, and the community which parts with it involuntarily is a community of cowards. But if our Free Land Leaguers have misapplied the Free Trade theory, they have still more notoriously misinterpreted Free Trade in Land facts. They go to the sparsely-populated United States and the Colonies for their illustrations; whereas densely-peopled England can only be compared with herself or some country similarly situated. In the United States there are ■still many, many millions of acres to homestead and pre-empt, and till they are I �all taken up the inherent evils of Free Trade in Land cannot be expected to show themselves in anything like their natural proportions. Men do not buy land which they can get for next to nothing. But even in the United States, the farmers—the most splendid yeomanry that ever existed—are beginning todiscover to what Free Trade in Land inevitably leads. Very many American farms are covered by mortgages on which interest is paid worthy of the expe riences of the Egyptian fellaheen. Recently the New York Times—a perfectly temperate authority—warned the American farmers of their fate. They were destined to become like the rack-rented tenant farmers of England ! Nay, their final condition will probably be worse. One had much better pay rent to a feudal landlord, bound to his tenantry by many traditional ties, than be fleeced by a remorseless money-lending Shylock, moved by considerations of filthy lucre alone. And there are other still more alarming symptoms. A phenomenon is appearing in some of the Western States which is comparable only with that which heralded the fall of ancient Rome. Rome conquered the world by the swords of her fouracre yeomanry. But Rome, like the United States, was a Free Trade in Land State; and her yeomanry eventually either fell hopelessly into the grasp of theusurer, or succumbed to the expropriating capitalist. Then Italy was tilled, so far as it was tilled, by immense gangs of homeless slaves, and the end was not far. Now, an American Bonanza Farm is as like a Roman slave estate as can well b-jimagined. The Bonanza Farms of Minnesota, Dakota, Texas, Kansas, and Cali fornia each contain thousands of acres owned by Presidents and Directors of railways, by bankers in St. Paul, New York, London, and Frankfort-on-the-Main. They are “ run" on purely capitalist principles. There is neither woman, child, nor home. The men work thirteen hours daily. They receive from 8 dols. to 16 dols. per month, according to the season. In the neighbourhood of theseBonanzas the small farmers are hopelessly in debt. They have generally to pay50 per cent, more than the Bonanzas for the conveyance of their produce, and. 33 per cent, more for their farming implements. How Mr. Jesse Collings’s peasant proprietors are to stand up against capitalist farming it is hard to see. In a veryinstructive article on “ Bonanza Farms ”in the Atlantic Monthly for January, 1880, the concluding sentence is this :—“ We are taking immense strides in placing our country in the position of Great Britain, and even worse.” In Europe, as in America, the freeholder is victimised. In France, in Germany, in Russia, the Land Mortgage Banks are already pressing on the peasantry with: something like the vigour of the ancien regime. In India, the soucar, schroff, bania, or mahajun drains the last drop of the poor ryot’s blood. He is virtually a serf. In a word, wherever Free Trade in Land has fairly run its course it hasbeen a ghastly failure. It has at one end the money-lender, and at the latter the.Bonanza Farm. Let us have neither. Let us pass direct from feudalism to municipalisation vest the site of every town in its Town Council, and of every parish in its Parish Council. The land is the birthright of the people. The Free Land Leaguers aver trying to hand it over to the capitalists. If they succeed in gulling the electors, the little finger of every new landlord will be thicker than his predecessor’s loins, and a long era of suffering—the Capitalist era—as fatal as that inaugurated by the.Norman Conquest, will be the result. Nota Bene.—The first man who, having enclosed a plot of ground, took uponhimself to say “This is mine!" and found people silly enough to believe him, was. the real founder of Civil Society. How many crimes, how many wars, how many murders, how much misery would have been spared the human race, if some one, . tearing up the fence and filling in the ditch, had cried out to his fellows, “Give no heed to this imposter; you are lost if you forget that the produce belongs to all, the land to none." J. Morrison Davidson. All who are willing to aid in circulating this and similar leaflets on the Land Question, are earnestly requested to communicate with Mr. FREDK. VERINDER, Secretary of theENGLISH LAND RESTORATION LEAGUE 8 Duke Street, Adelphi, London, W.C., from, whom all information may be obtained. Page & Pbatt, Limited, Printers, 5, 6 & 7 Ludgate Circus Buildings, London, E.C. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Victorian Blogging Description An account of the resource A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes. Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk. <img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Conway Hall Library & Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Conway Hall Ethical Society Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Pamphlet Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "Free trade in land" : would it benefit the people? Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Davidson, John Morrison [1843-1916] Description An account of the resource Place of publication: [London] Collation: [2] p. ; 21 cm. Series title: English Land Restoration League [leaflets] Series number: No. 4 Notes: Printed by Page & Pratt, London, E.C. Tentative date of publication from KVK. Part of the NSS pamphlet collection. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available English Land Restoration League Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource [189-?] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context N188 Subject The topic of the resource Land reform Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a> This work ("Free trade in land" : would it benefit the people?), identified by <a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a>, is free of known copyright restrictions. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource English Land Reform-Great Britain NSS https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/25778/archive/files/b21a4e09edeb3c9293068797d29391e2.pdf?Expires=1773878400&Signature=kOWhBhg0kuZzmExuxSvWZ7AFCVb10DCXindPHvFMF3ha1-x5cqTfRr7CxHsi3h0cSaTTyCi%7EdrMaES3CT6GkVjJEo2MW%7EdTnPIK7HoxDQwmyxGwOG2WqrXm5jvt0-dEq3Ltrjpa9%7E-BYGqgTGTg13xROfGuGlDKO9vJsr2svr7%7E9T%7E6jN6913Q%7ERXWcPpLFdv6OROjxjnL91JMZ4si9%7EAJSwoyq9Us2FMXHZMCcEhohFO9RX1jtjzgF14yW9iVudLydvN0Oj8Sf5o4xOobNDYRCMakpapbJ7oFpQHDddflTfoCauatjp6RrxBZp9Z0e7ak2tRGOOn13xNNRuBEHRjQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 4b811904f41b8abac1729ecbf8c80b93 PDF Text Text ^*7 3/^ NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY Ingersoll’s Advice to Parents. keep children out of church AND SUNDAY SCHOOL. Nothing is More Outrageous than to Take Advantage of the Helplessness of Childhood to Sow in the Brain the Seeds of Error. By , ROBERT G. INGERSOLL. Should parents who are Infidels, unbelievers, or Atheists send their children to Sunday schools and churches to give them the benefit of Christian education ? Parents who do not believe the Bible to be an inspired book should not teach their children that it is. They should be absolutely honest. Hypocrisy is not a virtue, and, as a rule, lies are less valuable than facts. An unbeliever should not allow the mind of his child to be deformed, stunted, and shrivelled by superstition. He should not allow the child’s imagination to be polluted. Nothing is more outrageous than to take advantage of the helplessness of childhood to sow in the brain the seeds of falsehood, to imprison the soul in the dungeon of fear, to teach dimpled infancy the infamous dogma of eternal pain —filling life with the glow and glare of hell. No unbeliever should allow his child to be tortured in the orthodox inquisitions. He should defend the mind from attack as he would the body. He should recognise the rights of the soul. In the orthodox Sunday schools children are taught that it is a duty to believe, that evidence is not �( 2 ) essential, that faith is independent of facts, and that religion is superior to reason. They are taught not to use their natural sense, not to tell what they really think, not to entertain a doubt, not to ask wicked questions, but to accept and believe what their teachers say. In this way the minds of the children are invaded, corrupted, and conquered. Would an educated man send his child to a school in which Newton’s statement in regard to the attraction of gravitation was denied; in which the law of falling bodies, as given by Galileo, was ridiculed; Kepler’s three laws declared to be idiotic, and the rotary motion of the earth held to be utterly absurd ? Why, then, should an intelligent man allow his child to be taught the geology and astronomy of the Bible ? Children should be taught to seek for the truth—to be honest, kind, generous, merciful, and just. They should be taught to love liberty and to live to the ideal. Why, then, should an unbeliever, an Infidel, send his child to an orthodox Sunday school, where he is taught that he has no right to seek for the truth, no right to be mentally honest, and that he will be damned for an honest doubt; where he is taught that God was ferocious, revengeful, heartless as a wild beast; that he drowned millions of his children; that he ordered wars of extermination, and told his soldiers to kill gray-haired and trembling age, mothers and children, and to assassinate with the sword of war the babes unborn ? Why should an unbeliever in the Bible send his child to an orthodox Sunday school, where he is taught that God was in favor of slavery, and told the Jews to buy of the heathen, and that they should be their bondmen and bond women for ever—when he is taught that God upheld polygamy and the degradation of women ? Why should an “ unbeliever,” who believes in the uni formity of nature—in the unbroken and unbreakable chain of cause and effect—allow his child to be taught that miracles have been performed ; that men have gone bodily to heaven; that millions have been miraculously fed with manna and quails ; that fire has refused to burn the clothes �( 3 ) , f and flesh of men; that iron has been made to float; that the earth and moon have been stopped, and that the earth has not only been stopped, but made to turn the other way; that devils inhabit the bodies of men and women; that diseases have been cured with words; and that the dead, with a touch, have been made to live again ? The thoughtful man knows that there is not the slightest evidence that these miracles ever were performed. Why should he allow his children to be stuffed with these foolish and impossible falsehoods ? Why should he give his lambs to the care and keeping of the wolves and hyenas of super. stition ? Children should be taught only what somebody knows. Guesses should not be palmed off on them as demonstrated facts. If a Christian lived in Constantinople he would not send his children to the mosque to be taught that Mohammed was a prophet of God and that the Koran is an inspired book. Why ? Because he does not believe in Mohammed or the Koran. That is reason enough. So an Agnostic, living in New York, should not allow his children to be taught that the Bible is an inspired book. I use the word “ Agnostic ” because I prefer it to the word “ Atheist.” As a matter of fact no one knows that God exists, and no one knows that God does not exist. To my mind there is no evidence that God exists—that this world is governed by a being of infinite goodness, wisdom, and power—but I do not pretend to know. What I do insist upon is that children should not be poisoned, should not be taken advantage of ' that they should be treated fairly, honestly ; that they should be allowed to develop from the inside instead of being crammed from the outside; that they should be taught to reason, not to believe ; to think, to investigate, and to use their senses, their minds. Would a Catholic send his children to school to be taught that Catholicism is superstition and that science is the onl savior of mankind ? Why, then, should a free and sensible believer in science in the naturalness of the universe, send his child to a Catholic school ? �. ( 4 ) Nothing could be more irrational, foolish, and absurd. My advice to all Agnostics is to keep their children from the orthodox Sunday schools, from the orthodox churches, from the poison of the pulpits. Teach your children the facts you know. If you do not know, say so. Be as honest as you are ignorant. Do all you can to develop their minds to the end that they may live useful and happy lives. Strangle the serpent of superstition that crawls and hisses about the cradle. Keep your children from the augurs, the soothsayers, the medicine-men, the priests of the super- « natural. Tell them that all religions have been made by I folks and that all the “ sacred books ” were written by ignorant men. Teach them that the world is natural. Teach them to be absolutely honest. Do not send them where they will contract diseases of the mind—the leprosy of the soul. Let us do all we can to make them intelligent. The Pioneer Press, 2 Newcastle-street, Farringdon-street, London, E.C. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Victorian Blogging Description An account of the resource A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes. Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk. <img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Conway Hall Library & Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Conway Hall Ethical Society Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Pamphlet Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Ingersoll's advice to parents : keep children out of church and Sunday School Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ingersoll, Robert Green [1833-1899] Description An account of the resource Place of publication: London Collation: 4 p. ; 19 cm. Notes: Not in Stein checklist but cf his No. 67. Part of the NSS pamphlet collection. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Pioneer Press Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource [189-?] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context N362 Subject The topic of the resource Child rearing Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a> This work (Ingersoll's advice to parents : keep children out of church and Sunday School), identified by <a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a>, is free of known copyright restrictions. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource English Children Church Attendance NSS Sunday Observance Sunday Schools https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/25778/archive/files/55e808443f69cdf4e7147a115f7686a1.pdf?Expires=1773878400&Signature=i6%7E0M8a8b9Yj84cD5fcw3oDreIiwD4YU8RnrxqnJvwHUVscoHqZ%7E79wipjSlPuovLdECv4Idwrraysn21BZ%7E6QO6jQmQexEFIMZ%7E0JG0I4c34n1-GGEMpVgU2IcS0xH6b4Rt2YC6gbXA8ds2FFrQEoutt1inLC2Y0zyTK3egBtVLaTSNmVrNCOkEIY0UdKW%7Ev2s8XrPVxEBgzuKvCa9DKvXC7CgBBDtv2m7336AEEEuFEBHMXIj1%7Eo8qeB4hf%7EVjJFbEG9vhuHpv4DTPQie1mSZqAeHf6rcpUeuBBL%7E6eRGhylLJ-SyNQ8pyxPWAMhbOPbIKi3MppREogQoaR%7EUkeQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM b00aa27c7dabb4ac6d32e7fc3a93c28c PDF Text Text NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETV EugUsh Land Restoration League, No. IS. per ioo. mr/ m a\% Tu. ~Tc>Sk^ THE EIGHT TO THE USE OH THE EABTE. NDER the above heading Herbert Spencer, the great< apost e of individualism, devotes an eloquent chapter of his Social Statics” to proving the incontrovertible equity ot Land. Nationalisation. For assuming that— “ Each of them has freedom to do all that he wills, pro vided he infringes not the equal freedom of any other, then each of them is free to use the earth for the satisfaction of his wants, provided he allows all others the same liberty. And, conversely, ft is manifest that no one may use the earth in such a way as toprevent the rest from similarly using it; seeing that to do this is. fo assume greater freedom than the rest, and consequently to break f thGThis sentence very neatly puts out of court their Graces the Dukes of Sutherland and Buccleugh, and those other seventy persons who own between them just one half of the Scottish soil. “ Equity, therefore,” he proceeds, “ does not permit property in land. For if one portion of the earth’s surface may justly becomethe possession of an individual, and may be held by him for' his sole use and benefit, as a thing to which he has an exclusive right,, then other portions of the earth’s surface may be so held, and eventually the whole of the earth’s surface may be so held; and our planet may thus lapse altogether into private hands. Observe n ow the dilemma to which this leads. Supposing the entire habit able globe to be so enclosed, it follows that if the land-owners have a valid right to its surface, all who are not land-owners have noright at all to its surface. Hence such can exist on the earth by sufferance only. They are all trespassers. Save by permission of the lords of the soil, they can have no room for the soles of their feet. Nay, should the others think fit to deny them a resting-place,, these landless men might equitably be expelled from the earth From this he has no difficulty in proving that an exclusive possession of the soil necessitates an infringement of the law of equal freedom. For men who cannot live and move and have their being without the consent of others cannot be equally free with those others. He then deals with the claims of the present possessors of land. �( 2 ) . / Can neYer be Pre.t?nded>” he says, “ that the existing titles to such property are legitimate. Should anyone think so, let him look in the chronicles. Violence, fraud, the prerogative of force the claims of superior cunning—these are the sources to which those titles may be traced. The original deeds were written with the sword rather than with the pen ; not lawyers, but soldiers, were the conveyancers ; blows were the current coin given in pay ment ; and for seals, blood was used in preference to wax. Could valid claims be thus constituted? Hardly. And if not, what becomes of the pretensions of all subsequent holders of estates so obtained Does sale or bequest generate a right where it did not previously exist ? Would the original claimants be nonsuited at the bar of reason because the thing stolen from them had changed ands . Certainly not. And if one act of transfer can give no title, can many ? No; though nothing be multiplied for ever it will not produce one. Even the law recognises this principle.” ,, fb -n Proceeds to combat the arguments of those who assert that time is a great legaliser, and that immemorial possession must be taken to constitute a legitimate claim. On grounds of pure equity, he has no difficulty m proving the absurdity of this propo sition, but he admits that great difficulties must attend the resumption by mankind at large of their rights to the soil. He does not advocate the leaving of the present holders, who can neither toil nor spin, to starve. ‘‘Men having got themselves into this dilemma,” he says, “ by disobedience to the law, must get out of it as best they can, and with as little injury to the landed class as may be. Meanwhile, we shall do well to recollect that there are others besides the landed class to be considered. In our tender regard for the vested in terests of the few, let us not forget that the rights of the many are , in abeyance, and must remain so as long as the earth is mono polised by individuals. Let us remember, too, that the injustice thus inflicted on the mass of mankind is an injustice of the gravest nature. The fact that it is not so regarded proves nothing. In early phases of civilisation even homicide is thought lightly of. It was once also universally supposed that slavery was a°natural and quite legitimate institution. A higher social development has, however, generated in us a better faith, and we now, to a considerable, extent, recognise the claims of humanity. But our civilisation is only partial. It may by-and-bye be perceived that Equity utters dictates to which we have not yet listened • and men may then learn that to deprive others of their rights to the use of the earth is to commit a crime inferior only in lTberti s ”SS Cr*me taking away their lives or personal • with the question of the reclamation of waste land by individuals, he shows that they have an equitable claim to com pensation lor their improvements, but to nothing more; and he points out what are some of the results to which the theory �( 3 ) tliat men have a right to make the soil private property inevitably leads. 7 “ If they have such a right,” he argues, “ then it would be proper for the sole proprietor of any kingdom—a Jersey or Guern sey, for example—to impose just what regulations he might choose on its inhabitants, to tell them that they should not live on his property unless they professed a certain religion, spoke a particu lar language, paid him a specified reverence, adopted an authorised dress, and conformed to all other conditions he might see fit to make. There is no escape from these inferences. They are necessary corollaries to the theory that the earth can become individual property. And they can only be repudiated by denying that theory. The change required need cause no very serious revolution in existing arrangements. It would simply be a change of landlords. Instead of being in the possession of individuals, the country would be held by the great corporate body—society. Instead of paying his rent to the agent of Sir John or his Grace, the farmer would pay it to an agent of the community. Stewards would he public officials instead of private ones, and tenancy the only land tenure. A state of things so ordered would be in perfect harmony with the moral law. Under it all men would be equally landlords—all men would be alike free to become tenants.” We have here given extracts from Herbert Spencer’s arguments. We will also give his summary of them. “ Briefly reviewing the argument, we see that the right of each ■man to the use of the earth, limited only by the like rights of his fellow-men, is immediately deducible from the law of equal freedom. We see that the maintenance of this right necessarily forbids pri vate property in land. On examination all existing titles to such property turn out to be invalid; those founded on reclamation inclusive. It appears that not even an equal apportionment of the earth amongst its present inhabitants could generate a legitimate proprietorship. We find that if pushed to its ultimate consequences, a claim to exclusive possession of the soil involves a land-owning despotism. We further find that such a claim is constantly denied by the enactments of our Legislature. And we find, lastly, that the theory of the co-heirship of all men to the soil is consistent with the highest civilisation ; and that, however difficult it may be ■to embody that theory in fact, Equity sternly commands it to be ■done.” It rests with the legislators to execute the orders of the people. We call upon the people to insist upon the accomplishment of that which Equity commands. J. L. Joynes, B.A. PAGE. PRATT, & TURNER, Printers, 5, 6 & 7 Ludgate Circus Buildings, London, E.C. �English Uanb IRestoration league. OBJECT : The Abolition of Landlordism. METHOD: The Abolition of all taxes upon labour and the products of labour and the earnings of labour ; and the increase of taxation upon land values until the whole annual value of land is taken In taxation for public purposes. LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. Manifesto of the E.L.R.L. ................................. (2 pp.) 6d. per 100 “Free Trade in Land: Would it benefit the People ?” By J. Morrison Davidson .. .. .. .. (2 pp.) •I “ London’s Unearned Increment.” By Sidney Webb, LL.B., (2 PP-) •I “ Land Common Property.” By J. Sketchley .. (4 pp.) is. per ioo> “The Right to the Use of the Earth.” By Herbert Spencer (4 PP-) “ The Great Great Grandson of Captain Kidd.” By Henry George ...................................................... (4 pp.) “ Landlordism the Cause of Trade Depression.” By Arthur O Connor, MP. .. .. .. .. .. (4 pp.) 91 " A Candidate’s Catechism."................................. (4 pp.) •• (New leaflets are in preparation.) “ Our Inheritance in the Earth.” By “ Terrigenous ” “God and the Land.” By Rev. T. T. Sherlock •‘Progress and Poverty.” By Rev. G. Sarson (reprinted from the Modern Review) “Mine Rents and Mineral Royalties.” By C. M. Percy “ Poverty, Taxation and the Remedy.” By Thomas Briggs (214 pp.; published at One Shilling) .. .. .. id. id. id. 2d. 6d.. BY HENRY GEORGE. “Taxing Land Values.” .. “ The Land Question.” .. “ The Peer and the Prophet.” of Argyle) .. .. “ Progress and Poverty." .. “Social Problems.” .. “ Protection and Free Trade.” .. .. (12 pp.) jd.; 3s. 6d. per ioo» .. .. .. (paper covers) 3d.. (Henry George and the Duke .. .. .. .. .. .. 6d.. .. (In paper covers) is. (Cloth) is. 6d. .. ,, is. „ is. 6d. .. „ is. „ is. 6d. tggp One of the best ways to help the Cause is to purchase a small parcel of the above Leaflets, etc., and to undertake their careful distribution. “ Spread the. Light ! ” FREDK. VERINDER, Secretary, E.L.R.L, Offices : 8 Duke Street, Adelphi, London, W. C. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Victorian Blogging Description An account of the resource A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes. Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk. <img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Conway Hall Library & Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Conway Hall Ethical Society Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Pamphlet Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The right to the use of the earth Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Joynes, J.L. (James Leigh) [d.1893] Description An account of the resource Place of publication: [London] Collation: 3 p. ; 21 cm. Series title: English Land Restoration League [leaflets] Series number: No. 7 Notes: Debates Herbert Spencer's arguments in his work 'Social Statistics'. Publisher's list on back page. Tentative date of publication from KVK. Printed by Page, Pratt & Turner, London, E.C. Part of the NSS pamphlet collection. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available English Land Restoration League Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource [189-?] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context N418 Subject The topic of the resource Land reform Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a> This work (The right to the use of the earth), identified by <a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a>, is free of known copyright restrictions. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource English Herbert Spencer Land Reform-Great Britain https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/25778/archive/files/37680daf10aa80780266307203b4f63a.pdf?Expires=1773878400&Signature=bGIJNiaKuD3CPczPu88zixZ1Z474DFvFeBpYdLeeJoAyZX%7EE9kpneyUSvvMYG1TJQ3O0VDSCz02ouxsBmlnNe72yVqzD4MwrsnNZsD952KezDMLk%7EFTujTJz7zyjAJp2S%7EGXUdj5FOEhJYTqDVZ3mjDdgagJGD4yWX183yqOgw%7EvLlDaF5-lHxmMJh8GBcoXNKc7Cu-3hevMaSlqm7L%7Eab38tExjn0h%7Ed1HlM%7EsWAgJSHXnlwirYHrTraDj6E4ThBpM9T4TycFqYtnfviq-9x2qlxmceOxF9rk2GN3SgqDKJxgSbIBRyAN%7EXaAo9mUSC5U70bXq5ulolpokRJmlECw__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 8c0523572d0b5419ae64ea3b0d64f1e2 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Victorian Blogging Description An account of the resource A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes. Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk. <img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Conway Hall Library & Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Conway Hall Ethical Society Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Pamphlet Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The votes of the bishops in the House of Lords Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Society for the Liberation of Religion from State-Patronage and Control Description An account of the resource Place of publication: London Collation: 15 p. ; 22 cm. Notes: Annotations in pencil. Includes bibliographical references. Publisher's list of new publications on back page. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Society for the Liberation of Religion from State-Patronage and Control Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource [189-?] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context G5784 Subject The topic of the resource Secularism Parliament Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a> This work (The votes of the bishops in the House of Lords), identified by <a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a>, is free of known copyright restrictions. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource English Bishops-Christian Church Church and State Great Britain-Parliament-House of Lords Secularism-Great Britain Voting Systems