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On True Political Economy
(The Whole-Hog Book)
John Wilson Bengough

Chapters 18 through 24


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CHAPTER XVIII: AS TO WAGES
CHAPTER XIX: WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
CHAPTER XX: FREE TRADE THAT IS NOT FREE
CHAPTER XXI: WHERE "FREE TRADE" IS WEAK
CHAPTER XXII: THE REAL STRENGTH OF THE HIGH TAX SCHEME
CHAPTER XXIII: THERE'S A THIEF IN THE CASE
CHAPTER XXIV: THE THIEF: WHO HE IS, AND HOW HE DOES IT

 
Notes and Links
CHAPTER XVIII: AS TO WAGES  
We have seen that the High Tax plan is a clog on work. On the whole, it tends to choke up the spring of wealth. Let us now see what it does for the spread of wealth. All will grant at once that wealth must be spread — that is, it must go, when it is once made, to serve some use, and this is the same as to say it must go in to some hands. If the whole of it goes to one man, to keep for his own, and do with as he wills, then it does not spread at all. Now of course it ought to spread, and men should share it on some right rule or law. What is that law? This: It should go to those who work, and form a fair rate of pay for the work they do by hand or brain. deadweight loss, wealth concentration, he who produces, talent,
We have got to such a pitch of skill now that it seems as though there is no end to the wealth that can be made, and this in the face of tax plans that bind and thwart us. But can it be said that the law I have just set forth is in vogue as to the spread of wealth when it is made? How is the loaf cut up? Do those who make it get it in due share? Or do some who do not toil nor spin get a share to which they have no right, and thus in fact rob those who work but get less than they ought to get? How does the High Tax idea bear on this? That is what we will try and find out now. theft, wealth concentration, privilege,
The point is this: Does the high tax on goods raise or tend to keep up the wage of the man who works; does it, that is to say, help him to get the share of the loaf that is his due? "Yes," say some, "of course it does; for it makes good times for all, and so must raise the pay of those who work, or at the least keep that pay from a fall." This is not proof; it is mere say-so. We have shown that, in fact, a high tax has no such force. It does not make "good times for all," for we do not need to be told that bad times come to lands that have the plan in full swing. And we know that pay does go down, and that there are spells in which men are "out of work," that is, get no share of wealth at all. But note this: It is not true at all times that that which helps or hurts the mass of men helps or hurts each one in the State. Fires and floods hurt some, but may be a means of gain to others. A fall in stocks is a loss to this man, but may mean a great gain to that one. wages, prosperity, boom-bust cycle, unemployment,
Trade, as we have seen, is a mode by which wealth is produced (turn back and read once more what was said as to what this long word is meant to stand for), and a high tax on goods, as has been shown, tends to block trade — that is, to curb the growth of wealth — to make it less.  
Now we pass on to say that, since such a tax plan (as is its aim) puts up the price of goods, it makes the great mass pay more than they ought for what they buy, and gives to the few more than they could have got in a free field for what they sell. It thus plays pranks with the spread of wealth. It is those who thus get more than their fair share that are so loud in praise of the high tax scheme. But though the scheme may be a good one for those who sell goods that are put up in price in this way, how can it get for the plain man who works more than his fair share, or how, in short, can it do aught to make it sure that he gets even his fair share? He does not sell goods; he sells work of brains or of hand. There is no tax on this sort of thing; there is no wall to keep men out. A smith sells his skill to make tools, and he gets worth of the tools he makes in the form of cash, and with this wage he buys what he needs — clothes, food and so forth. Now, what good does it do him to put up the price of such things, by means of a tax, since the tax can not raise his wage in the same way? Let us say that, as a rule, he has to work one week to earn the price of a coat. By means of a fresh tax, say that coats rise to twice the cost they were. This is all right for the firms that make coats, but it means that the smith will have to work two weeks to get a coat now. prices, wealth concentration, privilege, talent,
Where does his gain come in? Would it not be true to say that in such a case the tax has just cut his wage down by half? theft
It is all very well for the heads of great firms to tell their men that the high tax plan is good for those who toil for a wage; but what would these gents say to a plan that would let goods come in free but put a high tax on men? There would be a fine shout of rage. It would be hard to make them see that such a scheme did them good. With men shut out, up would go the rate of pay, and with goods let in free down would go the price, and groans would rise from these big mills and trusts. But it is a poor rule that will not work both ways. income taxes,
Now, how can a high tax on goods raise the wage of those who work farms when it does not touch the goods made on farms? Wheat, live stock, and so forth are sent out of the States, not brought in; how then can a tax to keep out goods help farms? It is plain that this plan can not do what must be done, that is, raise the whole wage of farm work. The corn laws which John Bull once had kept out grain and put the price up to a high point, but did it raise the pay of the farm hands? No, it did just one thing — put more wealth in the purse of the "lord of the soil" in the form of rent. all benefits..., landlord
Facts all round show that a tax on goods can not raise the pay of those who work.  
 
CHAPTER XIX: WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
 
We have thus set forth full proof that the High Tax scheme is a fraud. It fails at all points the claims made for it. What then, shall be done? Put an end to it, of course. At this there will be a cry: "Oh, no, don't be in haste to do that. Go slow, if it must be done; but to do it at once would be to bring ruin to scores of firms." But if it be not just, why should it not be put an end to at once? Why should we let a gross wrong go on to save loss to the few, when day by day it means loss to the many? conservatism, transition, single tax
If there is to be a shock to trade when an end is made of this fraud, let that shock be a short and sharp one. It will thus do far less harm than if it is drawn out through a course of years. No man would choose to have his leg cut off by the inch. If short work is made of it the rich will have to bear their fair share of such loss as there may be for the time, but if it is to be done bit by bit the poor will have to take the brunt of it, as the rich will have time to scheme and so fix it. transition, single tax
But all this talk of great loss is vain. It comes from those to whom the fraud is a source of gain. They do not want to let go their prey. But even they are wrong when they think they would lose by Free Trade. All sound trade would gain. It would break up the rings and trusts, and bring down gains that are now got in the wrong way, but would not that be a boon to the land? In the case of the States, it would soon give them the lead in the trade of the world, their ships would sail the seas once more, and a great source of "graft" and bribes would be put an end to. theft, monopoly, special interests
And what are we to say of such a fact as this — that in the slow old days, when folk had but poor, rude tools to work with, and could not in ten years make as much wealth as we now can in ten months, the lot of the poor was bliss to what it is now? A man in those far off times did not have to work so hard, and got more of the good things of this world for his work, while he did not know at all what the fear of want meant. (See Thorold Rogers' "Five Centuries of Work and Wages.) How comes it that in both Free Trade and High Tax lands at this day we find such a change in the class which is at the base? These men of the old time had to Work but eight hours a day, and no wife or child of theirs had to toil out of the home. How comes it that we at this date are so much worse off? How comes it that there is such a crowd of poor in the midst of such wealth — like the man on the raft with a whole sea round him but not a drop to drink? poverty, poverty's causes,
To sweep off the High Tax, then, would not in the end help those who work. That is it would not prove a real cure for their ills.  
Nor would it in the long run mean a square deal. When wealth is not spread in a fair way, it tends to grow less. Men who work, but do not get, lose heart and tend to cease work. Nor can we say they are wrong to feel so, when they see the growth of the set who do no form of work, but get more and more of a share, which must, of course, come out of the share of those who do work. If the plan now in vogue does not make sure of a fair spread of wealth it tends, in short, to vice, crime and waste. And of a truth there is no need that we break down High Tax walls so that more wealth may be made if we are not at the same time to see that it is spread in a fair way. With the plan we now have that would be but to make bad worse. unemployment, desperado
And what of "hard times"? The cause of these "bad spells" we are told, is that too much goods is made. If this be so, would not the fall of the High Tax walls, if it led to free scope of brain and hand, mean a great growth of wealth and thus a long term of "hard times"? boom-bust cycles, industrial depression
 
CHAPTER XX: FREE TRADE THAT IS NOT FREE
 
At this point it is the rule for books on this theme to close, for, in fact, this is the end of the case as 'twixt what they call Free Trade and High Tax plan. And, as we look at it, the High Tax is out of court; it has been shown to be a scheme which is a sham from end to end; which does no good (but to the few who pull wires) but robs the poor while it sings sweet songs in their ears.  
Yet we must not stop here. We said this was to be a Whole-Hog Book; so we must go right through to the end. For all we have said has been said (by means of long words, to be sure) more times than one could count, and yet we find that lands stick to the High Tax plan, and vast crowds seem to have full faith in it still. The thing these folks need is more light.  
You may well ask how it is that such a plain fraud can still live and thrive? It is not that men have no sense, as some say. The fact is, the root of the faith in it is deep down, and that root must be laid bare and shown to be false. This the books we have in mind (on the Free Trade side) do not seek to do.  
Ere we go on to dig out this root, let us say that the pleas made by Free Trade men to show those who work that the High Tax is a bad thing for them, do not hit the mark. For what, at most, do they prove? That Free Trade tends to the good of men, and the High Tax tends to their hurt. That seems to be as far as they can go, and this has no real weight with "men of the world." They say, "Yes, they may tend as you say, but that does not prove that they will do so." A brick that leaves a roof tends to fall to the ground, but if there is a broad ledge in the way to stop it, it will not fall to the ground. In the same way the aids that men now have to make wealth (one man now able to do as much in a day as a score of men could once do) tend to get each man more wealth for his share or wage, but will not in fact do so, if, through some cause, there are crowds of men on the search for work and who fight for each job in sight. wages, technological progress
Those who plead for Free Trade show that since the tax walls curb the growth of wealth, to take them down would tend to help those who toil, and they "feel quite sure" it would raise their pay. But how can they be sure of this till they have shown that there is nought in the way that might thwart this good and right end? And what is it these "Free Trade" men urge should be done? Not make trade Free, as you might think, but put on a low tax in place of a high one, that is all!  
There is not much in this to stir the hearts of men, and it does not do so. There are men of a fair mind who will hear all that is to be said (or read this book up to this point) and say: "No doubt Free Trade has the best case, and the proof seems all right, but yet the hard facts of the day show that as a plan the High Tax works best." This may have a strange sound, but there is sense in it. What it means is, Free Trade as thus set forth does not meet all the facts of the case. And this is true.  
One of these facts is that in a "Free Trade" land — say John Bull's — the slums are as deep and vile as in any High Tax land. Why should this be if Free Trade gives those who work their fair share of wealth? Such trade has no real right to the name of "Free."  

CHAPTER XXI: WHERE "FREE TRADE" IS WEAK
 
No doubt, if the Tax wall were torn down, pay would go up, for a time. It did so when the Corn Laws were swept off. But this would not last. The case would turn out ere long to be the same as it is in that of the steam loom, which, though it weaves more cloth than the old wheel could do, has not in the end made the lot of the poor one whit less sad. Free Trade would, no doubt cause more wealth to be made, and it would bring down the price of goods. But would those who work get their fair share of the gain, that is the point? A glance at the old Home Land seems to say, no. Why, then, should the poor of France or the States go wild for Free Trade?  
The more goods there are made, the more each man who works ought to have, in a fair deal all round. The march of skill has made the world more rich in goods now than in all the past. Yet we have hard times in spells, and not a few starve. And what say the wise men is the cause for this? That the mills have put forth too much! This is what they say in lands which have what they call "Free Trade," too! What these wise men should show is what it is that comes in the way to keep the bread the poor cry for, and would be glad to work for, out of their mouths. Why does not this sort of "Free Trade" "raise the plane of the sea of toil"? rising tide
Facts can be so dealt with as to make it seem that the state of those who work is on the mend, that they are, in short, well off to what they used to be. This has some truth in it when we speak of men who have high gifts or great skill or (as some say) good luck. But it is not true of the great mass. They are worse off. A poor man has scarce a chance at all at this day to start in trade on his own hook as once he could have done. To be sure some men grow more rich now than e'er they did in any past age, but side by side with this is the fact that the slums are more deep and wide than ever. Some force is at work, the fruit of which is Trusts and Tramps — Wealth and Want. 'Twixt these two states there lies a great gulf, and we have proof that to change from High Tax to Free Trade as they have it in the Old Land would not bridge this gulf, nor fill it up, for we see it has not done so in these three score years it has been at work. barriers to entry, poverty, poverty's causes,
 
CHAPTER XXII: THE REAL STRENGTH OF THE HIGH TAX SCHEME
 
We may make an end of all the pleas that are put forth for the High Tax plan — as we have done — and yet not touch the thought from which it gets its whole strength in the minds of those who hold it. What is that thought? It is that in some way, say as we will, this plan "makes work," and as it is a plain fact that there are more men who seek jobs than there are jobs to be done, that which tends to "make work" must be a great boon.  
It is true that (as we have shown) since it leads to waste, the High Tax scheme does "make more work," just as the rain does when it wets the hay on the farm.  
Rain in such a case is thought to be a boon by the man who earns his wage by the day, though the man who owns the farm does not take that view.  
We read of a King who had a hard heart; and, we are told, bade his slaves make bricks with no straw. Had he lived in these days, and had he dealt with wage slaves, he would have got high praise, for did his plan not "make more work," or tend to make the job last a long time? And if there were scores of men who sought work, would this not have been a good thing for those who held jobs? bricks, slavery, wage slaves
It is of no use, then, to prove that "work" is not what we need but the "fruits of work," and that good sense tells us to get what we seek with the least cost of time and toil.  
We must deal with this root thought that work is a boon, and that he who lets us work for him ought to have our thanks. work
Whence springs this root thought? Out of the fact that men can not now, when they need food or clothes, go and work on their own hooks for these things. In all lands we note that as soon as the time is past when men can do so, and the time comes when they need some one to hire them lest they starve, the High Tax scheme comes to the front and gains the good will of the mass as a plan that "makes work." free land, land monopoly,
Of course no man wants work for its own sake. If he works for fun, then he will do just such work as he can get fun out of. If he works for life (as is the case with most) it is the pay he has in view. purpose of living, human desires
No man will work for nought if he can help it, and the things he makes by his toil is his wage by rights. If his work brings forth nought (as in the case, say, of a man who digs for gold on his own "claim") then he gets no wage. So the man who works for a Boss and in the course of a day makes no new wealth at all, does in fact earn no wage. But as things now go in the world the wage is paid for work done, not for the real worth of that work. A man has "put in" a day and looks for his pay, and gets it, though, had he done the same work as it were on a "claim" of his own, he would have got none. In this way it has come to pass that men in their thought join the two words "work and wage," and not (as in the old, rude days) "toil and the fruit of toil as wage." That is to say, work has come to stand for "pay," and when men praise a scheme that "makes work" they of course mean a scheme that makes a chance to get pay. In some towns they help the poor with a job on the roads. The "work" is a mere form, it may be; it is but a plan to give a dole to those in want. he who produces, rights
In face of the facts as they are, there is much to say for this idea that what "makes work" is a good thing. Men may have strong arms, staunch frames, good health and a will to work. All well; and it is true as we have said that work is the one way by which wealth can be made. But what if the man is at sea on a raft? All wealth comes out of the ground, and that he may work a man must be, not on the sea, or in the air, but on the earth. Give a man strength of arm and hope of heart and a bit of ground, and he need ask no one to hire him or to give him pay. He will work out his own wage each day. But since it is the fact that men as a rule can not get at the land (which is held for rent or must be bought at a price they can not pay) what is there left for them but to sell their strength or skill to those who will buy it — that is, to those who will pay them a wage they can live on? land, land monopoly, wages, rights, birthright, natural opportunities, equal opportunity, equality
And as those who can thus buy are few and those who wish to sell a great host, we can see how it comes to pass that thanks seem to be due, not to him who does the work, but to him who "makes it," and that the work is thought to be a boon.  
Nor is it hard to see how this same thought takes form in the oft-heard view — to which High Tax men give loud voice — that our own land ought to do all its own work, and any land which seeks to do any of it for us acts the part of a foe. Hence, of course, the High Tax which keeps these foes and their cheap goods out, must seem to be a plan which tends to make us at home rich.  
Yet all this is false, and all that flows from it must be false. "It is work we need — not that the work should bear due fruit, but that it should get 'pay.'" Such is the cry. Thus, we hear it said of a work that cost a great deal though it was of no use when done — "True, it has done no good; but ah! it made a lot of work for scores of men." If such a thought is not false at the base then fires and floods and wrecks of all sorts must be boons, yet who would say this?  
If each man in need of work were free to go at it, all would see that each ounce of the wealth of the world which was burnt up would be a loss to all, and that those who did no work were as bad as thieves. But with the facts as they are — with work a boon to be sought as one would seek for life — we do not think of it in this way.  
 
CHAPTER XXIII: THERE'S A TH1EF IN THE CASE
 
The High Tax plan seeks to curb Trade, and Trade is but the thought God put in the heart of man as a means by which the whole race should gain. civilization, division of labor, natural resources, well-provisioned ship
All that can be said for this plan could be said with just the same force for a plan to thwart all the new means that are brought out to save toil. This would shut off steam and all the great things it has done, and in all paths of life drive us back to the "stone age." technological progress, civilization
The mass of wealth of this age and the rate at which that mass grows is so great that all ought to be well off, but all are not. Each new plan to save toil should give more ease to all; but it does not. The man who has eyes does not need to be told this. He can see the deep slums in the rich old lands; and he can note, too, that in such a new land as the States the poor sink while the rich rise. rising tide, poverty, technological progress
In no place does the state of those who toil, as a whole, keep pace with the march of the arts which aid the growth of wealth. And in those spots where those who work may from time to time get a bit more of a share, this is not due to those arts. It is due to strikes or threats of strikes. wages, technological progress
In view of these facts there is, of course, but one thing to be said. If there is more wealth made and those who help to make it do not get more for their share, there must be some pouch into which goes a share which should not go there. In short, there is a thief at large. unearned increment, theft
Who is the thief? In what way does he steal the shares of those who work? How can we end his theft? Here we reach the real point of the whole case. theft
We hear a voice say — "Stop. Do not vex your soul with these things. Those who work are now well off to what they once were. Do they not eat good food and wear good clothes? Do they not have good times as a rule? Just think how the poor slaves had to work, and what hard times they had!"  
Ah! how nice, to be sure. But does this make the theft right? Let no such false talk switch us off the track of the thief. This is a Whole-Hog Book. theft
 
CHAPTER XXIV: THE THIEF: WHO HE IS, AND HOW HE DOES IT
 
It has been shown that the High Tax plan robs those who work, but to put an end to that plan would not solve the case, for it would not touch the Chief Thief — the man who owns the earth. His rule is to take all that is left — all but life, and what will just keep the man in a fit state to work. There are not a few small thieves like the High Tax that thrive on the son of toil, but short work can be made of them when the Big Thief is done for. Do you ask, "How can it be theft to own the earth, that is to say, to own land rent? Some of the best of men own land — do you call them by the base name of thieves? land, all benefits... , wages, ownership, possession, rent, privilege, usufruct, founding fathers, I was there first
It is not the men we have to deal with; it is the law by which the land may now be held. That law means theft, and must so mean as long as it stands as it is. The blame is not on the man, be he good or bad, it is on the law which can work in but one way, and that is to take from A what he earns and give it to B, who has done no hand's turn for it. This is to steal; so, for short, we call it theft.

land, theft

Let us see what the law now is as to land. It treats land just as it treats hats, coats, books, wheat and all the things which we call "goods," and which are made by the skill of man or grown by his care and toil. It says that a man can own land just as he may own a bag of wheat, that is, he may do as he likes with it; he may use it or not use it; he may let some one else use it or not, he may sell it or deal with it just as he wills.

land, land different from capital, ownership,

Well, you say, why not?  
I will tell you why; land is not in the same class as "goods," and the law has no right to treat it as if it were. Land is not the work of man's hands, nor can he grow it or make it less or more. It is God's earth and His free gift to the whole race, like the air, the light, the sea, and so forth. land different from capital, the earth is the Lord's, land includes, land excludes
Yes, you say, I know all that, but how is land to be put to use if men do not own it? True, men must own it; that 's quite right, -- but not on such terms as those set forth in the law as it now stands. Each man who holds (or owns) a piece of it should, of right, make up to the race what he thus takes from them — he should pay each year what it is worth. If a man owns a hat and sees fit to burn it up he does no great harm to the race, for more hats can be made; but if he owns a piece of the earth — for which he pays no rent to the rest — and sees fit to hold it out of use, he has cut down the size of the earth by just that much. This is a loss which can not be made up. ownership, possession, property rights, pay for what you take, rent, waste, flow, underused land, theft,
No one man can in a true sense be said to "own" land, nor in fact can all the men who live in one age. For those who are to be born in the next age are to have the same rights as men who now live on the earth. Each age has but the use of the earth while here. But if this is true, then no man can get the same sort of right to land as he may to a hat or boots or house, not though all who dwell on earth were to sign the deed. That which is not ours we can not give nor sell. created equal, birthright, intergenerational justice, ownership, possession,
To own land, then, ought to mean no more than this, that a man may have the sole right to it, to use it or hold it out of use as he sees fit, so long as he pays each year what the bare land is worth. Since the race at large can not have the use of the land while it is in his hands it is but right that they should have the worth of it. When this is paid each year, it is fair all round, and all that the man makes by his own use of the land ought to be his own and free from all forms of tax. In short while it is right that a man should "own" land it is not right that he should also own the land rent. title, pay for what you take, ownership, rent, land value taxation, usufruct, possession,
But this is not the law as it now stands. A man may now hold land and by that fact he owns the rent as well. That is where the wrong is. 'Twixt what he pays for it in a tax to the State (where there is a tax at all), and what he can get for its use from some one who needs it in the form of rent, there is oft a great sum of gain, and thus we have a class that lives on land rent, that is, who get paid to let some one else work. And what is this rent but a part of the wealth which the some one else earns? And how much of it? All of it but such share as will keep the man in a fit state to work and to earn. If this is not theft in the sight of God, what would you call theft? Hence we use the blunt term thief for him who takes goods he does not earn in the, form of rent and by force of law. In past times men used to own slaves and take all the slaves could make, but then they had to keep and feed their slaves; now they own the land on which "free" men must work, and this gives them a right in law to a share of the wealth in the form of rent; nor do they have to keep or feed the new sort of slaves. You see, to bring forth any form of wealth you must have two things, the toil or skill of man, and land. It makes no odds which of these two you own to give you a right to a share of what is made, with no work on your part. landlord, wealth concentration, theft, unearned increment, deadweight loss, privilege, slavery, wage slaves, rent, sharecropping, all benefits ..., absentee ownership,
And note this, that the funds which the State needs each year must be paid, out of what is left when the rent which of right is the State's has been paid. Thus, the man who works pays twice, he pays first for the use of land (that is, for leave to work at all) and then he pays for what the State does for him. paying twice,
When we say that the Big Thief takes "all that is left" we point to the fact that the growth of land rent keeps pace with the growth of the race. Each move that makes life more bright and fair, or tends to the good of all, sends land rent tip. Free street cars would be a boon in large towns, but what a man might save in fares he would have to pay in land rent. If, in fact, gold fell from the clouds like rain no one would gain but the men who own the land on which it fell. rent, rent as God's provisioning, technological progress, population growth, civilization, all benefits ..., landlord, manna, absentee ownership, leakage
Rent is not a thing which comes by the will of man, it is the gauge which tells what the chance is worth in each case, and it goes up or down as a town grows or fails. It is there all the while, and is in no case the fruit of toil. By the law as it now stands rent goes to him who owns the land. If the man who works a farm does not own it, he pays the rent to some one else; if he owns the farm he keeps the rent, as well as the wealth his work earns. Land that is in use bears rent just as a tree bears leaves. rent, community, all benefits ..., absentee ownership, landlord, three hats, ownership
If some men own the world on which the whole race must live, and have the right by law to charge for its use while not made to pay a fair rate for the land they thus hold, it is clear that there must be just what we see — the Rich and the Poor. While this state of things lasts nought that we can do can cure the ills of men. High Tax and Low Tax plans both fail to do this, as we have seen. True Free Trade would do it. privilege, special interests, poverty, poverty's causes, monopoly, wealth concentration, land concentration,
   

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