Lesson 6
God Made Folks, Each Owns Self… Hence May Work
Who Owns the Man? God, who made him, Owns him, but gives Man a Free Will. Man has a Right to Life, and to be Free, and to seek Joy in this world. So he or she has a Right to that which folks need that they may Live. They must have Air or they will die; they must have the Light of the Sun or they can not live, and they must have Food and Clothes, and a Roof for their heads. So folks must have a Right to use Land or they can have none of these Things. Nor can they be Free if they must Pay for the use of the things God has made by which they must Live; and they can not find Joy in this life if they are not Free, or if they must keep the Nose to the Wheel of Toil from the day one comes in to the World to the day one dies. Folks do not live just for Bread; they need a chance to Train
their Minds as God meant they should.
Lesson 7
Men Are Free, And Also Equal… Right To Chance
Are all Men of the Same Size? No, some are Tall, some are Short; some Fat, some Slim. Can they all be made of the same Size? By no Means. Are they all the same in Mind? No; some are Smart and some Dull, nor can they be made the same in Mind, try how you will. Then how is it you say all Folks are born Free and Equal? Is it not Bosh to talk in such a way? No, my Child, it is not Bosh, if you have due care as to what you Mean by the Words. We mean by Free that Folks are born with a Right to Life, and by Equal that they are born with a Right to an Equal Chance to use those Things that they need to keep Life in them. These Things are all meant in the word Land. The One-tax plan will make a way for Folks to get the use of the Land, with no call to pay a Land Lord, and so it will make Folks Free and Equal in the right Sense.
Lesson 8
Work Makes Wealth, Man Gets Fat… Though Don’t Toil
But look at these Two! Are they not both Men? They are. Yet, one is Fat and Rich, and one is Lean and Poor! How comes this? It must be that the Fat one has a will to Work, and so by his Toil on the Land gets all the Good Things he needs, while the Lean one will not Work and so must needs Starve and go in Rags. So it would seem, my Child; but things are not as they seem. The Fat Man here does not Work at all, and the Thin Man would fain work for his Food, but he can not get Work to do. Is this not Queer? Yes, it is Queer. But it will be Plain when I tell you that the Fat Man owns the Land, and lives on the Land Rent. Can a Man own Land as he may own a Thing which the hands of Folks may make? Yes, and that is the Law we must Mend if we would Cure the Deep Ills we see.
Lesson 9
Man Owns Hat, Can Make Hats… Can Make Hats
What is this? It is a Hat. Feel it, my Child, for it may be Felt. Does the Man own the Hat? Yes, it is his. But how do you know it is his? Why may a man own a Hat if he may not own Land? Well, you see, Man may make a Hat, or he may buy one from the Man who has made it, and pay him for it. So when he has paid for it or made it, it is his Own. He may then Wear it, or Hide it, or Burn it, or Lend it, or Rent it out. If he puts it out of Use he does no harm to Folks, for a new Hat can be made in its place. But a Man can not Make a piece of Land, nor can he Buy it from God who made it, and if he puts it out of Use he does Harm to Folks, and so he may not own Land in the same way that he owns a Hat.
Lesson 10
Man May Own, Earth But Must… Pay Land Rent
There is but One way by which a Man may be Just to the Race of Folks and yet own a bit of the Earth or the Whole of it. What is that? It is that he shall give a Fair Price to the Whole Folk, for whom God made it. But what is a Fair Price? Not a lump sum paid to any One Man, for that does the Rest no good. Not a lump sum paid to the State, for though that is Fair to all who now Live, it does no good to the Babes soon to be born in the World, and whose Rights are as good as our own. What, then, is a fair Price? The Ground Rent, to be paid each year to the State Till. That is Just, both to those who now Live, and those yet to be Born; and it is Just, too, to the Man who want to own the Land. So, you see, the One-tax plan would be Just all round.