A Storehouse Of Wealth

The rapidity with which a country rnvished by war ov devastated by natural causes, can, when the disturtoing influences llave been removed, reccver its wonted prosperity and outward show of wealth, has ever been a. favorite theme of speculation with philosophers. The avenging hand oí invading armies maj laj waste; tire and drought and blig-ht rnay destroy ali visible f ornas of weaíth; yet the moment the rnthless hand of misfortune is removed, recuperation begins and in a brief period everything is as before. But two esseotials need reniain to losare the suecessful reproduction of wealth- the population and the fertility of the -soil. This of t notad f act denxonstnates two propositious; lirst, that the soil and the indestructible improveruents theneon are not only the great source of wealtn, but, i'.nder the systeni of irivate owikthip of land, the attendant speculative values thereof toecome the great storeheuse into whieh the aceumulation of wtvill li is poured; secoiid, that, tlii' populatioji is what gives value to the soiL The territory without pop u lat i on is without value for it is without tlie means of eonvertiag its bouaities of soil and elimate to useful ends as well as without consumers far its produce, Take the United States for example. W are aeeustooned to pride ourselvea apom being the most progressive. as well as the most prodouetive of nations. The creation of wealth has gone on apace during the perioil of our natlonal liïe. The beginning of this century fountl the continciit a wildrnes3 upon whieh the hand o' i! ;m had scarcely made its mark; its close ees that wildenicss si:i .! iul populafèü. Af ter this century of ii'.dustrious application of the éiKSfigies of au enterprising people to a territory rich in its natural resources, we have as a result an assessed valuatiou of arbout 25 billions. This, allowing for the usual discount of the assessor, niakes the actual wealth of the country aibout 70 billioais, more than tourfifths of whieh is realtj-. The esfcivrated annual production of wealth of all kinds in this country at the present time is about twenty billions. about ene-third of what we have been ablc to accumulate, incluÜiTig the rise in land values, ia a hundred years. These f acts toach r that a large proportio1!! of each year's labor is spent in inaintenance; tliat the smail surplus remaining after the yearly ex-, penses have been sefctled is absorbed in the value of the land; that the values so albsoi'bed beceme the pvoperty of those in whom res'.s the title fco the soil. They also irove tiiat as labo1' sfiving invenitions have enlarged productivity or increased population tlie ultima-te result has been a rise in land values which has a'bsorbed the be.nefits fro'm both in increased reiKS. To make a local applicatie, take t;ie tax rolls of the city of Ann Arbor. We fiaid thcre real estáte oí an assessed valuatioa of $5,514,471, and pers i:al propeny valued at $1,3ÜS,S."2. I-tere we find that the great starchcuse into which tiie accumulationK of half a century have been placed is the value of the land, a value w Inch U not intrinsic to the huid. but dne soiely to the presence of people upon it. Do you doubt this? Let 32,000 people leave the corporation hnms of this city and no one come to takt their places and continue their wants. Think you for a moment that tálese speculative values of land which absoTb yearly 'a largé proportion of thp eainings of our people would not vanisli? We have only to inention r.he one subject of the removal of the Tjniversity. That is ia sufiicient argument to cover the whole case and refute every ass-ertlon that is put forth agaiust tho justice and the wisdom of the single tax.