Politics and property; or, Phronocracy. A compromise between democracy and plutocracy

Preface

Discontent and strife, to a greater or less extent, have always existed in the world and doubtless always will exist. It is believed by many that the higher the degree of intellectual development in mankind as a class, the greater this discontent, for the reason that objectionable conditions can be more keenly appreciated. Notwithstanding this ever-existing unrest, whether aggravated or assuaged by intellectual development, the causes which produce it are as essentially a part of the great whole, — of the earth and its operations, — as are man's members a part of his physical being ; and these causes can never be entirely annulled, hence their effects must, in a measure, always exist.

It is claimed in the following pages that poverty can never be eradicated from society any more effectually than disease can be absolutely prevented in the human body ; but since the latter can be relieved by the proper application of scientific remedies, so likewise can the former be ameliorated by the timely enactment of intelligent laws. The object of this work is to urge strenuous opposition to both plutocracy on the one hand, and socialistic tendencies of all kinds on the other, and advocate a reasonable middle or conservative position between the two, which for convenience is termed " Phronocracy," which signifies the rule of reason, prudence, and understanding.

iii

IV PREFACE. '

Heretofore writers opposing the alarming concentration of wealth into the hands of the few have urged against these accumulations conditions that are too violent, and for poverty systems of relief that are utterly impracticable.

This work seeks to avoid both these extremes by acknowledging that the property rights of men shall, to a reasonable extent, be fully recognized and sedulously protected, but that the masses have grievances that must not be ignored. Nothing is proposed that is to the slightest extent visionary, impracticable, or revolutionary, but, on the contrary, only measures are recommended that can be adopted by law within the bounds of prudence, reason, and justice. It also advocates the curtailment of the elective franchise by the only proper and feasible manner possible, viz. : by property and educational qualification.

Chapter I. Page

Man : his original state ; his advance toward civilization ; his acquisitiveness — Individual property : man's right to same — Government : its origin and progress — Popular strife and energy — Diversification of civilized wants — Trade and exchange : compromise between wealth and poverty — Phronocracy : its meaning and purpose ..... I

Chapter II

Existing social conditions objectionable — excessive accumulations dangerous — Unearned increment : man's right to same in moderation — Free trade and protection : America's progress not attributable to either — Timidity of tariff-reform free-traders — The Wall policy and World policy — The American farmers' illogical position — Baneful paternalism . . .23

Chapter III

Necessity for relief from monopoly — Government control of monopolistic enterprises: objections thereto — Inefficiency of most governmental management — Governmental control of all business — Greater objection thereto and the impracticability thereof — Differences in human excellence must be recognized — Support government from excessive individual accumulations — Evil effects of certain restrictive legislation — Socialistic schools ........ 39

Chapter IV

Single or land tax considered : sincerity of its advocates — " The world belongs in usufruct to the people," correct in the abstract — Original possession : how acquired — Right of original possession — Land, the product of labor — Impracti-

VI CONTENTS.

FAGB

cability of "uninterrupted access to natural opportunity" — Tax to full rental value tantamount to confiscation, and less fails of the object sought — Not justified by simplicity ; generally impracticable and void of good effect — Relief only secured by laws oppressing the favored and favoring the oppressed ......... 5q

Chapter V

Phronocracy : what is it? — Other efforts at reform impracticable — Cumulative taxation should be adopted — Monopolistic enterprises must be popularly owned — Taxation on individual excesses just and proper — Rate always one cent per each thousand dollars cumulative — Uselessness of excessive wealth and folly of universal suffrage ; amendment curtailing both — Rate to apply to individuals only, not to corporations — Desirableness of more popular ownership of enterprises and less popular participation in government . . . .go

Chapter VI

Practical application of the cumulative tax — Supports government in proportion to man's ability — And no property or no knowledge, no vote — Takes burden off of the weak and puts it on the strong — Equity and efficiency of assessment — Limits all individual estates to about four million — Tax collectors in congressional districts : their method of assessment — Necessity of not limiting corporations — "Watering" stock not specially objectionable, but division of ownership vital ......

Chapter VII

Probable result of the practical application of the cumulative tax — Distributes corporate and other ownership to a maximum limit of about four million to one individual — More practical and simple than income tax — Requirements of the federal government fully met — More equitable distribution assured — Average levy on all property only fifty cents per hundred — Evasion impossible — Least burdensome and most certain- and "just of all taxation — Greater distribution useless and hurtful— The only true " protective system " . . 142

CONTENTS. Vll

Chapter VIII. Page

How it may be accomplished — One-hundred millionaires fatal to small investors — But great corporations, if owned by many, cause no harm — Great concentration of wealth necessary to promote enterprise — Power of Congress to impose the cumulative tax — No great difference between existing parties affecting fundamental principles involved — Northwestern Granger States and the solid South should join hands — Will settle the negro question in the South — Cumulative tax will lighten the burden on the South and West, and qualified suffrage will increase their proportionate vote and power — Will decrease country vote less than city vote — Granger States begin to see the folly of protection and value of cumulative taxation and qualified suffrage — Over four million farm owners in 1890, three fourths of whom may support the proposition — This added to conservative city vote is sufficient for success — States that first may support it — Others that may follow . . . . . . .164

Chapter IX

Suffrage : its functions and uses — Original governmental systems absolute, despotic, and void of suffrage — Suffrage the result of opposition to divine right to rule — A certain degree of excellence necessary — Curtailment the only effectual ballot reform — Knock out both the one-hundred millionaire and the ward "worker" — Female suffrage: never should be granted, and reasons why not — Woman's sphere and duty : never materially altered ; marriage — Opinions regarding same — Proposition that it should be abolished and women made pensioners on society . . . . . .186

Chapter X

Effects of true ballot reform — Suppresses the Southern negro and the Northern loafer — Election of collectors and postmasters would relieve the President and diminish patronage — Collectors' voting lists : could not be forged — How voting would be done— Record absolutely correct, and votes would be checked by postmasters' lists — No need of large property qualification ; purity guaranteed without ; would increase

V1U CONTENTS.

the government's stability — Impossible to buy votes — Qualified suffrage better than know-nothingism ; will cause diversified representation ....... 206

Chapter XI

Trade, money, work, and wages — Convict labor no great harm to honest labor — Corporal punishment should be resumed for small crimes — Child labor — Eight-hour agitation — Scientific invention no obstacle to labor — Causes of increased urban population — Circulating medium : money ; gold coin the best — Qualities the circulating medium should possess — Silver money, iron money — Government "fiat" money as good as the government's sovereignty — Must be redeemable in something representing the value of labor — Increased quantity not beneficial — Purchases forced on the government wrong, and should be stopped — Gold, and gold only, to be adopted ; no double standard — Banks and banking — National banks continued ....... 223

Chapter XII

Immigration and foreign proprietorship — Sentiment against immigration — Workingmen favor free trade, but oppose immigration — Error of the belief — Self-sustaining men a benefit — Care of poor families in infancy — No danger from over-population — If so, destroy the beasts first — Man-labor and brute-labor — Increased population adds to labor demand — Foreign purchaser a benefit to all — Opposing legislation reduces property values — Ireland an illustration . . . 252

Chapter XIII

Desirableness and result of territorial annexation — Value to the countries themselves greater than to the States— Some opposition to extending the boundaries — More land thought by some to be useless — Final preference of all for one flag over all — Detail of the discussion regarding annexation — Tropical lands needed by the States — Better acquire land suitable to tropical products than to produce them by taxation and bounties — North America adapted to one

CONTENTS. IX

PAGE

government over the whole continent — Likewise tend to make customs, language, and people alike — Local home-rule vital — Possibility of division in North America if local rule is molested ......... 268

Chapter XIV

Governments in general — Advance in civilization liberalizes all governments — Absolute monarchy and limited monarchy — A democracy and a republic denned — 'America a republic, not a democracy — Strict construction of federal power essential — Republics presuppose intelligence — Excessive democracy is akin to socialism — No federal aid or supervision of schools — Opposition to all kinds of paternalism — Frequent elections continued save as to judges — Local government essential in all progressive states and for all enlightened people 286

Chapter XV

Recapitulation and general observations — Some individual estates too great for computation ; illustration of the uselessness of same ; equal to an ordinary salary for 400,000 years — No plan save regulating the extremes is practicable or just — Irksome duties must be performed — Increased compensation not an offset — Differences in men must be recognized — Cumulative taxation and suffrage qualification the essential features of Phronocracy — The plan not complicated — The South, the ruralists of the North, and conservative city residents sufficient for success — Reasonable reward for energy and excellence — Nothing beyond — Concluding paragraphs and generalization ....... 308

PHRONOCRATIC PRECEPTS.

Aphorisms and Epigrams 331

DIAGRAM I.

ILLUSTRATING THE AVERAGE BURDEN OF TAXATION IN PROPORTION TO PROPERTY UNDER THE PRESENT SYSTEM.

Estates.

Million

1 i

IOO

1 < i i i i i i i i

* i

1 '

* *

Thousand

IOO

1 1 i c

1 '

By the closest obtainable data it is found that very large estates do not, on the average, pay tax on more than one third their value, and that small estates are usually assessed in full, or pay three times as much in proportion as large estates.

XI

DIAGRAM II.

ILLUSTRATING THE EXACT RATIO OF TAX BURDEN TO PROPERTY

UNDER THE

PHRONOCRATIC CUMULATIVE SYSTEM.

Estates.

y z xViinion

2 I

.Thousand

1 1

700 600

1 1

1 '

4OO

* *

1 4 v

IOO

A t i

1 1

IO

7 6

< 1

1 '

X is supposed to be one-fiftieth of YZ.

The burden on a five-million estate is shown to be just fifty times as great per M. as on a one-hundred-thousand estate, and on smaller estates the burden is so light as to be inappreciable on the above scale.

DIAGRAM III.

ILLUSTRATING THE BURDEN OF PROTECTIVE TARIFF.

Rich

Protected

/ Tax \

Classes

/ Burden \

Poor

Non-

Tax

Protected

Burden

Laboring

Masses

DIAGRAM IV.

ILLUSTRATING THE RELATIVE BURDEN OF U. S. REVENUE UNDER PHRONOCRATIC CUMULATIVE TAXATION.

Rich

Tax Burden /

Classes

Middle

N^ Tax / ^v Burden /

Classes

Poor

Laboring

X

a H

o

Masses

POLITICS AND PROPERTY; PHRONOCRACY.

Chapter I

Man : his original state ; his advance toward civilization ; his acquisitiveness — Individual property : man's right to same — Government : its origin and progress — Popular strife and energy — Diversification of civilized wants — Trade and exchange : compromise between wealth and poverty — Phronocracy : its meaning and purpose.

It is evident to mankind in general, that the earth on which we reside — an infinitesimal portion of the material universe — exists. Whence it cometh or whither it goeth is beyond the ken even of the most profound and erudite of men. It is likewise apparent to the same general class that the animal called the human being exists on the surface of the earth ; but whence he cometh or whither he goeth is likewise veiled in mystery and shrouded in darkness. It is most reasonable to conclude that man began his existence within the tropics, whether on the Eastern or Western hemisphere, or whether at the date of his beginning the landed portion of the earth was co-extensive and conterminous is unknown and inconsequential. It is likewise evident that the primordial man existed in a state or condition which, as compared with the environments of what is properly denominated modern civilization, was absolutely barbaric. As time passed he progressed ; or, in other words, he began to exert his inherent power upon the existing inanimate matter that surrounded him ; and to use his force to such an extent as gratified his inclinations in the destruction and utilization of co-existing animate objects within the scope of his ordinary powers for purposes best suited to his wishes and wants. He ran the lion into his lair, he pursued the antelope into the jungles of the forest, he caught the fishes of the brooks and estuaries, he multiplied his own species, and as the population became more numerous, individuals thereof began to travel the surface of the earth, and in rudely constructed boats to navigate the landed confines of the unknown seas.

Later, when entering into lands and climes in which the rigors of the weather demanded other and altered appliances from those required for ordinary comfort in the sun-lit regions of his primitive abodes, he began to clothe himself in the skins of the inferior animals that he subjugated and destroyed, and to burrow holes in the ground for the purpose of constructing rude habitations, and to fell trees with which to construct primitive huts for shelter from the uncongenial and discomforting winds of his unaccustomed country. Finally, advancing into a state or condition from the standpoint of the present, properly demonstrated progress, he began to comprehend that he possessed, and proceeded to exercise, supreme dominion over things animate and inanimate around him. Commeasurably with his progress, or rather with his approach to that state or condition that most fittingly represents our present civilized life, there began to be displayed natural acquisitiveness prompted by a realizing sense of the absolute necessity for provision against want. He was able to fully comprehend that a hole in the ground was a more comfortable abode than the open landscape, and, later, that a rudely constructed log-hut was more suitable to his wants than a hole in the ground ; also, that the skin of a bear, a weasel, or a mink, could be so constructed as to be of much value in insuring that comfort which he desired and that contentment which he sought ; hence, he naturally began to possess himself of all of these that he could secure, and to use them at once, or to secrete them for the future. Naturally, therefore, the possession of individual property followed closely behind the approach of man to his present condition, and as civilization advanced the varieties and diversification of individual possessions multiplied. The furs of the animals he captured, the fish he caught, and the the trees he felled were naturally and rightfully the property of the man who secured them, and he cherished a natural unwillingness to divide with another. They were the fruit of his toil ; and, since they possessed originally no value, he acquired title by the effort expended in reprisal, and he had an unquestioned right to exert that effort ; and, having so done, would not now willingly become dispossessed without adequate compensation.

Having, therefore, progressed until individual property became an important element in human existence, it became necessary to institute some means of protection against attacks for the possession of that property upon the part of those of his fellow-men who possessed more dishonesty and less industry than himself. It soon became apparent that all men were not equal either in size or intuitions ; neither had they the same identical desires. They differed from each other as radically, though originally perhaps not more so, than the trees of the forest, and less so, doubtless, than the fishes of the sea. Why some grew to be stronger than others, or why some could combat successfully with the most ferocious beast and possess himself of its skin, if he desired it for clothing, or of its meat, if he wished it for food ; and why others could not, or at* least were less forcible in this quality than the most favored, was and still is unknown : it is the natural condition, that is all.

Continuing to advance nearer to the condition to which civilization has attained, that faculty of the human being called intelligence began to assume a wider scope and more comprehensive range.

Hitherto, scarcely mindful of the energies and forces of nature, he now began to realize that the wind would blow, that the lightning would flash, that the thunder would roar, that the sea would toss, that the seasons would change, and that Nature would wear continuously an altered aspect, and be subjected to changed conditions that he could not fathom or in any sense control ; hence he began to conclude that there must be some power that did control all these, that could exercise dominion over same, and so he ascribed to the sea its god, to the north wind its god, to the forces of Nature, or, in other words, to the agencies around him, and to personal attributes inherent in his kind and in things in general, their god or controller — hence, doubtless, the idea of a Supreme Being. Since the powers ascribed to the gods were insufficient to regulate and control individual passions, to insure peaceable possession of individual property, to protect the weak against the strong, or to regulate the ordinary affairs of life, there began to be established schemes and systems of government. At first the most forcible of a certain tribe or community would assert, and, by his physical and mental power, maintain, a supremacy over the balance of his fellow-men ; which, by reason of the inherent predisposition of men, caused by their observation of natural forces, to look to a power higher than themselves, crystallized into what was considered a right to rule. The chief seemed greater than the masses ; hence he must be nearer to the power that caused the winds to blow, the sea to toss, and the elements to be in action.

The desire for gain and for the manifestations of individual prowess would cause strife and contention between the chiefs of various tribes, until the strongest would subjugate the weakest, resulting in greater extensions of the rule of the successful individual ; and thus, as time rolled on, states and nations were builded up by the subjugation and absorption of smaller tribes and communities ; and, as their chieftains and rulers attained glory and renown, they were thought to be endowed with supernatural attainments consequent upon the belief that otherwise they could not so successfully, if at all, have achieved their greatness and power ; hence, perhaps, the idea of the "Divine appointment of the King." The ruler, once established in his kingly state, whether by force or otherwise, succession had to be provided for, and was, in earlier days in most cases, determined by force ; but more recently and in some parts of the world is in this day actually regulated by inheritance, as if any man could inherit, possess, or transmit the right to rule over his fellow-men. When, in 1776, the American colonists of King George III. conceived the idea that " all just power came from the consent of the governed," a great stride was made in the progress of the world. It was a radical departure from the idea of " Divine right," and hence more in keeping with progressive thought.

The attainment by man to that state of civilized life which suggested the advisability of or necessity for any system of government, was coeval with the development of man's acquisitiveness and the possession of individual property. In other words, the idea of government was suggested, and the institution in its most primitive form was established chiefly for the purpose of protection to property and life ; and the proper functions of government are to this day fully exercised, when protection to life and property have been secured and peaceful and uninterrupted possession thereof established and maintained. The numerous and varied manifestations and the unwarranted and non-essential exercise of governmental power can and should be limited to these simple agencies. Admitting, therefore, what appears to be self-evident, that the human being is so constituted that, apace with that progress which he has manifestly attained, he must have wants, and that his wants must prompt acquisitiveness, and that this attribute of his nature prompts accumulation, it is obvious that individual property is as much a natural condition as individual life ; hence that property, to the extent that its aggregate is reasonable and can be available to its possessor, should be held or possessed by him in uninterrupted enjoyment. To a certain extent, man in the abstract has a natural right to possess the earth and its belongings ; and, since all men are constituted, in the main, of the same kind of matter, and possess, to a greater or less extent, the same ability to enjoy pleasure, comfort, and ease, and have the same general disinclination to endure pain, discomfort, and toil, he should possess it ; yet it is no more possible to institute that condition in society which will render the equal possession of property possible, than it is possible to make all trees absorb from the earth and air the same amount of moisture, or cause all plants and animals to grow to the same uniform size — such is not the natural condition, that is all. The tree appears to have a natural right to that part of the soil from which its roots take nourishment, and to that share of space over which its branches ramify ; and so, in the enjoyment of that natural right, does it accreate and grow, bear its fruit, its seed, and carry out its apparent purpose and mission on earth, unless by the interference of some stronger power, as a cyclone or a storm — both as natural a consequence as the existence of the tree itself, — it is uprooted or destroyed, or unless, by the hand of man or by the teeth of a beaver or otherwise, it is hewn down and converted into something suitable for use. The stronger, whenever suitable to its wishes or purposes, will destroy the weaker ; the fittest, all things considered, will survive.

Society, from the time of early civilization, has, to a certain extent, acknowledged man's right to live, to maintenances from the resources of the earth ; and, in conformity with the acknowledgment of that right, has established and supported houses for the maimed, the decrepit, and, furthermore, for the poor. It has maintained hospitals for the sick, it has supported public parks and public roads — furthermore, it has supported public schools — in fact, it has in many cases recognized fully the agrarian and socialistic principle. To have extended this indulgence further — that is, to have opened all such recognized institutions to all who wished to become inmates — would be to place a premium on idleness, and thus paralyze the world's affairs.

The natural inclinations of men to possess and retain property has never been denied. The assertions of a few misanthropic agitators that, though natural, it should never be allowed ; that all the world's effects should be considered common property has never gained much support, because such views are not only irrational but unnatural Mep always have had and always will have wants, they always did and always will strive to supply those wants, and he who is sufficiently energetic or sufficiently fortunate to acquire the means of gratifying those wants never did and never will consent to an equal division with his fellows, who have been either less energetic or less fortunate ; hence all ideas looking to the abolition of government which has been established for the protection of this personal property and life should be absolutely abandoned, and the thoughts of men directed towards the institution of some social or governmental system, by virtue of which the personal accumulations of men cannot become so colossal as to be useless and unwieldy to their possessors and a detriment to the well-being of communities ; and, at the same time, towards providing for every individual increased opportunity for acquiring a reasonable competency and an increased security of its peaceful enjoyment after having been acquired. For years a constant and unrelenting strife has existed between employer and employe, which, with disagreeable and finally with alarming frequency, has interrupted the trade and business of the world ; has caused distrust and insecurity to become rife in all moneyed centres, which has pervaded the body politic, permeated every enterprise, and stifled the progress of the world's affairs. So great and so irremediable appears to be the discontent of the masses that, in 1890, the Emperor of Germany, whose predecessors and compeers had never hitherto vaguely dreamed of recognizing or countenancing the cogent force of popular unrest and intrigue, called a conference of laboring men for the purpose of considering the cause of the prevailing universal complaint, and, if possible, to provide a remedy.

In keeping with the influences and conditions that usually prevail where no definite plan is proposed — no definite end at which all could aim, suggested, — this and many other conferences of similar character and import resulted in nothing save to aggravate rather than to assuage the manifest grievances under which the masses groaned. In America, Russia, and France, incipient manifestations of anarchism have been from time to time displayed, but such is the force of prudence and good sense that no great upheaval of the people with an unconquerable spirit to burn, pillage, and rob, has yet occurred.

Civilization has reached such a condition that, though the whole of Europe is armed for the purpose of maintaining national autonomy, thwarting foreign aggression, and suppressing domestic insurrection, yet most contentions and differences, whether national, social, commercial, or individual, are settled by the arbitraments of peace, not by the sword and cannon in the ghastly throes of bloody war.

Discussions, even in the iron-ruled and tyrannically oppressed empires of Europe, are prevalent, both on the hustings and in the prints.

No direct effort has been of late years made at the dethronement of governments ; but murmurs of discontent are uttered by the people of those countries where the popular voice, though capable of being uttered, cannot be made effectual, by reason of the oppression of the military and the divine right of the king.

In America the difficulty has existed not in the ability to change or modify existing conditions, but to devise some plan that would receive the support of a sufficient number to make its purposes effective. Some orators and writers have maintained that the people are suffering from no grievance that legislation can mitigate, much less relieve ; that the gulf between Dives and Lazarus always existed, and always would exist ; that civilization requires that there should be a master and a slave, or rather an employer and an employe ; that we must have scrapers for our streets and stokers for our ships ; that we can never more effectually eradicate poverty than we can extirpate disease ; and, in fact, that the world would be no better if all were in affluence, or even possessed of a reasonable degree of comfort, than if a few were opulent and the many in rags.

Others, however, maintain that the earth belongs in usufruct to the people, which in a measure is true, and that all men are entitled to its benefits and rewards ; that the fact that the wealth of the world is being so rapidly concentrated into the hands of the few, and to an extent that does not benefit but actually burthens its possessors, is an unnatural condition, and should be changed.

A few individuals now become possessed of a property that is monopolistic in its nature ; and, by reason of the rapid increase of population and consequent increased demand, there arises an increase in value — " an unearned increment," — for which the owners are in no sense responsible, and of which they should never be possessed, beyond certain reasonable limitations.

Labor organizations combine so as to curtail the supply ; demand shorter hours for work, so as to give occupation to more individuals or to lessen the burthen upon those who are engaged. Capital will concentrate into trusts and associations, so that it becomes a matter of serious doubt whether or not all capital will not eventually drift into one grand monopoly and labor into one discontented mass.

Among the extremists of both sides who are capable of considering, and who possess inherently the candor to confess, there seems to obtain a concurrence of opinion that possibly the present conditions are not as good as they might be made, nor yet as bad as they have been pictured. Anarchy having been absolutely abandoned by thinking men, there remains only those who recognize man's right to property, hence the necessity for some kind of government. The first class maintain that the existence of wealth and poverty are natural conditions, essential to the progress of civilization, and cannot be altered ; the second claiming that there must be a more equitable distribution of wealth, and consequent alleviation of the pangs of poverty.