The land is a solemn gift, which nature has made to man; to be born, then, is for each of us a title of possession. The child has no better birthright to the breast of its mother. Jean-Francois Marmontel, 1757:... Continue reading

from Land and Freedom, January-February 1940, at https://cooperative-individualism.org/land-and-freedom-1940-jan-feb.pdf Prophetic Words I CAME upon a sentence which I submit is prophetic in high degree: “Is it too soon to hope that it may be the mission of this Republic to unite... Continue reading

The American Republic: Its Dangers and Possibilities. [An oration delivered in the California Theatre, San Francisco, on the celebration of the 4th of July, 1877, by Henry George.] Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is under circumstances that inspire gratitude... Continue reading

Mr. George's Oration California yesterday had somewhat the advantage of the rest of the country in the matter of oratory. The one great light of the East was Senator Blaine, who took advantage of the occasion to formulate his views... Continue reading

The Great Need of the Country San Francisco Examiner, July 6, 1877, on Henry George's Speech We have already made some reference to the oration delivered by Mr. Henry George in this city on Independence Day, which we listened to... Continue reading

1976 DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF EVIDENT: 1 - THAT all human beings are born with equal rights to the earth, which is the source of their physical needs and the field and opportunity of... Continue reading

144 years, another presidential election year --- and weeks after the centennial. THE QUESTION BEFORE THE PEOPLE. What is the Real Issue in the Presidential Campaign? A SPEECH BY HENRY GEORGE, BEFORE THE TILDEN AND HENDRICKS CENTRAL CLUB, AT DASHAWAY... Continue reading

This is a very long speech; it stretched over 2 days. It was occasioned by discussion of legislation on Chinese exclusion. James G. Maguire (1853-1920) represented San Francisco in Congress from 1893 to 1899. Georgists are acquainted with him in... Continue reading

MONKEYS AND MEN. Go to the monkey, thou voter! Consider his ways and be wise. Do the monkeys pay ground rent to the descendants of the first old ape who discovered the valley where the monkeys live? Do they hire... Continue reading

From an 1899 newspaper: FIGHTING LEAFLET OF THE SCOTTISH ASSOCIATION. The Scottish Liberal Association has just issued the following as a fighting leaflet, written by Mr. Edwin Adam. M. A., vice-president of the Scottish Land Restoration Union: The Taxation of... Continue reading

This appeared in the San Francisco Call 1898-10-12. The claims he makes for the Single Tax start with one to which many 21st century folks would at first hearing, think "non-starter." But I urge you to think further, and think... Continue reading

The Study of Economics. The important study of economics cannot be prosecuted correctly without an understanding of economic terms. Most persons who attempt to discuss economic questions fail of reaching correct conclusions because they do not understand the true meaning... Continue reading

"Profit sharing,” proclaims the Rev. Golightly. "Yes, profit sharing," says William the Conqueror. "Yea, profit sharing,” says the lion to the lamb. And thus we share so that while one feasts at a banquet another gnaws at the fag-end of... Continue reading

http://www.cooperative-individualism.org/freeland-a_squirrel-island-191x.pdf SQUIRREL ISLAND By A. FREELAND. One hundred squirrels lived on a certain island which contained a thousand nut trees. Each tree yielded sufficient nuts to support one hundred squirrels. But all of the trees were owned by ten of... Continue reading

https://books.google.com/books?pg=PA26&id=5VKP3aty_U4C#v=onepage&q&f=false From The Conservator, April, 1895 from the masthead: "The Conservator is an exponent of the world movement in Ethics. It is not published in the interest of any sect or party, but of Ethical principle and practice as reflected... Continue reading

This appeared in Single Tax Review in Autumn, 1905. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE VINDICATED. (For the Review.) By J. W. BENGOUGH. There are some people in the United States who take the position more or less openly that the Declaration... Continue reading

John Wilson Bengough was a skilled artist and cartoonist, but he was also skilled with words. This appeared in Single Tax Review, Winter 1906. “PROPUTTY.” (For the Review.) A LECTURETTE IN RHYME. I took up my Tennyson lately and read... Continue reading

"The Single Tax party had a curious electioneering badge for use in the New York Mayoralty Campaign. This consisted of a white cat with an arched back, and hair on end, while round the border is the legend "Free Trade,... Continue reading

The final few pages of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' 1942 book Cross Creek, ring with the thought of Thomas Jefferson and Henry George: I had a letter from a friend at this time, saying "I am a firm believer in property... Continue reading

If you've been reading about Henry George's ideas for a while, particularly in older writings, you might have come across references to "seeing the cat." It might be "have you seen the cat?" or "how I saw the cat" or more commonly, "do you see the cat?" It is a shorthand for "have you seen the big picture?" "do you get how all this fits together to solve what otherwise seems to be unsolvable?" Continue reading

From The Sacramento Bee, July 18, 1900: Mary and Her Landlord Mary opened a little shop To help her on life's way: And honest toil found its reward And it began to pay. “How's biz?" the landlords often asked, And... Continue reading

This tribute, by Phil Francis, appeared in the 1897-11-12 issue of the Sacramento Bee, about 2 weeks after Henry George's death in NYC, and was reprinted from the Stockton Mail. Some of seems a bit overwrought today, perhaps, particularly to... Continue reading

"ON EARTH PEACE, GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN." T. V. POWDERLY. Terence V. Powderly was born January 22, 1849, at Carbondale, Pennsylvania. His parents were natives of Ireland and were honest hard-working people.The boy's school days ended at the age of... Continue reading

I had thought that this phrase came from J. W. Bengough, in 1914. (For quite some time, I thought I'd originated it, in the shower one morning around 2010, and was later delighted to find that Bengough, creator of The... Continue reading

Some governments are better than others, but there is not a really good government on the face of the earth that raises its revenues by indirect taxation. It is impossible. Such a government must rob one citizen of wealth to... Continue reading