The Rebel (Hallettsville, Tex.), Vol. [2], No. 58, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 10, 1912 Page: 3 of 4
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Ilflp*
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tHB SOLUTION
WmiSsii>*- ' •; *tp#f ? X Tj&E
iCoqtiiined fri>m page 2.)
'iif-f '-i-?.•-' *f" •X""1'. X. •' V>T3'?',1 ,• ■>•
(original deeds. Were written
btoTw 'tWr current coin given in payment and
uqed in preference to war".
i \ T war even so in Texas. The eatt& companies wh
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LAND
HCJVJLIZA
(By Gordon Jtys.)
r seals blood waa
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sword
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fllfi'::. My
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gg*g
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"JjK.y-r,
*■ '-'•■'••Vte
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ammmlm
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stealing the
employed gun-men more vicious than the western
corporations ever dreamed of, and indeed some of
_ _ ed by the Mine Owners Association,- notably
drain, of whom Haywood Could tell a wonderful tale. These
were used to scare away the "Nesters" as the bona fide settlers wei
called who went out into the wilderness to carve out a home for their
wives and babies. Hundreds of them refused to leave and were shot
•• - —i ii _i I '
IIKB UttgB, wutru uir nttii neut.<w~~.
- So plain is this trail of blood snd fraud that I am serenely con-
fident that did we but possess a Socialist Legislature at Austin, that
would be responsive to the best interest of the disinherited masses of
Texas, they would appropriate $100,000 to investigate the Land
Commissioner's office and the result would be> I am sure* that a
number of the smug gentlemen, who own great tracts of land in
Texas would be deprived of their stolen goods and to save themselves
from the penitentiary would seek sanctuary in a leas healthy clime
'"than Texas. v-•
TENANTRY INEVITABLE,
T-\-Ti" —Vi"-?''•• "" - • - -*r- * ",'T' ' ' ' '.-•J • y.„. v • .•
In the face of the conditions, just sketched, it was inevitable
that Texas in spite of her enormous area of free land should soon find
tenantry developing. In 1870 5 per cent of the men who tilled the
soil in Texas were renters. In 1900 50 per cent Were renters, while in
1910 71 per cent is operated by renters, while in the richest black
land counties, such as Bell and Falls, 82 per cent of the land is oper-
ated by renters. In connection with this I mky say that I have had
some discussions with some of our socialist statisticians who claimed
that the figures were somewhat lew than I have given, but they over-
looked the important fact, however, that the average renter needs
from 80 to 160 acres according to his family to make a living and
that there are 29,118 farmers who own les8 than 19 acres, a large
proportion of whom are compelled to become renters so that they
may live, and this is also true of the 98,363 farmers who own from 20
to 40 acres, hence my figures are conservative,
If is -?/
•"'!!' '«)• /
■ mm. MIIIUii. '
Once every century one lone man is fighting against a government
PROM THE FRONT.
Alexandria, La., Aug. 5,1912.
Dear Comrade Hie key:-—I en-
close you an article for The Rebel
of Aug. 17th, the "Timber Work-
ers Special", which I hope meets
your wants. Use it to the best ad-
vani ige in any way your judgment
dictates. I hope the special will be
one of the greatest eyer and will
stir all the Southland to its soul,
for it is going to take the hardest
kind of hard fighting to save the
boys. Thanks to the Socialist press
they are now treating t£e boys
mnro decentlv T-M'a trv t/i crivA
..-■--W.w— . —. ™T~ 1. - " #
the Southern Lumber Operators
Association what it does not want
—publicity and the naked truth'
Yours for the Revolution.
t. Covington Hall.
(Mr. Hall's article will be a
powerful and searching analysis
of tjie situation in the timber re-
gions. Note what he says about
it taking the "hardest kind of a
fight" to clear the boys and that
publicity will do it.
Let every reader of The Rebel
circulate the Timber Workers Ed-
ition of August 17 in every nook
and corner of the South. 7 Let us
give the timber tyrants publicity
until they gag.—Ed.)
INCREASING RENTALS
Z&.
is born who is right.
The world has then a Wendell
Phillips or a Carl Marx. Theae
men suffer the misfortunes of liv-
| ing ahead of their time. They see*
visions and dream! dreams which
pf money; fighting the preposter
ous condition which enables a few
men with money to control the re-
public and all its natural resour-
ces. . ;
The Masters of the Bread secure
/■-.Mm-fTtz-f
-
These renters of Texas, for two generations, have been accustom-
ed to pay the landlord the traditional third and fourth, which means
that of every three bushels.of corn and grain that they produce, the
landlord takes one, pf every four bales of cotton, the tenant
produces, the landlord takes one. To the intense disgust of the renter
this third and fourth system is passing away. The landlords have
commenced to demand a third all round, which means that the
tenant must give up one bale out of every three instead of one out of
every four. irS
Then tKe landlords commenced to demand of the tenant $1.00 an
acre bPnus, And some landlords have demanded as high as two and
three dollars an acre bonus as well as the third and fourth. The put-
ting through of these reductions in the renter's income produced a
storm of discontent and was the main factor that led to the organiz-
ation of the Renters Union, and inasmuch as the economic laws of
capitalism will not permit of a reduction in these burdess now being
> iled upon the renters it is inevitable that the Renters Union shall
grow until it is the largest union in the United States. .
WHY THEY WONT OOJ4E DOWN.
I will not sketch the reasons why the landlords will not and can-
not reduce these burdens: . °/v t
Within J>as£ fifteen years there has been a steady flow of
'capital to Texas, It was mostly brought to the State by wealthy
farmers of Iowa, Nebraska* Missouri, Ohio and Illinois, who had sold
out their lands at an enormous increase over what their .fathers had
secured them for. They believed they could come to Texas, buy lands
at a "reasonable" price and trust to the growth of the State to
enable them to seeure large piles of unearned increment. They found
however that the gentlMen" already en ~the ground were able to
maintain the price of land at a very high figure largely because of
. > a i <1 • a 1: .j 1.1' _U L.J J<nAnMAA«AM A*i/i All nnnne vxr/v*aA
are a hundred years ahead of the j control of these natural resources
people. They protest against j through legislation. They hire pol-
wrongs inflicted by the strong up-. iticians and get their paid bosses
| on the weak, and for this society j to marshull the ignorant voters to
brands them traitors and anarch- j the polls where they vote them
ists. ! like a flock of sheep. These paid
At every step of human progress bosses use their influence to get the
I when for a time it seemed that the
masses Were to be enslaved by
brutal injustice and the fight of
I truth was tp be extinguished to re-
turn no more forever — some
[brave man representing a new
voters to I'ttst their ballot for the
master's ticket.
This system of capitalism re-
present* the spoliation of the pro
ducer by the non-producer; the
plunder of the weak by the strong;
ideal, snatched the leadership and i the rifling of the greenhorn by the
forced a new consciousness upon sharper: 'lie robbery of the merch-
the minds of the people. >' ant vessel by the pirate; the foray
These men were destroyed by the' of the feudal chief against the un-
mob. They gave their lives that armed traders passing his castle
the ideal mightlive to benefit the
I very people Who had crucified
them. The names of those compos*'
ing the mobs are forgotten, but the
[names of the murdered men and
|their ideals live; and you and 1
|e«joy the heritage bestowed upon
us by these martyrs. ,
In our own contry the idealist
Not one dollar did the bond
holders of the country ever add to
the nation's wealth. Not one dollar
did the I anker, railroad president,
stock sjh eulator or trust organizer
ever produce.
Afar off in the thousand fields
of industry the toiler is adding to
the nation's store of wealth. In the
mine,the quarry, the mill, the shop,
the field and the forest the laborer
is bending at his task, but in every
city in the land is enthroned the
non producer—the capitalist. His
constant care is to Watch the pro-
ducer and relieve him of his wealth
as fast as he produces it. The laws
have been so deftly framed that no
violence occurs as the property
changes hands. In the old times
the person robbed had at least a
chance to fight fos his chattel. He
could fight like a brave man, sword
in hand, in defense of purse, of
home and fireside.
How can the producer fight for
his product now? If he dared to
raise his arm he would bo « rebel,
an outlaw. He would be fighting
the state militia, or federal of-
ficers, who unconsciously act as
agents for the Master class. He
would be shot down, as they are
now shooting the timber workers
of the south.,
'Yet, we, as a so-called "intellig-
ent" people, seem to enjoy this
political bijnco. \Ve call it "high
civilization". We appear not to
have enough sense to uso our bal-
lot to end this infamy in these civ-
ilized and Christian times.
Front President Emerson.
Lake Charlea Jail, Aug. 7, 1912.
Mr. T. A. Iliokey,
Hallettavile, Tex.
Dear Mr. Ilickey:— I guess you
think I am rather slow lettihg you
hear from mo. 1 have been sick
mentally for some time. There is •
so much noise in here that one can
hardly think.
I want you to understand that
all of us appreciate all you are do-
ing 'for' us and words can ndVer be
found to express our appreciation.
f aha sending you an article to
print on the 17th. Hall will also
send you a general writeup.
A. L. Emerson,
President B. T^ W.
(The article of Mr. Emerson will
be the first statement from him
since the Grabow massacre. It is
alive with interest. Every work-
ingman and farmer of the South
should read it. We shall also print
n photo of Emerson on the 17th.—
Ed.)
Please state in next issue that the
Waco Socialist ^ Encampment,
agreed on owl partially arranged
for August 11, 12 and 13, has been
called off. W. A. Walker .
moved to action with the hope of such a reward for victory. J
I will pass over the great broad faet that all the proletariat oT
all the Nation has all the world to gain l>y the establishment of the
Socialist Republic. My readers will note that I am writing about an
the fact that the public domain had disappeared and all hands were industrial union and not about the general philosophy of Socialism
r • . _ ... .. .i • • (•■ i i i iUa fx ilmi I h awa oni fnrln
1 •
I'
I
I
inclined to hold the land which, unlike other things, is a fixed
quantity.
* Thus it happens that land that in the 70's sold for $2 per acre
'jumped to $40, $50, $100 and even higher. I was on one section of
black land in Bell county near the town of Rogers last year that had
just been sold to a Northern man for $150 an acre. The renters who
work this land when it was selling at $50 an acre, paid a third and
fourth and the landlord was satisfied with receiving a good return
upon his investment, but wheh this land went to $150 an acre the new
purchaser found that after meeting the fixed charge* he could not
secure 2 per cent on his investment, hence was compelled, in order to
receive wh(\t he considered an adequate return to demand as well as
the third and fourth, $3.00 an acre bonus.
On the poorer lands, where production is not half what it is in
the rich black land, a corresponding condition obtains, but the land
twing cheaper in price causes the landlord to ask a smaller bonus
than in the black land belt. In either case the renter finds himself
Let us mass the facts that I have set forth.
Here is land far.jrcatqr in area than the German natxon that
has been grabbed by a few exploiters in fifty years. From being prac-
tically worthless the land has gonclo a price that the workers can-
not think of purchasing. The great public, domain has disappeared.
Where there were no tenants there are vow 219,000. The bonus sys-
tem has been introduced. The landlord has increased his demand on
the crop, and each year finds the tenant sinking to an ever lower
level,
RENTERS UNION ORGANIZED.
These facts have led to the organization of the Renters Union of
North America. On the fifth day of last November, in the labor hall
in the city of Waco, 110 delegates, from 24 counties, met in conven-
tion for the purpose of.launching the Rentere Union. Every man paid
his own expenses, some of them stopped at the dollar-a-day hotels
and others slept in the wagon yards. I attended the convention and
in consideration of the fact that I had written the first call for the
actual tiller of the soil.
Eighth, they provided that a man who owns bis small home
might be eligible to membership but any man who rented as much
as one acre of land could not pass the portals of the union.
Ninth, they demanded that the bonus system should cease, that
no man should give a thircf of the crop. That the third in grain and
the fourth in cotton should be the limit that they would give the
landlord.
-Tenth, they arranged for a widespread educational propaganda
for the renters, their wives and their children under eleven separate
heads.
Eleventh, they placed the dues at the lowest possible level, 50c
initiation, 15c a quarter.
Twelfth, they demanded that all of their affairs, as far as pos-
sible, should be conducted by the initiative, referendum and recall.
HEADQUARTERS ESTABL;
*:• ii
-in the same position as the city wage earner. That is, he just receives . T .
enough to keep body and soul together and enable him, to prepare for | organization in The Rebel on the l5t^t
— the next day's ML
LAND SPECULATORS IN OLOV*.
■ i .1 . • * .1
The Second reason for the inevitable growth of the RentersUnion
- is found in the fact that owing to the antiquated constitution under
which the State of Texas is being ruled and that was drafted origin-
ally in the interest of the landlords, it is impossible to place an ad-
equate tax-upon idlfe land that is held out of cultivation for specul-
r;'. ative puposes. The constitution provides that land shall not be taxed
more than 35c on the $100, and the actual tax is considerably less
than half of that sum. __
Hence the million acre land owners pay this petty tax on \hv
millions of acres of land that they have fenced in and lie back in
silent satisfaction as they watch the population growing by the nat-
f • ural growth within the State and the immense immigration from
without. To give my readers an idea of the blighting effects upon the
renter that results from this policy I will quote from an article
published in the Chicago Tribune some months ago that was written
,by the present .Governor of Texas, O. B, Colquitt. He said;
There ate 146,000,000 acres of land in Texas that has never felt
the caressing touch of the plow; 46,000,000 acres of this land is of a
mountainous and arid character, but there is 100,000.000 acres of
fine arable land that has never teen tilled-" The Governor goes on tn
say "AU the public dgmain has gone. All of this land is now fenced\ in
in M ds." } "V " v-f K
M
X
TENANTS INCREASING.
- --.y
tion honored me by placing me on the committee on by-laws and
constitution in an advisory capacity. I have attended many conven-
tions during my twenty years in the labor movement, but never one
that displayed more-singleness of purpose, unity of action, clearness
of thought or had acleaner personelle than the men who formed this
The slogan of the convention was LANDLORDISM MUST GO.
When our labors were completed I returned to ray home con-
fident that the ground work had been laid for an industrial union
that po^sses greater potential strength than any other union in the
Nation.
* This is what the convention decided upon as its eourse of ac-
tion : i
I First, they declared with Chancellor Kent and Sir William
B'eckstone, that use and occupancy was the only genuine title to
land. - .
Second, they declare that a confiscatory tax should be placed on
r! land held out of cultivation for speculative-purposes.
Third, they declared that the orgjyiization should be strictly non
^'litionl and non-sectarian. . ,«■ : • • ••
Fourth, they demanded a change in the State Constitution that
would secure the objeets outlined above.
F:fth. they declared that when the organization-was well under
way that a committee from the Union should he sent to the political
/. '.^yjutiona of «vwv nsrtv in Texas with aifttjatsl w s>laec fcu their
nl'ftforms a plank demanding an amendment to the constitution that
"•r-uld enable them to tax the land held for speculative purposes and
t^at wonld make use and occupancy the title to land. They further
,-,4. v ■ ■ * - • • w v- 1 . ' i . ' % ^ _ f _
After pondering over this statement of the governor's I would -pledged themselves to use all honorable methods to destroy the polit
is continuously in- , joai party.^be it Republican, Democrat, Prohibition or Socialist that
tike to then point out that the number of tenants i
creasing. In 1900 there were 174,991 white tenants, by 1910 they had
' increased to 219,196, an increase of 44,115 in ten years.
If we take a pencil and divide the 219,000 tenants into the 100,-
000,000 acres of arable latad that Governor Colquitt speaks
of, we find that each renter could have a farm of 456 acres of good
arable land while the other 46,600,000 acreg of jland is good for stock
grazing. I .r- .
figfojer* TShere in all ih at
tions is there a definite distinct proletarian group that was ever
would not accede to t,he:r flemands.
Six-th, they took ,a positive strfbd for industrial autonomy and
^itile declaring Texas State Division No. 1 the parent organization
with the right to issue eharters6 in other states, yet aa soon as
40 local organisations were chartered in the state then a state con-
vention should be called that would elect state officers and secure
autonomy within that state.
* ftev-anthi 'thcy *7Mwd ;R a-Sowscr's •3*9aa£satte& by
providing that no ore was eligible tjg membership who was not an
y.l,', ■ .. -SuC
Headquarters have been established at Hallettsville, Texas, with
E. O. Meitzen acting as Secretary-Treasurer. The President is Hugh
Moore who resides at Chilton. Texas. Organizers have been appointed,
pamphlets have been written a constitution and by-laws adopted, a
large number of locals have been chartered and when the second
annual convention occurs at Waco on November 8, the Renters Union
delegates will meet prepared to t^kc such steps as will bring the entire
renting proletariat of the South within the sphere of their influence.
— One significant thing may be noticed in connection with this
Renters Union: It has been of great value to us in building up the
Socialist Party. It has broken down a wall of prejudice that stood
between the renters and the Socialist Party. The Democratic Party
renters have had the big fast rubbed under their nose that it was the
Socialists ofTexas that were the most active spirits in coming to their
assistance when the difficult work of organization was projected.
They are commencing to understand the necessity of using both the
political and economic arm. Their old time leaders are being put to
the test and found wanting. Their union is drawing the^lass line taut.
Before the launching of the Renters Union the landlord and tenant
would walk arm in arm to the same primary, but now they
arnte at the union door and the renter is beginning to vote for the
interest of himself and his class.
Another great advantage to the Socialist propaganda to b,. do-
rived from this movement is that through strong Organization th *
"••Titer can no longer be blacklisted or boycotted by landlord* on
count of political or religious beliefs or other flini"y reasons
ae-
IIAH "GOODS" OS LEMHO.XX
VC?'*~X\\';:
Dunn, Texas, July 18, .1912
To the Readers of the Rebel:
Everyone wanting a history of
W. F. Lemmona, write to Bynum1
Black, Ravenden Springs, Ark
and enclose self addressed envelope
for return and he will give you his
dark record. I want every reader
of the Refcel, who is a member of
the ehurch of Christ to write the
editor of the F. F. of Austin.1 Tex.,
thst the book written by W. F.
Leramons snd published by the
F F. Pub. Co.;on " IMls of Social-
ism'' is slanderpus, misquotes the
Uible, contradict* itself, strenKht
ens the hand of the infidel and that
we insist that he openly apolognur
through the column* of th« F. F
Wr "publishing rtiu udmtiamg
such an infamous slander
the oppressed workers of the world
and the only workingiman party of
the world. g
Fraternally,
(Signed) G. A. l#iub«rtb
J'
FOR 8A LK—4
19 em Mustang iu*>liu*f jt. i<
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Hickey, T. A. The Rebel (Hallettsville, Tex.), Vol. [2], No. 58, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 10, 1912, newspaper, August 10, 1912; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth394672/m1/3/?q=%22%22~1: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UT San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.