onger any other taxes, the cost of living would be greatly
lessened, and every man would be able to earn enough to support his
family in comfort--and poverty would be at an end.
It is claimed for Mr. George's theory that no one has been able to find
an argument which disproves it; but at the same time it has not yet been
proved by practical use, and to many people it seems only a wonderful
idea which can never be brought into working order.
Be that as it may, Henry George was one of the really great men of our
century; and while the troubles between labor and capital exist, he can
never be forgotten.
Mr. George did not go into the campaign from any desire of personal gain
or profit. He felt that it was a critical moment in the history of the
city, and he ran for the mayoralty of Greater New York because he
thought he was needed by the people whom he so greatly loved.
The cause of the people was ever nearest his heart, and to benefit them
he willingly gave up the comfort of his quiet home, and the labor in
which he found his greatest pleasure, the writing of a book on the
"Science of Political Economy," which he had hoped would prove a greater
work than his famous "Progress and Poverty."
Mr. George was not, however, strong enough to stand the strain and worry
of a political campaign. His health gave way under it.
The night before his death he overtaxed his strength by speaking in
several different places, making several tiring speeches on the same
evening, and hurrying from one meeting to be in time for the next. Worn
out by the burdens which he was not strong enough to bear, he passed
away in his sleep, stricken with apoplexy.
Rich and poor alike mourn the loss of this great man. On the Sunday
after his death his body lay in state in New York that the people whom
he had loved so well might bid good-by to their friend. For hours they
passed by his bier; rich and poor, young and old followed each other in
the long line.
At the funeral services which were held later, many ministers of
different sects and religions combined in the praise of the great and
good man who had passed away in the act of doing his duty.
* * * * *
The establishing of Home Rule in Cuba does not seem as near as the
Spaniards would have us believe. An official who understands the ins and
outs of Spanish policy declares that it will be fully a year before the
proposed reforms can be put into working or
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