Perhaps never before in the known history of the human race has there been so much attention paid to the imperative necessity of seeking a solution to the problems of life. On all sides theories were advanced which, it is claimed by their supporters, if carried out would prove a panacea for all the ills to which flesh is heir.
Whether it be true or not that a solution is to be attained through legislation and the change of outer conditions — as advocated by most of these theories — or whether it will be reached only through the realization of Brotherhood in the heart and life of the individual in spite of outer conditions need not be discussed here. But it will be generally conceded that the touchstone of all these theories is the extent to which they tend to a realization of Brotherhood without any distinctions whatever.
There have been in all times those who have worked for Brotherhood, who have felt in their hearts the unity and solidarity of the human race and sought to realize it in their relations with their fellow men. Henry George's theories may or may not be feasible, they may or may not contain a solution of the economic problem, but be that as it may, the name of Henry George stands high among those who in this 19th century have sought the betterment of the race and the amelioration of the wrongs and injustices of life.
A few days after Henry George's death I was conversing with a friend, a Theosophist, who said: "The last time I had a talk with Henry George was in '94 on the train from Hamilton, Canada, to Albany, N. Y. He was, as always, ready to talk on the single tax as a panacea of all the ills of humanity, such he believed it. He seemed to have reached a conclusion that all other theories than those he advocated were theories only, not reducible to practice. He so regarded Theosophy, of which he had read something and expressed impatience with what he called its visionary ideas, especially that of Reincarnation. However he asked me to give him a fuller explanation of Reincarnation and listened most attentively and sympathetically and finally said: 'Yes, there seems to be a great worth there but it is too late in life for me to advocate it even if so disposed. I have devoted my life to an attempt to give men a practical solution of their economic errors.' To this I replied: 'But, Mr. George, you do not expect to see their realization during your life and you are therefore working for those unborn, though if reincarnation be true you will yet see the fruition of your labors.' He then said: 'No, my ideas will not be established in my day, although I once hoped so, I am working as you say for posterity.'
"Just before we reached Albany, where we separated, he said with a sort of regret that if only he could come to look upon reincarnation as a tenable theory, how much it would help in the work of reform.
"I also met Mr. George in '93, when he was invited to attend the dinner of a club of prominent New England manufacturers and capitalists. This he declined at first and on renewal of the invitation he expressed himself in no measured terms that nothing would induce him to furnish entertainment for the after-dinner hour of well-fed landlords. However on a further representation that he would have a really interested audience he accepted and the sequel was that his clear and logical presentation of his views aroused these conservative men to put to him serious and interested queries, his replies to which swept away many grave misunderstandings. I have often reflected since that could Henry George have had such audiences throughout the country he would very quickly have disarmed the prejudice of the so-called conservative property owners and so hastened the day when we should have had intelligent legislation based upon his theories."
Henry George was a lover of humanity, he saw the miseries and the injustices of life and he concentrated all his energy and intellect to the cause of economic justice and right. The strong undercurrent of his life and the ideal which he pictured for humanity is best told in the following remarkable passage in "Progress and Poverty," in which his recognition of the undying soul finds such lofty and beautiful expression:
"Passing into higher forms of desire, that which slumbered in the plant and fitfully stirred in the beast awakes in the man. The eyes of the mind are opened and he longs to know. He braves the scorching heat of the desert and the icy blasts of the polar sea, but not for food; he watches all night, but it is to trace the circling of the eternal stars. He adds toil to toil to gratify a hunger no animal has felt, to assuage a thirst no beast can know.
"Out upon nature, in upon himself, back through the mists that shroud the past, forward into the darkness that overhangs the future, turns the restless desire that arises when the animal wants slumber in satisfaction. Beneath things he seeks the law; he would know how the globe was forged and the stars were hung, and traces to their sources the springs of life. And then, as the man develops his noble nature, there arises the desire higher yet — the passion of passions, the hope of hopes — the desire that he, even he, may somehow aid in making life better and brighter, in destroying want and sin, sorrow and shame. He masters and curbs the animal; he turns his back upon the feast and renounces the place of power; he leaves it to others to accumulate wealth, to gratify pleasant tastes, to bask themselves in the warm sunshine of the brief day. He works for those he never saw and never can see. . . . He toils in the advance, where it is cold, and there is little cheer from men, and the stones are sharp and the brambles thick. Amid the scoffs of the present and the sneers that stab like knives, he builds for the future; he cuts the trail that progressive humanity may hereafter broaden into a railroad. Into higher, grander spheres desire mounts and beckons, and a star that rises in the east leads him on. Lo! the pulses of the man throb with the yearnings of the god, — he would aid in the process of the suns."