These various schemes described under “third” will be called the “socialistic schemes.” The Taxing-out Scheme Mr. George thus describes his “taxing-out scheme” at p. 288 of _Progress and Poverty_: “I do not propose either to purchase or to confiscate private property in land. The first would be unjust; the second needless. Let the individuals who now hold it still retain, if they want to, possession of what they are pleased to call _their_ land. Let them continue to call it _their_ land. Let them buy and sell, bequeath and devise it. We may safely leave them the shell if we take the kernel. _It is not necessary to confiscate land, it is only necessary to confiscate rent._” In regard to the “George scheme,” the whole point is whether there is any special justification for confiscating an income derived from land as compared with other incomes. The State Purchase Scheme The object of the “Land Nationalization Society’s scheme” as published is “to establish public ownership of land by means of fair compensation based on its value as ascertained for purposes of taxation.” It is insisted that the State should take possession of agricultural land first and of house property at a later period. Public ownership, it is claimed, will secure: (1) That the use of land will be easily obtainable by all classes of the community without being subject to the veto of any landowner. (2) That the best possible conditions of tenancy will be established so that all State tenants will have the same security as freeholders have to-day and full right to the value of the improvements they make. (3) That the community will be able to determine in the general interests of all to what uses the land shall be put. (4) That ultimately the whole value of the land will be secured for the common good. This, of course, is only a summarized statement of the alleged benefits of State purchase. They are expanded into great detail by the Land Nationalization Society in its various publications. The Socialistic Confiscation Schemes The chief characteristic of the “socialistic schemes” is confiscation pure and simple. How exactly that is to be effected depends upon the particular school of Socialism; the constitutionalists say by legislation; the revolutionaries say by direct action culminating in the social revolution. The Conceptions Underlying Each Scheme The fundamental conceptions underlying the schemes are as follows: (_a_) The _Georgites_ contend that the bare land was given by God to the human race but was afterwards stolen by robber barons, or taken by wicked kings from the people and handed over on fictitious grounds or nefarious reasons to courtiers who did the royal will. (_b_) The _Land Nationalization Society_ builds up the whole of its case for State purchase upon this basic axiom: