Karl Marx (1818-1883):

In Volume III of “Das Capital” , there is a lengthy passage entitled. The transformation of surplus value into ground rents” Which indicates that later Marx came nearer to George’s position. Swan Sonnenshein edition as given in Frederick Verinder’s Land and Freedom” . ‘All ground rent is surplus value, the product of surplus labour- a surplus over and above profit.” (III 743) “This some of money is called ground rent, no matter whether it is paid for agriculture soil, building lots, mines, fishing grounds, forests, etc (III 725) “The amount of ground rent (and with it the value of the soil) develops with the progress of social advance as a result of the total labour of society” (III 746) “One section of society exacts from another a tribute for the permission of inhabiting the earth. Private property in land implies the privilege of the landlord to exploit the body of the globe, the bowels of the earth, the air and with them the conservation and development of life” (III 898) “...to the same extent that the production of commodities develops as a capitalist production, and as a production of value, does the production of surplus value and surplus products proceed. But to the same extent that this continues does property in land acquire the faculty of capturing an ever-increasing portion of this surplus value by means of its land monopoly” (III 747-48; cp. pp. 726;728) “Private property in land is then the barrier which does not permit any new investment of capital upon hitherto uncultivated or unrented land without levying a tax - in other words, without demanding a rent” (III 884) The demand for building lots raises the value of the land as a building ground and foundation, and the simultaneous demand for elements of the terrestrial globe serving as building materials grows with it. It is the ground rent, and not the house, which forms the actual object of building speculation in rapidly growing cities” (III 899) “The fact that capitalised ground rent represents itself as the price or value of land, so that the earth is bought or sold like any other commodity, serves to some apologists as a justification of private property in land, seeing that the buyer pays an equivalent for it, as he does for other commodities (sic) and that the major portion of property in land has changed hands in this way. The same reason would, in that case, serve to justify slavery, since the returns from the labour of the slave, whom the slave-holder has bought, represents merely the interest on the capital invested in this purchase” (III 731-32). All ground rent is surplus value, the product of surplus labour- a surplus over and above profit. (III 743) The amount of ground rent develops with the progress of social advance as a result of the total labour of society. (III 746) One section of society exacts from another a tribute for the permission of inhabiting the earth. Private property in land implies the privilege of the landlord to exploit the body of the globe, the bowels of the earth, the air and with them the conservation and development of life. p898 The demand for building lots raises the value of the land as a building ground and foundation, and the simultaneous demand for elements of the terrestrial globe serving as building materials grows with it. It is the ground rent, and not the house, which forms the actual object of building speculation in rapidly growing cities. (III 899) “From the point of view of a higher economic form of society, the private ownership of the globe on the part of some individuals will appear as absurd as the private ownership of one man by another. Even a whole society, or even all societies together, are not the owners of the globe. They are only its possessors, its users, and they have to hand it down to the coming generation in an improved condition. Like good fathers of families” (III, 901-902). Book III Das Kapital,1895 Monopoly of land is the basis of monopoly in capital. - Source Wanted Henry George is the capitalist's last ditch. - Source Wanted