Introduction to the Book

The Story of my Dictatorship
by Lewis Henry Berens

William Lloyd Garrison

[From the Preface to the American Edition, 1894]

THE right to the use of the earth is becoming a burn- ing question,compelling the attention of thinkers and reformers of diverse faiths. Of the wrongfulness of the present system of land monopoly, and the necessity of equal access for all to the natural source of wealth, there is a growing consensus of opinion. The author of the present work desires to unite workers upon this primal point of agreement, and to dissuade them from emphasising ultimate differences. Only the duty that lies nearest deserves immediate consideration. Individualists and Socialists alike discern the evil of landlordism, and aim to correct it. With its abolition will doubtless come the solution of other waiting social problems having their root in this unhealthy soil. Therefore, brothers, let us close up to attack the common enemy, and postpone the warfare with each other until this victory is gained. Possibly the goals that now seem so far apart are in truth separated only by our imperfect vision. . . . 'So I bespeak for this new messenger in the field of reform the cordial welcome of all lovers of their kind. May it girdle the earth with its evangel of common- sense and human justice.