INTERLUDE – excerpted from working draft of The Pity the Downtrodden Landlord Songbook

This parody of a familiar nursery rhyme was inspired by the "Single Tax Movement", an economic plan advanced in this country by Henry George in the 1880's. George argued that the imposition of a single tax on income from rental property equivalent to what the landlord charged would end real estate speculation and high rent, while providing the government with adequate funds for redistribution to the poor. The lyrics were composed by Mary C. Hudson who had it published in the Standard, a progressive New York periodical of the time. We have the federal W.P.A. Writers Project to thank for bringing this song back to light around 1940.

MARY'S LITTLE LOT
(Words by Mary C. Hudson. – Circa 1880 Tune: Mary Had a Little Lamb)

Mary had a little lot,
The soil was very poor;
But still she kept it all the same
And struggled to get more.

She kept the lot until one day,
The people settled down,
And where a wilderness had been,
Grew up a thriving town.

They grew, as population comes,
And Mary raised the rent;
With common food and raiment now,
She could not be content.

"What makes the lot keep Mary so?"
The starving people cry;
"Why, Mary keeps the lot, you know,"
The wealthy would reply.

Then Mary rented out her lot,
She would not sell, you know,
And waited patiently about
For prices still to grow.

She built up a mansion fine,
With bric-a-brac galore,
And every time the prices rose,
She raised the rent some more.

And so each one of you might be
"Wealthy, refined, and wise"
If you had only hogged some land
And held it for the rise.

Good luck, Peg!
Warm regards,
Landlady's daughter, not to be confused with Charley Noble et al