The second event was being present to witness the terrible Johnstown Flood of 1889 . Johnson and his business partner Arthur Moxham organized the immediate relief activities in the stricken , leaderless city . Interpreting the events through a Georgist lens , the experience left him with a deep resentment of what he called ' Privilege ' . The disaster had been caused by the improper maintenance of a dam holding a private recreational lake , owned by Henry Clay Frick and other Pittsburgh industrialists , who escaped all responsibility for it . More than that , to Johnson , the flood exemplified the inadequacy of charity and weak ' remedial measures ' to solve society 's problems
Johnstown Flood
Johnstown Flood
Tom L. Johnson