{"1": {"fulltext": "HB 172 :###ifil^#^^^####%^^\u00c2\u00bb^^^\\n.S24 1^\\nCopy 1 PRICE. 10 CENTS. 1^\\n,y\\nI PracticalEconomics I\\nZ WHO GETS THE BENEFIT OF THE INCREASED PRODUCTIONS T\\n1#\\nOF HUMAN LABOR DUE TO MODERN INVENTIONS?\\n#j WHAT DETERMINES VALUE?\\n^1 Money. Panics.\\nTp I\\nt Labor and Capital. Trusts.\\nCopyright, 1900, by Arthur Louis Sardy.\\nCHICAGO\\nDONOHTJK BROS., 40T-42n DEARBORN STREET.\\nGovernment Ownership of Railroads\\nInterest. Taxes. t\\nProtection and Free Trade.\\n1000.\\n1^\\n^%^^###^^%#^j^#%#^", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "The following- works are for sale by all News Dealers, or will be sent\\nto any address in the U. S., Canada or Mexico, postage paid, on receipt of\\n25 cents, or five books for $1.00.\\nDONOHUE BROTHERS, CHICAGO.\\nAbbe Constantin, Tbe Ludovic Helevy\\nAfloat in the Forest Capt. Mayne Reid\\nAlhambra, The Washington Irving\\nAllen Quartermain H. Rider Haggard\\nAntoinette George Ohnet\\nArdath Marie Corelli\\nAuld Licht Idylls J. M. Barrie\\nBailiff s Maid, The E. Marlitt\\nBeyond Pardon Bertha M. Clay\\nBeyond the City A. Conan Doyle\\nBlack Beauty Anna Sewall\\nBlue Veil, The F. DuBoisgobey\\nBondman, The Hall Caine\\nBroken Wedding Ring, A. Bertha M. Clay\\n3y Order of the King Victor Hugo\\nCalled Back Hugh Conway\\nCamille Alexandre Dumas\\nChouans, The Honore de Balzac\\nClaribel s Love Story Bertha M. Clay\\nCleopatra H. Rider Haggard\\nCorsican Brothers, The.. Alexandre Dumas\\nCount of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas\\nCrooked Path Mrs. Alexander\\nDaniel Boone G. Canning Hill\\nDark Days Hugh Conway\\nDark Marriage Morn, A. .Bertha M. Clay\\nDeemster, The Hall Caine\\nDesert Home Capt. Maync Reid\\nDick s Sweetheart The Duchess\\nDonovan Edna Lyall\\nDora Thorne Bertha M. Clay\\nDream Life D. G. Mitchell\\nDream of Love, A Emile Zola\\nDuke s Secret, The Bertha M. Clay\\nEarle s Atonement,5The. .Bertha M. Clay\\nEast Lynne Mrs. Henry Wood\\nEdmund Dantes Alexandre Dumas\\nEgyptian Princess, An George Ebers\\nEvil Genius, The Wilkie Collins\\nFirst Violin, The Jessie Pbthergill\\nFlames E. Werner\\nToiled by Loving Bertha M. Clay\\nFortune of the Rougons Emile Zola\\nFrom Out the Gloom Bertha M. Clay\\nFrontier Humor Palmer Cox\\nFrozen Pirate, The W. Clarke Russell\\nGertrude s Marriage W. Heimburg\\nGold Elsie E. Marlitt\\nGolden Heart, A Bertha M. Clay\\nHand of Destiny, The. .Ossip Schubin\\nHandy Andy Samuel Lover\\nHania Henryk Sienkiewicz\\nHans of Iceland Victor Hugo\\nHardy Norseman, A Edna Lyall\\nHeiress, The Mrs. M. E. Holmes\\nHeir of Linne, The Robert Buchanan\\nHer Martyrdom Bertha M. Clay\\nHer Only Sin Bertha M. Clay\\nHer Second Love Bertha M. Clay\\nHer Sister s Betrothed. .Bertha M. Clay\\nHistory of a Crime Victor Hugo\\nHon. Mrs. Vcreker The Duchess\\nHouse of the Wolf, The. Stanley J. Weyman\\nHypatia Charles Kingsley\\nIdle Thoughts of An Idle Fellow J. K. Jerome\\nIn the Golden Days Edna Lyall\\nIron Master, The George Ohnet\\nIvanhoe Sir Walter Scott\\nJane Eyre Charlotte Bronte\\nJess ..H^Rider Haggard\\nJohn Halifax, Gentleman, Miss Mulock\\nKenilworth Sir Walter Scott\\nKing Solomon s Mines .H. Rider Haggard\\nKing s Talisman, The. .Sylvanus Cobb, Jr.\\nKnight Errant Edna Lyall\\nLady Branksmere The Duchess\\nLady Hutton s Ward Bertha M. Clay\\nLady Valworth s Diamonds. .The Dilchess\\nLamplighter, The Maria Cummins\\nLast Days of Pompeii. .Bulwer Lytton\\nLast of the Mohicans. .J. Fenimore Cooper\\nLecoq, The Detective. .Emile Gaboriau\\nLerouge Case, The Emile Gaboriau\\nLet us Follow Him Henryk Sienkiewicz\\nLife s Remorse, A The Duchess\\nLight of Love, The Bertha M. Clay\\nLight That Failed, Thc.Rudyard Kipling\\nLone Ranch, The Capt. Mayne Reid\\nLora, the Major s Daughter. W. Heimburg\\nLord Linn s Choice Bertha M. Clay\\nLorna Doone R. D. Blackmore\\nLove sChainBrolien Bertha M. Clay\\nLover or Friend Rosa N. Carey\\nLouise de la Valliere Alexandre Dumas\\nMad Love, A Bertha M. Clay\\nMadcap Violet William Black\\nMan in the Iron Mask. .Alexandre Dumas\\nMarriage M Sea, A W. Clarke Russell\\nMarvel The Duchess\\nMary St. John Rosa N. Carey\\nMaster of Ballantrae Robt. L. Steve^^sor\\nMelancholy Hussar, The. Thos. Hardy\\nMiawa s Revenge H. Rider Haggarf\\nMicah Clark A. Conan Doyle\\nMildred Trevanion The Duchess\\nMisjudged W. Heimburg\\nMoney Emile Zola\\nMy Danish Sweetheart. W. Clarke Russell\\nMy Sister Kate Bertha M. Clay\\nMystery of a Hansom Cab Fergus Hume\\nNatural Law in the Spiritual World.\\nHenry Drummond\\nNew Magdalen, The Wilkie Collins\\nNinety-Three Victor Hugo\\nNotre Dome de Paris Victor Hugo\\nOld Age of Lecoq, The. .F. Du Boisgobey\\nOld Mam selle s Secret. .E. Marlitt\\nOn Her Wedding Morn. .Bertha M. Clay\\nOnlv One Sin Bertha M. Clay\\nPair of Blue Eyes, A Bertha M. Clay\\nPathfinder, The J. Fenimore Cooper\\nPastor s Daughter, The.W. Heimburg\\nPhantom Rickshaw,The Rud yard Kipling\\nPioneers, The J. Fenimore Cooper\\nPrairie, The J. Fenimore Cooper\\nPrince of the House of David J. H. Ingraham\\nPrue and I Geo. Wm. Curtis\\nQueenie s Whim Rosa N. Carey", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "PracticalEconomics\\nWHO GETS THE BENEFIT OF THE INCREASED PRODUCTIONS\\nOF HUMAN LABOR DUE TO MODERN INVENTIONS?\\nWHAT DETERMINES VALUE?\\nMoney. Panics.\\nLabor and Capital. Trusts.\\nGovernment Ownership of Railroads\\nInterest. Taxes.\\nProtection and Free Trade.\\nBY ARTHUR LOXJIS S-A.R3DY.\\n1900.\\nCopyright, 1900, by Arthur Louis Sardy.\\nCHICAGO I\\nDONOHX^E BROS., 40r-420 X EARBORX STREBTT,\\nu", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "34684\\nLibrary of ConQreae\\nTwo Copies ^fCEc. ED\\nAUG 15 1900\\nCopyright entry\\nSECOND COPY.\\nDelivered to\\nORDER DIVISION,\\nOCT 2d 1900\\nCOPYRIGHTED\\nBY\\nAbthur L. Sakdy.", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "INTRODUCTORY.\\nThe discussions of economic subjects in newspapers\\nand legislative bodies, as well as in private conversa-\\ntion, which we all read and hear, show that Economic\\nScience has not kept pace with other sciences, and that\\nthe knowledge of it which does exist is not as widely\\ndiffused as information on most subjects, even those\\nwhich are of far less importance.\\nNearly every one is willing to admit that something\\nis wrong with modern civilization, and almost every\\none has some remedy to propose. Millions believe that\\nthe free coinage of silver would put us right, as though\\nthe kind of counters used in making exchanges were\\na matter of vital consequence, or the kind of chips used\\nin playing poker would affect the result of the game,\\nand ignoring the obvious fact that countries where\\nsilver is the only circulating medium are worse off than\\nwe are, just as are those where only gold, or only paper,\\nis used. Others think free trade is all that is needed,\\nbut the masses in England are no better fed or clothed\\nthan here. Still others think we need more protection,\\nbut I have never heard that the working classes in Ger-\\nmany or France are more contented, happy or inde-\\npendent than with us. Others denounce trusts and\\ncombinations of capitalists as the chief cause of our\\ntroubles, while some think trades unions and combi-", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "6 ECONOMICS.\\nnations among workers detrimental to the general good,\\nas though co-operation, mutual good-will and help\\nwere injurious, and fierce competition and opposition,\\nevery man trying to injure, instead of help, his neigh-\\nbor were a good thing.\\nMany of the changes proposed would aggravate the\\nevils they were intended to remedy. Some of the more\\nradical remedies might cure some of the ills we have,\\nbut would bring in others which would be found still\\nmore unbearable. It is easy to see that under state so-\\ncialism production could be increased to such a point\\nthat while all would have to work, the hours of labor\\ncould be so shortened that all would enjoy ample leisure\\nand none need ever want, but in order to accomplish\\nthis all but a few would have to sacrifice that personal\\nliberty which is far dearer to every true American\\nthan any degree of ease or comfort. It is, perhaps,\\njustifiable to experiment with all sorts of proposed\\ncures while trying to ascertain what the disease is, but\\nwhile this is being done efforts to discover the causes\\nof the trouble should not be relaxed, and it is in the\\nhope that I may be able to give some slight assistance\\nin pointing out some of these causes that I have under-\\ntaken this little work, devoting comparatively little\\nattention to the more congenial task of proposing rem-\\nedies because I believe that progress and improvement\\nmust unavoidably be gradual and painfully slow in the\\nfuture, as they have been in the past, and that, at best,\\na generation or two must elapse before any really high\\ndegree of civilization can be found anywhere; so the\\nchief step which I take the liberty of advocating is\\nthe better education of our children, especially on", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 7\\neconomic subjects, with the view of teaching them to\\nthink deeply, intelligently, independently and continu-\\nously for themselves. For centuries, and until very\\nrecently, children, and their parents also, were sys-\\ntematically educated not to think for themselves, but\\nto accept without question what was taught them by\\ntheir betters, the severest means being resorted to\\nfor the purpose of repressing originality and inde-\\npendence of thought and action. A start has been\\nmade in the opposite direction, but it is only a begin-\\nning.\\nAs a matter of economy it would be cheaper to spend\\na given amount of money on education and the devel-\\nopment of intellect than in the suppression of crime\\nand the support of criminals, either free or in confine-\\nment. In all countries crime and ignorance go to-\\ngether, the comparatively few crimes committed by\\neducated persons being usually due to natural defi-\\nciency of intellect, which education could only remedy\\nto a limited extent, or to some sudden impulse, and\\nthis latter is infinitely less likely to result in crime in\\npersons of trained intellect than in the untaught.\\nEvery dollar spent on education could be made to save\\ntwo or more in taxes, thefts, waste, the support of\\ncriminals and of those dependent upon crime directly\\nor indirectly for a living. There is an immense num-\\nber of people, both male and female, who are not strong\\nenough physically to earn a living by manual labor,\\nwho have not been taught any profession, and who\\nhave not leceived sufficient mental training to enable\\ntlicm tc compete successfully for positions where the\\ncontinued exercise of the mental faculties is required.", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "8 ECONOMICS.\\nNrtwithstanding the stock jokes about the appetites\\nand other indications of robust health in tramps, a\\nmajority of those whom I have met have been weak\\nphysically as well as mentally. There are hundreds of\\nthousands of men and women in this country whose\\nmuscles have not been developed by sufficient work\\nor exercise while young to enable them to do severe\\nmanual work, and who have never been educated to do\\nanything useful, thoroughly and well. I believe it is\\nchiefly from this class that the army of young women\\non the streets of all large cities at night is chiefly\\nrecruited, many of whom have, when thrown on their\\nown resources, found all other means of obtaining a\\nlivelihood closed to them because of lack of physical\\nstrength to do hard work, and of education to do any-\\nthing for which there is a remunerative demand. And\\nthe same is true of many young men, who have drifted\\ninto crime after unsuccessful efforts to secure, or hold,\\nuseful positions. Many of both sexes would go wrong\\nunder any conceivable conditions, but thorough prac-\\ntical education would vastly reduce the number.\\nGreat good has sometimes come from violent up-\\nheavals; an incalculable amount having been accom-\\nplished by our Revolution; much resulted from the\\nFrench Revolution, but it was mixed with so much evil\\nthat the strongest sincere advocates of the welfare of\\nthe people agree that it is incomparably better to ac-\\ncomplish the same results by education than by force.\\nAny amount of money is better spent for schools and\\ncompetent teachers to educate the next generation than\\nfor arms and soldiers in the hope of keeping the\\nmasses down. When the majority of our people come", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 9\\nto understand that the chief reason why they have to\\nwork so hard and receive so little in return is because\\neach worker has to support so many who do not work\\nat all, or who work unproductively that there are too\\nfew workers, not too many, remedies will be found.\\nBut before this can come about the great mass of the\\npeople will have to be educated to reason more clearly\\nthan many of their teachers can reason now. In our\\npublic schools it takes seven or eight years to go\\nthrough a course of study which any intelligent child\\ncould, under favorable conditions, master in half that\\ntime. Some things are taught as facts which are\\nsimply matters of opinion, and others which are so\\nobviously untrue as to excite the ridicule of an intelli-\\ngent and observant child of eight or ten years of age.\\nWe can never cure the ills which afflict us until we\\nknow what those ills are, and the first step toward\\ndiscovering them is to develop our intellects to such a\\npoint that we can reason clearly. This development\\nmust, unavoidably, be gradual, but with better oppor-\\ntunities it might proceed much faster than at present.\\nThe waste of labor and capital attributable solely\\nto ignorance is appalling. Millions of dollars are ex-\\npended annually in producing, handling, transporting,\\nstoring and selling materials of no intrinsic value, and\\nused solely to adulterate, cheapen or give a false ap-\\npearance to goods which the consumer buys only\\nbecause, in his ignorance, he thinks them cheap.\\nMillions are spent by people who are not ill for medi-\\ncines which would not cure them if they were. Other\\nmillions are wasted in gambling by men and women\\nwho may have been told that gambling is wicked,", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "IP ECONOMICS.\\nbut who can learn only by experience that the per-\\ncentage against them renders ultimate loss a certainty.\\nIndependence, originality and practicability are, I\\nbelieve, now encouraged in the higher institutions of\\nlearning to a greater extent than ever before, but this\\nidea should be carried much further, and should be\\nintroduced into the public schools.\\nMost of us have met men who cannot write a sen-\\ntence correctly and who habitually use two negatives\\nin conversation, but in whom the ability to think for\\nthemselves, and to put their ideas into practice, has\\nbeen so thoroughly developed that they have been able\\nto organize and manage industries employing hun-\\ndreds of workers, and to cause the production or dis-\\ntribution of wealth at a far more rapid rate than it\\ncould have been produced or transported without them.\\nIt looks a little as though these men were better edu-\\ncated than many who have received what is termed a\\nclassical education, which has resulted in total inability\\nto take care of themselves. A decided change for the\\nbetter seems to be goif^ on in public opinion regard-\\ning what constitutes a good education in both men and\\nwomen, and the sooner it comes to be generally under-\\nstood that useful education consists more in develop-\\ning to the fullest extent the natural ability of the pupil\\nto think and reason on practical subjects than in com-\\nmitting to memory a multitude of things, many of\\nwhich are not true, the better it will be for all. Most\\nof us know entirely too much that is not so.\\nThe most learned and the totally untutored fre-\\nquently share the same opinions, the greatest bar to\\nprogress, it appears to me, being the conservativeness", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. II\\nof those who have been educated, in the accepted\\nsense of the term, but who allow newspapers to form\\nmost of their opinions for them because their minds\\nhave not been sufficiently trained to enable them to\\nthink for themselves without a degree of effort which\\nis too painful to be long continued. It being usually\\nmore profitable to newspapers to advocate what is\\nthan what should be, erroneous opinions on economic\\nmatters held by a majority of their readers prevent\\nany but the most gradual advance, and as the changes\\nwhich must take place before all can enjoy even a\\nmoderate degree of comfort are very great, including\\nimportant modifications of the present generally re-\\nceived ideas of Right and Wrong, Honor, Justice,\\nCharity and Patriotism, it is idle to expect quick\\nresults. Time alone can bring about the requisite\\nconditions, but their approach is hastened by the cor-\\nrection of each popular error, and if I can succeed in\\npointing out even a few of these the time spent in\\nwriting this little book will not have been wasted. No\\nattempt will be made to go deeply into the inexhaust-\\nible subject of Political Economy. We shall confine\\nour attention chiefly to those matters on which I\\nbelieve the prevailing popular opinion to be erroneous,\\nin the hope of discovering the real causes of some of\\nthe ills which afflict us, and of demonstrating that\\nsome things which are popularly regarded as serious\\nevils in reality do little or no harm, while some others\\nwhich are generally thought harmless, or even bene-\\nficial, accomplish much evil.\\nMy aim will be to state positively only that which is\\nso clear that any one who can read can understand it,", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "12 ECONOMICS.\\nand which is so evidently true that it cannot be con-\\ntroverted.\\nFigures cannot lie, but it is so very easy to lie with\\nfigures, and this is so often done, that I place little\\nreliance on statistics, and none will be used in the book.\\nWHO GETS THE BENEFIT OF THE IN-\\nCREASED PRODUCTIVENESS OF HUMAN\\nLABOR DUE TO MODERN INVENTIONS?\\nJohn Stuart Mill wrote Hitherto it is questionable\\nwhether all the mechanical inventions yet made have\\nlightened the day s toil of any human being, which\\nhas been often approvingly quoted, but a greater\\namount of error has seldom been condensed into so few\\nwords. Not only has the labor of millions been light-\\nened, but other millions have been enabled to live in\\nluxury without ever engaging in any useful occupation\\nor doing anything which could correctly be denomi-\\nnated as labor; and in every civilized country there\\nare today hundreds of thousands who toil not, neither\\ndo they spin, and who, but for modern inventions,\\nwould have been earning their bread by the sweat of\\ntheir brows. Mechanical inventions have not only\\nlightened the labor of the producing class, but they\\nhave enabled every worker to carry far more non-\\nproducers on his back than he could possibly have done\\nwithout their aid. By continually increasing the effec-\\ntiveness of his work they have enabled him to accept\\nin payment for that work a constantly decreasing pro-\\nportion of its results without lowering his own stand-\\nard of living. Seeing that those who work with mod-\\nern machinery are comparatively little better off than", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 13\\ntheir ancestors were without these inventions, those\\nwho do not look beneath the surface of things are at\\na loss to see where the results of the increased effi-\\nciency of labor finally land but a little reflection on the\\nsubject enables one to see that if modern inventions\\nhad not made it possible for real workers to live on\\na comparatively small proportion of what they produce\\nthey could never have supported the vast armies and\\nnavies of Europe, paid enormous and constantly\\nincreasing rent for land, paid the interest on almost\\nincalculable national debts, and created millionaires by\\nthe thousand.\\nBy far the greatest part of the surplus of wealth\\ncreated, over and above the subsistence of those who\\nproduce it, goes to the owners of land. Fifty years\\nago a tenant farmer was a rarity in this country, but\\nwith the increase in population, the consequent aug-\\nmented supply of labor and the proportionately reduced\\namount of land, a continually increasing proportion\\nof the produce of the soil went to the farmer as land-\\nlord and a continually diminishing proportion went to\\nhim as farmer. The shrewd American farmer has not\\nbeen slow to perceive this state of affairs, and as it has\\nbecome apparent to him that in tilling his own land\\nhe is merely earning the wages of an intelligent laborer\\nand that all he receives over and above that could be\\nrealized by renting his farm, he has, by the thousand,\\nrented it and moved to town, the renter thenceforth\\nsupporting the landlord and the landlord s family, as\\nwell as himself and his own family. This he never\\ncould have done, to anything like the extent he is doing\\nit, without the help of improved agricultural machinery,", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "14 ECONOMICS.\\nevery dollar saved by the use of such machinery going\\nintact to the landlord, the tenant rarely being benefited\\nto the extent of a single cent by its use, although he,\\nof course, must own and use it industriously, or a\\ncompetitor who does will be able to offer a higher rent\\nthan he can pay, and thus supplant him.\\nIn every little town throughout the west there are\\nex-farmers and their families living in comfort on the\\nrent paid them by the men now tilling the land which\\nthey tilled, and partially exhausted, without paying any\\nrent. In every city the finest residences and the hand-\\nsomest turnouts are owned by the people who, or whose\\nparents, happened to own the land. I say happened\\nbecause the land was there and some one had to own\\nit, and it was about as likely to be one as another.\\nThousands of able-bodied men and women in every\\nlarge city are living today on the results of other peo-\\nple s labor because they happened to own a piece of\\nland which has risen in value. Without the help of\\nmodern machinery it would be impossible for* the\\nproductive classes to support one-tenth the number of\\nlandlords in the way they are now being supported.\\nWhen improvements in architectural science make\\noffice buildings sixteen to twenty stories high prac-\\nticable neither the general public, the tenants nor the\\nowner of the building, as such, is benefited. The\\nincreased income goes to the owner of the land on\\nwhich the building stands. This is so well understood\\nthat it is becoming more and more the custom with\\nowners of land in the busiest portions of large cities\\nto refuse to sell it at any price, but to rent it for long\\nterms, thus securing a large and perpetual income on", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 15\\ncapital which does not represent work ever done by\\nany one. To enumerate the various ways in which\\nthe owners of land appropriate the results of inventions\\nand improvements would increase the size of this little\\nwork beyond the limits set for it, and the whole subject\\nhas been so thoroughly explained by Henry George\\nand other writers of ability and attainments so far\\nbeyond my own that the reader is referred to their\\nworks for a full and clear exposition of the subject.\\nTo superficial observers the true state of the case is\\nsomewhat obscured by the fact that capital invested\\nin land does not, apparently, yield a higher rate of\\nincome than other investments, but, as shown in the\\nchapter on value, it is the value which makes the cost,\\nand not the cost the value, so the value of land, as that\\nof any other investment, is raised to the point where\\nthe rent amounts to the usual rate of interest on cap-\\nital but there are millions of acres of farming land\\nthroughout the west rented at three or four dollars an\\nacre per annum which was purchased for twenty-five\\ncents to two dollars an acre less than fifty years ago,\\nso that it pays from one hundred to one thousand per\\ncent per annum on the original cost. And it would\\nbe an interesting problem for a mathematician to calcu-\\nlate what percentage an acre, say on Wall street. New\\nYork, has paid on its original cost since the first time\\nit was sold.\\nNext to private ownership of land probably the most\\nsuccessful device yet discovered for enabling one class\\nto ride on the backs of others, and even for the citizens\\nof one country to live largely on those of others, is the\\ngovernment bond (mortgages on land are ignored,", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "1 6 ECONOMICS.\\nbecause I regard the mortgagee as the real owner and\\nthe mortgagor as merely a tenant). The interest paid\\nannually on the national, state and municipal debts of\\nthe world computed in dollars and expressed in figures\\nwould represent a sum far beyond the capacity of any\\nhuman mind to form any definite conception of. If it\\nwere not for the vastly increased productiveness of\\nlabor due to mechanical inventions it would be far\\nbeyond the power of the productive classes to produce\\nenough, in addition to their own support, to pay the\\ninterest on these bonds. Bondholders probably come\\nnext to landowners as the receivers of the results of\\nimproved methods. When one gives serious thought\\nto the matter a hundred dollars appears like a ridicu-\\nlously small sum to pay for a bond insuring the pay-\\nment by the public of three dollars annually to one s-\\nself and one s heirs forever. Surely the labor of land-\\nlords and bondholders has been lightened by mechan-\\nical inventions. Hundreds of thousands of both\\nclasses who now live in luxury on their rents or their\\ninterest would, but for these inventions, be toiling for\\ntheir daily bread, because without these the working\\nclasses would be unable to support them.\\nFifty years ago the owner of property to the value\\nof a hundred thousand dollars was regarded a rich\\nman. Now there are thousands worth from one to\\nfifty millions each. The accumulation of so much\\nwealth within so short a time has been made possible\\nby the use of modern inventions. Railroads have\\ndoubtless created more great fortunes than anything\\nelse except the increase in the value of land, the various\\nmethods by which any one in control of a railroad can", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 17\\nenrich himself being so simple and obvious that they\\nhave been very generally availed of.\\nThe armies of the world are fed and clothed by the\\nproducing classes. Whether the money paid for their\\nsupport be raised by direct taxation or by selling\\nbonds, every article of clothing worn by them and\\nevery morsel of food which they consume must be\\nproduced by working men and women, and is con-\\nsumed by able-bodied men who do not work. The\\nincreased productiveness of labor due to modern inven-\\ntions, therefore, goes largely to the support of soldiers\\nin idleness and for building and maintaining warships\\nwhich if unemployed are useless, and if used are often\\ninfinitely worse than useless. When the money to pay\\nfor these things is raised by direct taxation it is bad\\nenough, but when it is raised by selling bonds it is still\\nworse, for in the latter case the interest on the bonds\\nmust, thereafter, be added to the cost of supporting\\nthe army and the navy, making an army of bond-\\nholders as well as an army of soldiers to be supported.\\nAs fast as the march of improvement in machinery and\\nlabor-saving appliances makes it possible for the pro-\\nductive portion of the population to support more non-\\nproducers new issues of bonds are floated and rents\\nare raised, thus always keeping a load on the backs of\\nthe people as heavy as they can carry with the aid of\\nthe latest inventions.\\nThe sums now paid annually for rent, interest on\\nstate, county and municipal bonds, and for the main-\\ntenance of armies and navies, as compared with the\\namounts expended for similar items a century ago\\nwill, I think, pretty nearly account for what becomes of", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "l8 ECONOMICS.\\nthe difference in the productiveness of labor then and\\nnow. The fortunes made by the rise in the value of\\nland and in managing railroads, and by monopolizing a\\nfew natural opportunities will account for the rest.\\nVALUE.\\nThe best definition of the word value which I re-\\nmember to have seen is a relative term meaning the\\namount of other things which a given thing will\\nexchange for. This is merely another form of the\\nexpression so often used by business men that a thing\\nis worth just what it will bring, price being value\\nexpressed in money. Economists have usually as-\\nsumed some relation between utility and value, but\\nthere is no real connection between them. Every one\\ncan readily think of many useful things which have no\\nvalue and of many valuable things which have little\\nor no use. The value of a thing at a given time and\\nplace is just what it will exchange for at that time\\nand place its value tomorrow may be double, or only\\nhalf, what it is today; or, in some other location, its\\nvalue would, perhaps, be many times as great as\\nwhere it is. All talk of a thing selling for more or\\nless than its value is meaningless; it is worth, then\\nand there, just what it brings.\\nHaving stated what is meant by value, I will try to\\nshow that the amount of other things which a given\\nthing will exchange for is determined solely by the\\namount of the available supply as compared with the\\nurgency of the demand existing for it at the time and\\nplace where it is located. No particular supply of any\\ncommodity is necessary, and there is practically no", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 19\\nlimit to the demand for it if the price be low enough.\\nA small supply at a high price completely satisfies the\\ndemand which exists for it at that price, while a supply\\nmany times as large would be all used up at a lower\\nprice. The available quantity determines the price\\nand the price determines the consumption. The price,\\nwhen the supply is large, compared with the demand,\\nalways being reduced, step by step, till consumption\\novertakes production. On the other hand, if the sup-\\nply is small prices are raised gradually to the point\\nwhere the demand is as small as the supply. Thus a\\nsmall crop lasts till the next harvest, or a large one is\\nall consumed, the price regulating consumption to a\\nnicety and every hat, coat and shoe manufactured is,\\nsooner or later, used up, those not meeting with ready\\nsale being finally reduced in price till some one takes\\nthem. All attempts by the aid of corners, combina-\\ntions, trusts, protective tariflFs and other devices to\\nmarket a large product at a high price always have\\nresulted, and always must result, in failure. As the\\nprice is raised the consumption is diminished, and in\\norder to effect the consumption of the entire stock the\\nprice must, sooner or later, be reduced not only to the\\nnatural value of the commodity, but enough below it\\nto cause an increased demand sufficient to offset the\\neconomy or substitution practiced by the consumers\\nwhile the value was artificially maintained above its\\nnatural level, so that if the commodity cornered be a\\ncrop or a by-product the entire crop or product will\\nsell for about the same amount of money, or exchange\\nfor the same amount of other things, as though no\\ncomer had been attempted. But if the article cornered", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "20 ECONOMICS.\\nbe one the amount of which is not limited by nature\\nthe temporarily increased value will cause an aug-\\nmented supply to be produced which must eventually\\nbe disposed of, and the average price for a given\\nperiod will be lower than if the corner had not been\\nundertaken. No man with a thorough knowledge of\\npractical economics ever undertook to run a comer in\\na commodity with his own money.\\nThe popular idea that cost of production determines\\nvalue is plausible but untenable. John Stuart Mill\\nwrote that there was nothing more to be learned about\\nvalue and then proceeded to say that value is usually\\ndetermined by cost of production; but a little study\\non the subject will, I think, demonstrate that the\\nreverse is often true, value frequently determining\\ncost of production. It is not that goods always sell\\nclose to the cost of production, but that the cost of\\nproduction is raised to a point approximating the\\nvalue of the product. If the crops from a piece of\\nland sell for more than the cost of the labor required\\nto produce them the excess is added to the rent or\\nvalue of the land and ever after is a part of the cost\\nof producing crops upon it. The only reason why\\nit costs more to raise wheat in England than in Dakota\\nis because wheat is worth more in England and the\\ncost of production is increased to correspond with the\\nvalue of the product by charging a high rent for the\\nland. When a mine yields abundantly of valuable ore\\nthe mine is capitalized at a high figure and the interest\\non this capitalization becomes a part of the cost of the\\nore, so that its cost and its value thereafter closely\\ncorrespond. If a racehorse distinguishes itself on the", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 21\\nturf the value of all its relatives is enhanced to a point\\nwhich brings the cost of producing another of the\\nsame blood fully up to, or above, its value. It costs\\nno more to raise a pound of beef or mutton from the\\nhindquarter than from the forequarter, or a ham than\\na shoulder, but the meat from the hindquarter is\\nalways more valuable than that from the fore.\\nCompetition among sellers has far less to do with\\nfixing values than is generally supposed. Even though\\nthe entire supply of an article be in the hands of a\\nsingle individual, as was very nearly the case a couple\\nof years ago with wheat in this country, no higher\\nprice can be obtained for the entire amount than if\\nthe usual competition existed. The public can only\\ntake a certain quantity at a certain price; nothing\\nshort of a reduction in price will induce it to take\\nmore. A person s income being appropriated in a\\ncertain way, an increased expenditure for one item\\nwould necessitate a reduction on one or all of the\\nothers. Assuming the most extreme case it is possible\\nto conceive namely, that a single individual owned\\nand controlled absolutely all the means of production,\\nevery farm and every factory on earth, it would be\\nimpossible for him to exact any higher prices for his\\nproducts than they now bring, because the most he\\ncould require would be the entire earnings of all the\\npeople, and that is precisely what they pay now for\\nlodging, food, drink, clothing and amusement. A\\ngeneral rise in the value of everything being, obviously,\\nan impossibility, when a rise in one article takes place\\na majority of the consumers of it prefer to curtail the\\nuse of it, substituting something cheaper, or do with-", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "22 ECONOMICS.\\nout altogether, rather than appropriate a larger part\\nof their incomes to that article and reduce the appro-\\npriation for others. The law of Supply and Demand\\nis the sole regulator of values, and while its action\\nis often harsh, and ignorance of its inexorable nature\\nbrings frequent loss, and even financial ruin, to indi-\\nviduals, and sometimes to whole communities, it is\\ndoubtful whether the human intellect in its present\\nstate of development is capable of devising any plan\\nwhich would so effectually adjust production and con-\\nsumption to each other, thereby preventing famine\\nand many other serious disasters. Without the re-\\nstraining influence of a high price a small crop of\\nwheat or cotton would not last till the next harvest.\\nMany a man of more than average intelligence and\\nenergy, and possessed of abundant wealth, but un-\\naware of the absolute sway of the law of Supply and\\nDemand, has lost every dollar of his own, and all the\\ncapital he could beg, borrow (and in some instances\\nsteal) in well-planned and executed, but futile, efforts\\nto control values. Such a man can put up prices as\\nlong as he has sufficient money or credit to take all\\nofferings at the high prices which he himself has fixed,\\nbut while he is doing this consumers of the commodity\\nare using less of it than usual, substitutes are being\\nused to a great extent, and supplies come in from\\nunexpected sources, so that when he gets ready to, or\\nmust, unload the market goes lower than it would\\nhave gone if the artificially high price had not caused\\na curtailment of consumption.\\nWhen the entire supply of a commodity comes from\\na single source, or when all the sources are controlled", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 33\\nby one individual, trust or syndicate, it is possible for\\nthose in control to decide whether they will limit pro-\\nduction to what the market will take at a high price, or\\nwhether they will sell a larger quantity at a more\\nmoderate price. Sometimes one ct)urse is adopted,\\nand sometimes the other. When the policy of doing a\\ncomparatively small business at an exorbitant price\\nis adopted the monopoly is directly and positively det-\\nrimental to the public welfare, but after trying both\\nplans it is usually found to be more profitable to\\nproduce on a large scale and sell at a comparatively\\nreasonable profit.\\nIt should be clearly understood that it is neither\\nsupply nor demand alone which determines value, but\\nthe ratio of one to the other, and in many things the\\nwhole world must be reckoned with. For instance,\\nwheat may sell higher in a year when we have a larger\\ncrop in this country than usual, providing the crop in\\nother countries is small, than it sold in some other year\\nwhen we had a small crop and other countries had\\nlarge ones.\\nAn increased demand for an article does not, by any\\nmeans, always result in an advanced price the reverse\\nis frequently the case, because production increases\\nfaster than consumption does. Bicycles are a good\\nillustration of this. Their use has increased enor-\\nmously in the last few years, and simultaneously their\\nprice has fallen considerably. It takes a wider fluc-\\ntuation in the wholesale price of an article, the profit\\non which, between the wholesaler and the retailer, is\\nlarge, to affect its consumption than it does in one\\nwhich is sold on a close margin, narrow fluctuations", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "24 ECONOMICS.\\nbeing absorbed by the retailer when he has sufficient\\nmargin of profit to admit of it.\\nThe value of money is determined by supply and\\ndemand, the same as all other values are. In pros-\\nperous times owners of money are ready and willing\\nto spend it; in other words, the demand for goods\\nexceeds that for money, and prices rise, that is to say,\\nmoney declines in value. On the other hand, in hard\\ntimes the majority of people want money rather than\\ngoods, and prices fall, or money advances in value.\\nIt is not high prices and cheap money which make\\ngood times, and low prices and dear money which\\nmake hard times, but good times make money cheap,\\nand hard times make it more valuable by increasing\\nthe demand for it while the available supply is not\\nincreased.\\nMONEY.\\nMoney was invented for the purpose of avoiding the\\ninconvenience of the direct exchange of commodities.\\nThis is its only use, and that which accomplishes this\\nbest and easiest is the best money. The amount of\\nmoney in existence is a matter of small consequence.\\nIt is a mistake to suppose there is not sufficient money\\nin any country to supply the needs of its business.\\nThe value of money, like that of everything else, being\\ndetermined by its amount as compared with the de-\\nmand existing for it, it amounts to the same thing\\nwhether the money in use is large in volume and small\\nin value, or of high value and small volume. Prices\\nof everything, labor included, speedily adjust them-\\nselves to either condition, and paper substitutes for\\nreal money are, in all civilized countries, used to such", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 25\\nan extent that even in the matter of convenience in\\nhandling it makes but Httle difference whether a sub-\\nstance of high or one of comparatively low value be\\nadopted as the standard of value. The one important\\nconsideration is stability. The substance the least\\nliable to fluctuations in value is the best adapted for\\nuse as money. Injustice is done to creditors when\\nthe value of money depreciates or when a substitute\\nfor real money is made a legal tender and enough of\\nit issued to cause its value to fall below par. This\\nhas often been done in all parts of the world, notably\\nin this country when debts contracted prior to the\\nrevolution where paid in continental currency, none of\\nwhich was ever redeemed and when, during the civil\\nwar, debts were paid in depreciated greenbacks. On\\nthe other hand injustice is done the debtor class when\\nthe value of money, or its legal tender substitutes,\\nappreciates, as was the case with the greenbacks and\\nnational bank notes after the civil war, and as was\\ndoubtless the case with gold for a number of years\\nrecently. But the ingenuity of man has not proved\\nequal to the task of finding a measure of value which\\ndoes not itself fluctuate in value, and which is not, to\\nthat extent, an imperfect measure, just as a yardstick\\nsubject to expansion and contraction would be. The\\nquestion whether gold or silver fluctuates the least, and\\nis consequently the better standard, is discussed by\\nnewspapers and politicians to an extent far beyond its\\nreal importance. It matters very little to the com-\\nmunity in general whether gold, silver or a mixture\\nof the two be employed as the unit of value, but it\\nshould be understood that it is impossible to maintain", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "26 ECONOMICS.\\na parity between any two standards, and that no such\\nparity has ever been or ever will be maintained any-\\nwhere for a single day, even if all the governments on\\nearth should pass laws establishing it. Such laws\\nwould have no effect; the relative values of the two\\nmetals would change as often as those of corn and\\nwheat do.\\nI am somewhat doubtful whether any one really\\nwants a double standard, but if such were wanted it\\ncould be secured in either of two very simple ways\\nthe two metals to be employed could be melted to-\\ngether in the desired proportions and all coins made of\\nthe composite metal, or else different and distinct\\nnames could be given to the coins made of the different\\nmetals, no ratio being established by law between the\\ntwo. All contracts would, in the latter event, neces-\\nsarily state the kind of money in which payment would\\nbe made, and no injustice could be done. If either\\nof these plans had been adopted in the beginning, and\\ngovernments had not attempted the impossible in try-\\ning to fix values by law, much time and vexation would\\nhave been saved.\\nIt is customary for economists to teach that there\\nare two kinds of real money, gold and silver, and in\\nreading the report of a speech made in Richmond some\\ntime ago by our secretary of the treasury, I noticed he\\nmade the same statement, which, however, I think\\nerroneous. There is never more than one kind of real\\nmoney in existence at any one time in any country.\\nWhen the market value of the gold in a gold dollar\\nis greater than that of the silver in a silver dollar gold\\ndisappears from circulation and the two dollars can", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. TTJ\\nonly be maintained on an apparent parity providing\\nthe government will redeem the silver dollar, directly\\nor indirectly, with a gold one whenever asked to do so.\\nAs the same process keeps paper notes at par, the\\nsilver dollar in this case becomes a mere promise to\\npay, just the same as a paper dollar is; the promise\\ncould as well have been printed on paper as on silver,\\nand the capital sunk in the silver is, consequently, a\\nloss to the community except that the holder of a\\nsilver dollar has security to the extent of the market\\nvalue of the metal which it contains; but this fact\\nnever prevents its presentation for redemption when\\ngold is wanted, and paper would answer every pur-\\npose better, even to the difficulty of counterfeiting,\\nbecause it is possible to make dollars of real silver, in\\nall respects equal to those stamped by the government,\\nat a profit to the maker of more than fifty cents each,\\nand it does not appear unreasonable to suppose that\\nsome of those in circulation have been so made.\\nAt times, as for some years after the discovery of\\ngold in California and Australia, the market value of\\nthe gold in a gold dollar has fallen below that of the\\nsilver in a silver dollar, and at such times silver has\\ndisappeared from circulation, and the relative posi-\\ntions of the two metals have been the reverse of what\\nthey are now except that the difference in value be-\\ntween the two kinds of dollars has not been as great.\\nIn the present stage of enlightenment a metallic\\nstandard of value is doubtless a necessity, and gold,\\nall things considered, is almost unquestionably the\\nmetal best adapted for the purpose, but the greater\\nthe extent to which paper substitutes are used in a", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "28 ECONOMICS.\\ngiven country the more capital is released for other\\nand more productive uses. The substitution of a\\nmillion dollars in paper for a million in gold or silver,\\nand the sending of the latter abroad in payment of a\\ndebt, or in exchange for commodities, adds a^ million\\ndollars to the productive capital of the country, pro-\\nviding the issue of paper be not carried to such a point\\nthat it depreciates below its face value, as is usually\\nthe case in countries where paper currency is issued\\nby the government, the temptation to issue excessive\\namounts being usually irresistible, but the fact that\\nthe authority has often been abused does not appear\\nto be a valid reason for delegating it to individuals\\nor to banks. The saving effected by the substitution\\nof paper notes for metallic currency rightfully belongs\\nto all the people, and the arguments used to justify its\\ndonation to banks in nearly all countries are fallacious\\nand refutable.\\nMuch has been published in the newspapers about\\nthe folly of the government going into the banking\\nbusiness, but it appears to me that, while there is not\\nthe slightest prospect of the government assuming any\\nof the functions of a bank, the banks are fast getting\\ninto the government business, a branch of which is\\nissuing currency, while the legitimate business of a\\nbank is the receiving of deposits, the loaning of\\nmoney or credit, the collection of business paper and\\ndealing in foreign and domestic exchange. Even if\\nconfined within these limits, there is no more profitable\\nbusiness than banking. You deposit your money with\\na banker, in other words you loan it to him, you ask\\nfor no security, and you give him full permission to", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS, 29\\nuse the money as he Hkes, make all he can with it, and\\ngive you, in most cases, nothing in return except your\\nmoney back when you want it. When you wish to\\nuse some of the money in his possession the case is\\ndifferent you give him ample security, pay him inter-\\nest, and leave a considerable part of the money which\\nyou have borrowed from him in his charge, with\\nliberty to reloan seventy-five per cent of it to some\\none else on interest. This looks, to an outsider, like\\na pretty good business, but the enterprising banker is\\nby no means satisfied with it; like David Copperfield\\nhe wants more. He wants, besides the privilege of\\nborrowing money without security or interest and\\nloaning it on both, the additional privilege of com-\\npelling you to accept his note without interest and\\npayable on Doomsday as money when he discounts\\nyour sixty or ninety day note with ample security at\\nsix per cent interest, and expects you to leave about\\nhalf the proceeds with him. In explaining the advan-\\ntages of this plan our secretary of the treasury did\\nnot state the case in this blunt way; with his greater\\ncommand of language he expressed it far more neatly,\\nputting it something like this A farmer in the remote\\nwest or south is known only within a small radius he\\nis solvent, and in every way worthy of credit, but no\\none outside of his immediate neighborhood knows this,\\nand he has no collateral which a city bank would\\naccept he could, or thinks he could, profitably employ\\nmore capital on his farm the bank in his town would\\ntake great pleasure in accommodating so worthy, in-\\ndustrious and enterprising a man, but it really hasn t\\nthe money. The bank has, of course, a wider circle", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "30 ECONOMICS.\\nof acquaintance than the farmer has, and its credit is\\nestabHshed over a greater extent of territory than his\\nis, so the proper thing for it to do under the circum-\\nstances is to loan the farmer its credit, which is so\\nmuch better established than his, but here an obstacle\\ncomes into view, the pig-headed farmer refuses to pay\\nthe discount on the bank s note as well as that on his\\nown, and if the bank itself should pay it the bank\\nwould make nothing on the transaction except what\\nit is rightly entitled to, which is the difference in in-\\nterest between the rate it can get from the farmer and\\nthe rate it would have to pay on the farmer s note with\\nits indorsement. So small a profit not being to his\\ntaste, the banker looks around for a way out of the\\ndilemma, and by a sudden inspiration it occurs to him\\nthat it would be all right if our government would\\njust guarantee the payment of his notes and make them\\nlegal tender, then the farmer and everyone else would\\nhave to accept them whether they liked it or not. In\\nview of the disinterested patriotism and philanthropic\\nspirit by which the banks have always been actuated in\\ntheir dealings with the people, the latter cannot, surely,\\nrefuse so reasonable a request.\\nThere are three little points, however, which Mr.\\nGage did not apparently think worth explaining. One\\nis that in this transaction the bank is loaning and re-\\nceiving interest on the government credit, not its own\\nanother is that the bank s note, issued by government\\nauthority and on the people s credit, displaces a gov-\\nernment note for a like amount, and an interest-bearing\\nbond has to be issued in its place, so that the banks\\nget interest on all the government paper which can be", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 31\\nfloated without interest, while the people pay interest\\nwhenever they use the national credit for their own\\nbenefit; and the third is that so large a borrower as\\nour government entering the loan market greatly helps\\nto sustain the rate of interest on loanable capital.\\nNo new law was requisite to enable a bank to loan\\nits own credit. It can do this in ways well known\\nto all bankers.\\nIn political speeches and newspaper discussions all\\nsorts of arguments have been used to convince wage-\\nworkers that their prosperity or adversity depends upon\\nthe kind of money used, newspaper articles being fre-\\nquently illustrated with absurd pictures showing a\\nworkingman receiving his pay in silver on a gold\\nbasis and paying it out for family supplies on a silver\\nbasis, and the like. Gold advocates tell these people\\nthey would receive, under free coinage of silver, the\\nsame number of silver dollars for a week s work as\\nthey now receive on a gold basis, while the prices of\\nall they consume would be doubled. Champions of\\nsilver tell them equally absurd tales. The truth of the\\nmatter is that so long as every one is paid in the same\\nkind of money as he or she spends, and it is spent\\npractically as soon as received, which is usually done,\\nit makes no difference what that money is. The few\\ndollars which a person has on hand in actual cash, not\\nthe property owned or the debts due him, represents\\nthe difference between what he has received and what\\nhe has spent, or invested, during his whole lifetime,\\nand with most of us this is so trifling a sum that a\\nslight increase or diminution in its value would make\\nno difference to us. As already stated, the only people", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "32 ECONOMICS.\\naffected by a change in the value of money are debtors\\nand creditors, and they have alternately had the better\\nQi each other in the ups and downs of the value of\\nthe currency in use.\\nPANICS.\\nDuring the past hundred and fifty years there have\\noccurred eighteen commercial crises of considerable\\nseverity, namely: in 1758, 1764, 1772, 1776, 1778,\\n1793, 1801, 1810, 1816-17, 1826, 1831, 1837, 1847,\\n1857, 1866, 1873, 1882, 1893. It is interesting to note\\nhow nearly the intervals between those in the past\\nand those in the present century correspond. Each has\\nbeen followed by a period of depression and dull busi-\\nness, and between the regular panics have occurred\\nconstant minor alternations of activity and depression.\\nThose who have attempted to discover the causes of\\ncommercial panics have variously attributed them to\\ngood crops and consequent low prices, to poor crops\\nand consequent high prices, to overproduction, to the\\nbuilding of too many railroads, to overspeculation, to\\nthe investment of too much capital in productive ma-\\nchinery, to too little money or too much in circula-\\ntion, but have with singular unanimity avoided all\\nmention of what appears to me the simplest and most\\nobvious explanation, which is the too unequal division\\nof the products of industry. To simplify matters let\\nus assume a community consisting of only one land\\nowner owning all the land, one capitalist owning all\\nthe buildings, machinery and implements of produc-\\ntion, and the remainder of the community consisting\\nof farmers, laborers, operatives and mechanics and", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0032.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 33\\ntheir families. If all the workmen worked steadily\\nand received sufficient pay for their work to enable\\nthem to buy all they produced except what was needed\\nfor the use of the land-owner, the capitalist and their\\nfamilies, is it not obvious that all could live in com-\\nfort and even luxury; that no one need ever be out\\nof employment, and that production could go on un-\\ninterruptedly forever? But if the land-owner took\\nfrom the workingmen, for rent, so large a proportion\\nof their earnings that they only had enough money\\nleft to buy from the capitalist three-quarters of what\\nthey produced, is it not equally obvious that produc-\\ntion must periodically stop till the accumulated stock\\nbe consumed? And is it not equally apparent that\\nwhile the stoppage lasts those who, through improvi-\\ndence, misfortune or owing to the number of those\\ndependent upon them have not laid by anything, must\\neither starve, steal, or exist upon charity? And that\\nthe prices of the accumulated commodities must be\\nreduced to a figure which will enable the workingmen\\nto buy them? And after having disposed of his\\naccumulated stock at a loss (the difference between\\nwhat it cost and what it brought having gone to the\\nland-owner in rent), the capitalist will naturally pro-\\nceed to replace it slowly and cautiously, and the panic\\nwill be followed by the inevitable period of dull trade\\nand hard times. Is it not clear that the panic could\\nhave been avoided and all could have been better off,\\nthe capitalist and the land-owner included, if the pay\\nof the workers had been sufficient to enable them and\\ntheir families to consume all they produced, with the\\nexception of what was needed by the capitalist and the", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0033.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "34 ECONOMICS.\\nland-owner? The latter would, in any event, have\\nbeen a useless burden on the backs of the others, and\\nhis elimination would have amounted to the same thing\\nas a vast increase in the wages of the workers and in\\nthe profits of the capitalist. To attribute hard times\\nto overproduction is equivalent to saying that poverty\\nis caused by a superabundance of wealth, and is too\\nabsurd for serious consideration.\\nWhen a panic has occurred soon after a period of\\nexceptional activity in railroad building, the panic has\\nbeen attributed to this cause, but the possession of even\\nuseless wealth cannot cause poverty. If so much labor\\nand capital were consumed in building railroads or fac-\\ntories as not to leave enough available for the produc-\\ntion of food, clothing and other necessities, then it\\nmight be truthfully said that the overbuilding of rail-\\nroads and factories had caused hard times, but such\\nis never the case. There is always a glut of goods\\nof all kinds in panicky times, the harder the times the\\ngreater the glut. And even in times of so-called\\nfamine, there is always an abundance of food for all\\nwho have money to pay for it. In countries where\\nthe people receive for their labor in good times barely\\nenough to support life, a slight shortage in the crops,\\nsufficient to raise prices somewhat, causes the starva-\\ntion of thousands, but there is always plenty of food\\nobtainable by those who have the money to pay for\\nit at the increased price.\\nSpeculation is usually regarded as a cause of hard\\ntimes, but in nearly all forms of speculation some\\none must gain what others lose, and the community\\ncould only be impoverished by speculation if a suffi-", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0034.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 35\\ncient number of workers withdrew from productive\\noccupation and engaged in speculation to cause a\\nserious diminution in the production of wealth, which\\nis never the case, the ranks of speculators not being\\nrecruited from those of the workers to a sufficient\\nextent to materially affect the volume of the social\\nproduct. But while speculation does not reduce the\\nreal wealth of the country, it does play a part in pre-\\ncipitating panics. During every period of exceptional\\nprosperity prices of stocks, bonds and real estate, as\\nwell as those of most commodities, rise. Thousands\\nof holders of these forms of property, believing them-\\nselves to be rich, adopt a new and more expensive\\nstandard of living, production being thereby stimu-\\nlated, but wealth created by merely marking up the\\nvalue of what was already in existence is a very differ-\\nent thing from that created by well-directed labor, be-\\ncause it does not represent any real increase in the\\nwealth of the country, and because it may, at any\\nmoment, have to be marked down again. When this\\nmarking down occurs many people who thought them-\\nselves rich find they are not, and they immediately cur-\\ntail consumption, thereby throwing working people\\nout of employment these in turn must also consume\\nless, throwing still more out of work, and we have\\nthe phenomenon of dull times.\\nLABOR AND CAPITAL.\\nThere is no natural conflict between labor and capi-\\ntal except as to the division of the product of both.\\nTheir interests are identical except in this one respect,\\nand even in this they are not as widely divergent as", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0035.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "36 ECONOMICS.\\nis often thought. Obviously it is not for the best in-\\nterest of labor, as a whole, to consume so large a share\\nof what is produced that the amount of capital in\\nexistence would be diminished, and on the other hand\\nit is as clearly not to the interest of capitalists, as a\\nwhole, that laborers should be so poorly paid that they\\ncannot buy, and consume, all that is produced for their\\nuse.\\nCapital cannot, anywhere, be productively employed\\nexcept in connection with labor, and in what are called\\ncivilized communities, labor, as a general thing, is of\\nlittle use except in connection with capital. The two\\nmust be employed together, and the greater the amount\\nof capital the more productive the labor employed in\\nconnection with it will be.\\nTheoretically, the result of all labor is divided be-\\ntween three classes of persons, namely workers, capi-\\ntalists and land-owners. A single individual may fill\\nall three or any two of those positions, but the profits\\nwhich he derives from his occupation may be separated\\ninto three parts: wages for his work, interest on his\\ncapital, and rent for his land. In one respect the\\ninterests of all three classes are identical; it is to\\nthe interest of all that production should go on unin-\\nterruptedly, in order that the amount to be divided\\nmay be as large as possible. Clearly, the greater the\\namount of wealth produced the more each partner in\\nthe division can get. But, as explained in the chapter\\non panics, production under modern conditions can\\nproceed uninterruptedly only when the total production\\nis divided with a reasonable degree of equity. It is,\\ntherefore, to the interest of all that a fair division", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0036.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 37\\nshould be made, so that the working class, which is\\nalways by far the largest, can consume all that is pro-\\nduced for its consumption. To this extent the interests\\nof all classes are identical just as it is to the interest\\nof every individual in a community that the whole com-\\nmunity should be prosperous, and as it is to the inter-\\nest of every nation that all other nations should thrive.\\nThe consuming power of an individual, or that of a\\nnation, is in proportion to its prosperity, and one s best\\ncustomer is he who consumes the most of what one\\nproduces.\\nA reasonable degree of thrift is commendable, and\\nit is to the interest of an individual to get all he can\\nand save all he gets, as long as too many others do\\nnot attempt to do the same, but nothing would be\\nmore detrimental to the community in general, and to\\nthe working classes in particular, than for every one\\nto become suddenly economical and thrifty. This is\\nprecisely what happens after a financial panic, and is\\nlargely what produces the long periods of dull times\\nwhich always follow them. The faster wealth is\\nconsumed the more demand there is for labor and\\ncapital, and the better both are remunerated. History\\nshows that even where enormous amounts of wealth\\nhave been destroyed with the greatest rapidity by con-\\nflagrations, war, earthquakes and similar disasters,\\nit has been replaced so fast that in a few years the\\nrecovery has been complete, and everyone as well\\noff as though no calamity had occurred.\\nThe interests of laborers and capitalists are identical\\nin another respect; it is to the interest of both that\\nthe third partner (the land-owner) should receive the", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0037.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "38 ECONOMICS,\\nsmallest possible share of the total product. But when\\nit comes to a division between themselves it is, as\\nalready shown, to the interest of both that an equitable\\ndivision should be made; otherwise consumption will\\nnot keep pace with production, we will have the absurd\\nphenomenon of overproduction, stocks will accumu-\\nlate, prices will fall and both labor and capital will to\\na great extent be unemployed.\\nWhile it is best for employers as a class that their\\nemployes should be well paid, it is of vital importance\\nto each individual employer to get his work done as\\ncheaply as his competitors get theirs. It makes but\\nlittle difference how high the wages paid as long as\\nall other similar establishments have to pay the same,\\nbut if one competitor succeeds in grinding down his\\nemployes to a lower scale of wages all must do the\\nsame, and it is here that labor organizations are of\\nincalculable benefit, not only to their own members, but\\nto the whole community, by enforcing a uniform, and\\nreasonably high, rate of pay from all employers for a\\ngiven amount of work. A wise employer of produc-\\ntive labor does not worry when he has to pay high\\nwages if he knows that his competitors are paying the\\nsame, for well paid laborers not only produce more,\\nbut they and their families also consume far more\\nthan those who are ill paid, and as all production is\\nintended for consumption, the laborer and the capi-\\ntalist are happiest when both production and consump-\\ntion are at their maximum. While this is true under\\npresent conditions, it would not be so in an ideal state\\nof civilization, where- production would go on only\\nat such a rate that while everyone s wants were well", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0038.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 39\\nprovided for all would have abundant leisure, and no\\none would be overworked.\\nThat most things are used up about as fast as pro-\\nduced, is shown by the small amount of wealth in\\nexistence, considering the length of time it has taken\\nto accumulate it. There are probably millions of peo-\\nple in this country who do not possess property to\\nthe value of a cent for each day they have lived. It\\nhas been estimated that the total wealth of the world\\ncould, with the aid of modern machinery, be produced\\nin three or four years. If the total wealth accumulated\\nin countless thousands of years amounts only to the\\ntotal product of three or four, the addition each year\\nmust have been exceedingly slight. Statistics in-\\ntended to show the wealth of a country or of the\\nworld are, like most other statistics, misleading. The\\nsame wealth is counted over and over again, and much\\npurely fictitious wealth is included. Thus, a farm and\\nthe mortgage on it, or a railroad, its stock and its\\nbonds, paper money, promissory notes, stocks, insur-\\nance policies, book accounts and the like are all esti-\\nmated as wealth, and yet the total wealth of the world\\nwould not be diminished if they were all destroyed,\\nbecause the loss on each item, to some one, would\\nbe balanced by a corresponding gain on the part of\\nsomeone else. To illustrate this matter of wealth\\nexisting purely on paper, when a railroad is built,\\nstock may be issued upon it, then preferred stock, then\\nsuccessively first, second, third, fourth and fifth mort-\\ngage bonds, and income bonds, all or part of which\\nmay be sold to a company which, wishing to borrow\\nmoney on them, deposits them with a trust company", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0039.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "40 ECONOMICS.\\nand issues collateral trust bonds against them. The\\npurchaser of these latter hypothecates them with the\\nbank where he keeps his account, borrowing perhaps\\n80 per cent of their face value on them, and giving\\nhis note for the amount, which note thereby becomes\\na part of the bank assets. Here are seven pieces of\\npaper all representing the same piece of property, and\\nyet each is counted separately in estimating the coun-\\ntry s wealth. If all the wealth existing purely on\\npaper, and all which has been created by simply\\nmarking up the value of land were eliminated, it\\nwould be found that the wealth of the world is very\\nsmall, considering the time it has required to accumu-\\nlate it.\\nIn countries where the producing classes receive but\\na very small share of what they produce, employment\\nis found for the surplus labor by keeping standing\\narmies, and by the employment of large numbers of\\nmen and women as domestic and personal servants,\\nand in other capacities where they consume but do not\\nproduce, and the more non-productive consumers there\\nare, the smaller the share of what is produced goes to\\nthe producers.\\nCapitalists whose capital is productively employed\\nare almost as useful and necessary in a modern com-\\nmunity as workers are, but the bondholder whose capi-\\ntal has been destroyed in war, or wasted in supporting\\nsoldiers, royalty and the like, and now exists only on\\npaper; and the land-owner who produces nothing\\nthey and their dependents and servants are a dead\\nweight on the backs of productive labor and capital\\nIt is sometimes argued, and I formerly entertained", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0040.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 41\\nthe same opinion, that there would be nearly as many\\npeople out of employment as at present if intemper-\\nance, dishonesty and incompetence did not exist; it is\\nmaintained that the search for work is like a race in\\nwhich all cannot win, and if all were honest, temperate\\nand industrious, as many of these would have to be\\nconstantly idle as there are now idle among the\\ndrunken, lazy and dishonest. But, after longer obser-\\nvation, I think this is a mistake. In almost every large\\nestablishment, and in many small ones, there are posi-\\ntions unfilled because the right people cannot be found\\nto fall them places where a competent and industrious\\nman or woman would earn enough for his or her own\\nsupport and a profit for the employer, but where the\\nemployment of a drunkard or a thief would result in\\nloss. As a consequence these latter are left almost\\nconstantly out of work, where they live on the earnings\\nof the rest of the community, and both production and\\nconsumption are smaller than if they worked. Ob-\\nviously, if three persons work and support a fourth\\nin idleness, all four must collectively be worse off\\nthan if all worked.\\nAlthough a criminal, whether in confinement or at\\nliberty, usually eats two or three meals a day, always\\nwears clothes of some sort, and consumes more or less\\nwhisky, beer and tobacco, his average consumption is\\nnothing like what it would be if he were constantly\\nand productively employed, but as he produces noth-\\ning, all that he does consume must be provided for\\nhim by those who do work. It is unfortunate that it\\nis not more generally understood that criminals who\\ndo not work add materially to the burdens of produc-", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0041.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "42 ECONOMICS.\\ntive labor and capital. If this were understood by all\\nmembers of trades unions they would not urge the\\ncompulsory idleness of the prisoners confined in our\\nprisons and reformatories, which is cruel to the prison-\\ners themselves, injurious to their physical and moral\\nwelfare, and makes their support a tax which is paid\\nin part by land-owners and capitalists, but largely by\\nthe laboring classes.\\nWhile it is best for the whole community that labor\\nand capital should all be constantly employed, it would\\nbe well if many of the forms of production in which\\nboth are at present engaged could be changed, and\\nthat they will be changed with the spread of knowl-\\nedge I have no doubt. When a man sends his bare-\\nfooted child to the saloon with a dime for a bucket of\\nbeer, he starts the dime in circulation and benefits the\\nsaloon-keeper, the brewer and their employes, but if\\nhe spent the dime for stockings for the child he would\\nbenefit labor and capital to the same extent and the\\nchild would have the stockings besides. In buying\\nthe stockings instead of the beer he causes the diversion\\nof a certain amount of labor and capital from the man-\\nufacture of beer to that of stockings.\\nAll the capital and labor now devoted to useless or\\nworse than useless purposes, such as the manufacture\\nof articles prejudicial to the general welfare, and the\\nsupport of armies and navies, could be profitably em-\\nployed in cleaning and improving the dirty streets\\nand filthy alleys in our cities and towns, in making\\ngood country roads, in irrigating our immense areas\\nof arid lands in the West, which need only water to\\nmake them capable of supporting millions of inhabi-", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0042.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 43\\ntants, in building better dwellings, in building ship\\ncanals within the borders of our own country, and in\\nmany ways from which all would derive benefit. When\\nthe majority of our people come to understand these\\nthings they will not deem it necessary to subjugate\\nnatives in the antipodes to provide markets for our\\nmanufactures.\\nIt appears to me that we sadly need more original-\\nity and diversity in the investment of capital and the\\nemployment of labor, that we should provide for the\\nsatisfaction of wants, of which there are many now\\nunsatisfied, and perhaps, to a large extent unrealized,\\ninstead of adding quite as rapidly as is now being\\ndone, to the means of producing articles which are\\nalready being produced in abundance, and could easily\\nbe still more rapidly produced by the plants already\\nin existence. Too many of us, both capitalists and\\nlaborers, are engaged in trying to crowd others out\\nof fields of industry already fully occupied instead of\\nseeking new forms of investment and employment, or\\nthose only partially filled, of which there are still many\\nin our country, although they are by no means as\\nplenty or as obvious as they were a generation ago,\\nwhen the general run of business men in America\\namassed, if not great wealth, at least comfortable com-\\npetence with a rapidity and ease uncommon at the\\npresent day.\\nMuch has been said and written on the evil of ad-\\nmitting all sorts of immigrants to this country, and it\\nappears to be generally considered detrimental to the\\ninterests of those already here to bring in the poor\\nand ignorant, even if strong and industrious. While", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0043.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "44 ECONOMICS.\\nI am not prepared to assert that this opinion is in-\\ncorrect, there is something to be said on the other side\\nof this, as of most questions. Is it not possible that\\npoor and ignorant immigrants of a low order of intelli-\\ngence, but possessing good health, bodily strength\\nand a disposition to work, on their arrival in this\\ncountry, crowd their way in at the bottom, forcing\\nthose already here into higher positions Most of the\\nkinds of work which were done in this country a\\ngeneration ago by Irishmen ar*? now performed by a\\nless intelligent class of immigrants, and the Irish have\\nnot suffered thereby. They have been pushed up-\\nstairs, not down. No one, I am sure, will more read-\\nily admit than my Irish friends, that it is both pleas-\\nanter and more profitable to be an alderman, a police-\\nman, a fireman, or even to keep a well-paying saloon,\\nthan to wield a pick or push a wheelbarrow. Many\\nwho were themselves formerly laborers are now fore-\\nmen over less intelligent workmen who have since\\ncome in. It seems fair to assume that these new\\ncomers are better off than where they came from or\\nthey would not continue to come, and if we, too, are\\nbetter off for their presence, there appears no valid\\nreason for keeping them out. This view does not con-\\nflict with the ground already taken that all would be\\nbenefitted by more knowledge and education. The\\nfact that the ignorant immigrants referred to would be\\nbetter off if they knew more, does not conflict with\\nthe other fact that they are better off here than at\\nhome, and that their presence here is beneficial to\\nthose who came before, because they take their places\\nat the bottom of the social pyramid, slightly raising all", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0044.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 45\\nabove them. But this reasoning applies only to physical\\nwelfare. The probable effects of lowering the average\\nintelligence of the community by the admission of\\nlarge numbers of ignorant immigrants furnishes a\\nvery strong argument on the other side of the case.\\nWhile I believe the thorough education of the\\nmasses, and the greater development of intellect in all\\nclasses, to be the means by which the condition of all\\nwill be gradually improved, it is perhaps true that\\nthe connection between education and refinement be-\\ncomes less apparent as education grows more general\\nand it is undeniable that if all were educated and in-\\ntelligent the advantage to the individual derivable\\nfrom educaton and superior intellect would be much\\nless than at present and in all past times, when their\\nchief use is, and has been, to enable their possessors\\nto get the better of those who lack them. If all\\npossessed them, their possession would not, as at pres-\\nent, give one individual any advantage over another,\\nbut collectively the community would be vastly better\\noff. It is obvious that if all were educated, then edu-\\ncated people would have to do all kinds of work, in-\\ncluding that now done only by the lowest and most\\nignorant classes, but the productiveness of labor would\\nbe so much increased, and the distribution of wealth\\nso much less unequal than at present, that such work\\nwould have to be much better remunerated than it is\\nnow, in order to induce anyone to do it. Disagreeable\\nand hard work might then command higher pay than\\nthat which is light and pleasant, instead of the reverse,\\nas now.", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0045.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "46 ECONOMICS.\\nTRUSTS.\\nIn view of the popular opinion that the large aggre-\\ngations of capital and consolidations of many different\\ncompanies and firms into gigantic trusts and combi-\\nnations are detrimental to the general welfare, and of\\nthe applause which usually follows their denunciation\\nby politicians, and of the laws which have been passed\\nin many states to discourage their formation, and if\\npossible break them up, it may be regarded as a bold\\nassertion to say that a well-managed trust contributes\\nlargely to the public good, and as one which is badly\\nmanaged does not last long, there is little danger to be\\napprehended from any of them. In a recent conversa-\\ntion with an acquaintance, one of whose friends busi-\\nness was being ruined by a trust, it was explained to\\nme that the trust made it impossible for him to com-\\npete with it by paying its laborers more than he could\\nafford to pay and at the same time selling its product\\ncheaper than he had ever been able to sell his. If the\\ntrust pays its employes more and sells its output\\ncheaper than its competitors can, it looks to me as\\nthough a great many more people were benefitted than\\nare injured by its existence It must be admitted that\\nthe community in general is better off for the many\\nlabor-saving devices and machines which have come\\ninto use during the past century, and in all countries\\npatent laws are in force for the encouragement of\\ninventors. Yet no invention is of any value unless\\nit enables fewer persons to do a given amount of work\\nthan were required to do a like amount before, thereby\\ndepriving the others of their former means of obtain-\\ning a livelihood, and the more people whom a given", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0046.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 47\\ninvention throws out of employment the more valuable\\nit is, and the greater the wealth and honor accorded\\nits inventor. The formation of a successful trust\\naccomplishes the same end fewer persons do the work\\nformerly done by a larger number, and usually do it\\nbetter. The members of the trust, its employes an\\nthe consumers of its products are benefited, while those\\ndeprived of employment suffer for the time being, all\\nof which results are precisely similar to those brought\\nabout by the introduction of any other labor-saving\\ndevice. It is undeniably true that up to the present\\ntime the result of all such devices has been to enable\\na comparatively few to live in extreme luxury, and to\\namass great wealth rather than to lighten the labor\\nand increase the comforts of all, but all have unques-\\ntionably derived some benefit from the larger output\\nand receive more goods in exchange for a given\\namount of work than in any former time.\\nMany trusts have been formed, and others doubtless\\nwill be, by men ignorant of economic laws, who be-\\nlieve that with the command of enormous amounts of\\ncapital they can eliminate all competition and then\\nbuy the raw materials needed for their establishments\\nand sell the manufactured products at almost any\\nprices they choose to establish, but, as shown in the\\nchapter on value, the effect of competition in fixing\\nvalues is more apparent than real, and all trusts man-\\naged on this theory have resulted in disaster unless,\\nprofiting by experience, the policy has been changed\\nbefore the passing of the concern into the hands of a\\nreceiver. It is absurd to suppose that competition\\ncould be done away with for long by widening the", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0047.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "48 ECONOMICS.\\nmargin of profit in this way. No more effectual way\\ncould be adopted for increasing- it. To drive out com-\\npetition, one must pay more for the raw material and\\nsell the product cheaper than competitors can. What-\\never the motives actuating the managers of a concern\\nwhich does this, the public is benefited. Those trusts\\nwhich have been successful do not owe their success\\nto the elimination of competition, but have incidentally\\neliminated competition because they have relied for\\ntheir profit, not upon any ability to buy cheaper or\\nsell dearer than their competitors, but upon the cheap-\\nening of production by doing everything on a vast\\nscale, the use of the most effective machinery, the\\nutilization of by-products, the saving in freight effected\\nby having several plants conveniently located and fill-\\ning each order from the plant nearest the consumer,\\nthe economy of management resulting from consoli-\\ndation, the greater efficiency of labor, both physical\\nand mental, resulting from discipline and from the\\npossibility of the greater subdivision of labor, thereby\\nkeeping each employe always at that which he can do\\nbest, so that nothing is wasted owing to anyone having\\nto spend a part of his time in idleness or in doing a\\nlower or cheaper grade of work than the best he is\\nfitted for. Trusts, depending on these factors for suc-\\ncess, have succeeded and will continue to succeed;\\nthose which rely upon any supposed ability to widen\\nthe margin of profit by depressing the prices of crude\\nmaterials and raising the prices of the manufactured\\nproducts; those whose managers expect to market a\\nlarge output at a high price, and those who make the", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0048.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 49\\nprofits of the business secondary to manipulation of the\\nstock market, will all, sooner or later, come to grief.\\nIt is true that a trust, having driven all competitors\\nfrom the field, could for a time, do a small business at\\na high rate of profit rather than a large business at a\\nsmall margin; but even if attempted for a time, this\\ncould not be continued long. New competitors would\\nspring up; old ones would resume operations; it\\nwould be necessary to suspend production at frequent\\nintervals to avoid producing a glut, the only way to\\nsustain the market being by limiting the supply, and\\nmanagers of large concerns have found by experience\\nthat it is more economical to run, even at a small loss,\\nthan to close down. Machinery rusts out faster than\\nit wears out, skilled labor moves away, high salaried\\nofficers, superintendents, salesmen and the like must\\nbe kept on the payrolls; taxes, interest, and insurance\\ngo on just the same operatives must live all the time\\neven though they work only a part, so demand higher\\npay for irregular than for steady work. It is therefore\\nsoon learnt that it is, in the long run, more profitable\\nto continue production on a scale suited to the capacity\\nof the works, and dispose of the output at such prices\\nas the public will pay, than to attempt to maintain\\nhigh prices by limiting production.\\nSeveral thousand persons using the most effective\\nmachinery, doing everything in the quickest and most\\neconomical known way, each doing all the time that\\nwhich he knows best how to do, working in an estab-\\nlishment where strict discipline is maintained, under\\nconstant and skillful supervision, all under one man-\\nagement, having control of unlimited capital, produce", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0049.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "50 ECONOMICS.\\nSO much more than an equal number working in the\\nold-fashioned way, that it is perfectly possible for them\\nto be as well, or even better paid, than if the trust had\\nnever existed, and at the same time for a few persons\\nto derive very large incomes from the excess of wealth\\nproduced, over and above what the same number of\\nworkers would have produced, each working for him-\\nself, or if employed in small establishments. In the\\npresent stage of civilization this excess belongs to\\nthose who, by their energy and ability for organiza-\\ntion, cause its production. When, generations hence,\\na higher civilization becomes general, all those who do\\ntheir best may be considered entitled to the same re-\\nward, regardless of whether the result be failure or\\nsuccess, but we are still a long way from that.\\nWe have seen that the public, the operative and the\\nstockholder may all be benefited by the consolidation\\nof many businesses into one, the only parties injured\\nbeing the proprietors of smaller establishments, which\\nare left out of the combines and are unable to compete\\nwith them. If the motto of the greatest good to the\\ngreatest number be accepted, their welfare is not to\\nbe taken into the account; but let us consider them.\\nSome must find other employment, and, unfortunately,\\nit is likely to be those least capable of doing so. Others,\\nowing to their ability to influence a certain amount\\nof business, or to skill in some branch of manufac-\\nture, are, upon giving up the struggle, frequently\\noffered positions with the trust at salaries nearly, or\\nquite, equal to their former average incomes, and\\nwhile, perhaps, longer hours may be exacted and a\\ndegree of discipline enforced which is irksome, these", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0050.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 51\\ndisadvantages are, to some extent, compensated by\\nthe lack of care and anxiety, and by the certainty of a\\nregular income. It sometimes happens that a large\\nestablishment can afford to, and does, pay a man who\\nhas been moderately successful in business for him-\\nself, a larger salary than the income he previously\\nearned for himself, because the value of his services\\nare greater to a large than to a small concern, or he\\nmay be lacking in some point which, while preventing\\ngreat success in an enterprise under his sole manage-\\nment, is not brought into play at all in the larger\\nsphere, where the division of labor places is under the\\ndirection of some one strong in that particular. Many\\nmen who have failed in business for themselves, have\\nafterward been eminently successful as heads of de-\\npartments in large establishments where a general line\\nof policy is mapped out for them, or where some one\\nelse passes on credits or regulates expenditures. Such\\na man may know far more than the president or man-\\nager of the trust about his particular department and\\nyet be incapable of running it successfully without a\\ncertain slight amount of guidance from the latter\\nsource. This slight guidance may apparently amount\\nto little, and is doubtless often deemed a hindrance\\nby the department manager, and yet it may make all\\nthe difference between a handsome profit and a round\\nloss at the end of the year.\\nIn a very large establishment it is possible to econo-\\nmize to the fullest extent the time of high-salaried em-\\nployes, and no one competent to fill an important\\nposition need be kept long in an inferior one. The\\nmanagers of a trust wishing to get its work done as", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0051.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "52 ECONOMICS.\\ncheaply as possible, err much oftener by putting too\\ncheap a man into an important position than by keep-\\ning one of marked ability in an inferior one. But\\nthe longer a trust exists, the more liberal its managers\\nusually become in the payment of salaries. Concerns\\nwhich have grown to enormous size with mushroom\\nrapidity under the control of men of great energy and\\nexecutive ability, who give close personal attention\\nto details, and are impatient of any division of au-\\nthority, sometimes get on for a considerable time with\\nvery cheap help, even in important positions, resort-\\ning to all sorts of devices to cause employes to think\\ntheir own services of little value, adopting a system\\nof bookkeeping whereby every department is made to\\nshow a loss, making the most of every error in judg-\\nment and belittling every success. But this policy\\nusually results in the accumulation of a corps of em-\\nployes whose abilitiy lies chiefly in the direction of\\nfooling those above them, rather than in making money\\nfor the company, and after a longer experience it is\\nfound more profitable to pay higher salaries to men\\ncapable of taking greater responsibilities, and on whom\\nmore dependence can be placed, so that many of the\\nlatter class receive as high remuneration for their work\\nas similar men in business for themselves, before the\\nadvent of trusts, realized from their own establish-\\nments.\\nIt is the economics possible in production and dis-\\ntribution on a large scale rather than any ability to\\nbuy cheap and sell dear, which enable trusts to sup-\\nplant smaller establishments. A very large buyer\\nentering the market finds it more difficult to supply", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0052.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 53\\nhis wants without advancing prices than a smaller\\nbuyer would, and a very large holder of goods de-\\npresses the market more in unloading than a small\\nproducer would. Large buyers often resort to the\\nmost ingenious expedients to conceal the magnitude of\\ntheir wants, and nearly always find it possible to buy\\na moderate amount of goods at a lower price than a\\nvery large amount, so that up to that point the small\\ndealer is not at a disadvantage as compared with the\\nlarger one, and where it is merely a question of resell-\\ning goods in practically the same condition as they\\nwere bought, as in the competition between very large\\nstores and smaller shops, I confess to an inability to\\ndiscover wherein the former has any great advantage\\noutside of greater skill in management, and the ability\\nto both buy and sell for cash. It may be true that\\nthe small dealer does not, as a rule, sell as cheap as\\nthe large store does, but this, I think, is less owing to\\nhis inability to do so than to the fact that the small\\ndealer who buys and sells only for cash and on the\\nsame margin of profit as his larger neighbor, soon\\nceases to be small.\\nIf my reasoning is correct, the same policy which\\nmakes a trust a success from its stockholders point\\nof view, also makes it a useful institution to the com-\\nmunity.\\nBut there is another side to the picture. When a\\ntrust is organized, by men who believe it is easier to\\nacquire wealth than to produce it, for the purpose of\\nunloading on the public all the stock and bonds which\\ncan be floated, as several have been, and then wrecking\\nthe whole concern, the transaction is one of pure and", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0053.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "54 ECONOMICS.\\nsimple robbery; but if stockholders put robbers and\\nwreckers in charge of their properties, they should\\nnot be surprised when they are robbed and their en-\\nterprises wrecked. Those who buy stock in these\\nspeculative trusts often understand that the whole\\nbusiness is eventually going to the dogs, but expect to\\nunload their holdings onto someone else while the\\nmarket is up, and it is not worth while wasting much\\nsympathy on those who fail in doing so, any more than\\non any other gambler who knowingly takes a chance\\nand loses. If the public will insist on playing with\\nthe fire it must expect occasionally to get burnt. The\\ngambling spirit is innate in the human race, and stock\\nspeculation is, perhaps, as good a way as any other\\nfor giving it vent. At this game one makes what\\nanother loses, and the wealth of this community, as a\\nwhole, is not affected, except that it pays for its\\namusement and excitement to the extent of the brokers\\ncommission just as it pays for any other form of\\namusement. The percentage against the player is\\nlarger than in faro, but smaller than in horse-racing,\\nand the game is lawful and considered respectable.\\nTrusts formed for the purpose of regulating the\\nmarket values of the crude materials which they use,\\nor of the goods which they manufatcure, either change\\ntheir policy or come to grief sooner or later, as already\\nstated, but while they last they do some harm. They\\nusually restrict production for a time, thereby use-\\nlessly throwing working people out of employment\\nand compelling economy in consumption. The arti-\\nficial scarcity is always followed by a glut, and the\\nhigher prices go under the trust s manipulation, the", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0054.jp2"}, "55": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 55\\nlower they go when it has to let go, as it always does\\nin the end. In the meantime, the consumer who has\\nbeen compelled to put up with an insufficient supply is\\nnot compensated by having it in his power, afterwards,\\nto buy more than he wants and the working man or\\nwoman who has been out of work for some time is\\nnot recompensed for weeks of privation and anxiety\\nby simply being taken on again.\\nOf the hundreds of trusts of all kinds lately formed\\ncomparatively few will, probably, fulfill the expecta-\\ntions of their stockholders, and many will result in\\nfailure, more or less complete, owing to the causes\\njust outlined ,to lack of experience, incompetence, dis-\\nhonesty, speculation, extravagance, and want of knowl-\\nedge of economic laws, on the part of those in charge,\\nfor there are, apparently, more trusts and very large\\ncorporations already in existence than there are men\\nwith the intelligence, knowledge and experience requis-\\nite for their successful management. The less experi-\\nenced the managers, the more they try to bring about\\nthe desired results by openly aggressive means, the\\nmore confidence they have in their ability to control\\nvalues, crush their rivals and otherwise accomplish the\\nimpossible, and their efforts in these directions not in-\\nfrequently result in their own downfall.\\nThe trusts which succeed will, I think, gradually\\naccomplish much good as object lessons illustrating\\nthe benefits derivable from co-operation as compared\\nwith competition. The competitive instinct is born\\nnot only in the human race, but extends to the animal\\nkingdom; colts playing in a field try to outrun one\\nanother, and male animals of most species fight, often", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0055.jp2"}, "56": {"fulltext": "56 ECONOMICS.\\nto the death, on their first meeting, but even animals\\nand savages learn that in union is strength, and\\ntribes of both are formed for co-operatiOn in warfare,\\noffensive and defensive. That the desirability of\\nco-operation among business men must have been\\nunderstood at a comparatively early date is shown by\\nthe formation of guilds and corporations, but its ad-\\nvantages were afterwards, to a large extent, lost sight\\nof, and until very recently competition was in this\\ncountry almost universally regarded as the life of\\ntrade. In this, as in many other ways, the maximum\\nof happiness can only be attained by the repression of\\nour natural impulses and instincts.\\nTrusts formed by capitalists on one hand and trade-\\nunions composed of workers on the other, when wisely\\nand honestly managed, may both prove of incalculable\\nbenefit as object lessons demonstrating the advantages\\nof co-operation and the absurdity of competition. May\\nwe not hope that it will eventually dawn on the minds\\nof the members of both that their interests are recip-\\nrocal, and the result be a fair division of a vastly\\nincreased product?\\nGOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP OF RAILROADS\\nThe reasoning in the chapter on trusts, that only\\nthose which are beneficial to the public will survive,\\nwhile those which are detrimental will bring about\\ntheir own downfall, is not applicable to railroad com-\\npanies. The power which these possess to enrich or\\nimpoverish not only individuals, but whole communi-\\nties, is too great to be safely intrusted to any corpora-", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0056.jp2"}, "57": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 57\\ntion or set of men who have no check on their greed\\nexcept their own consciences.\\nThe enormous waste caused by competition among\\nrailroads is a great and unnecessary strain upon the\\nresources of the country, and the bribery and corrup-\\ntion by which their managers obtain desired legisla-\\ntion, influence decisions, and secure the election of\\nofficials of their choosing, has a demoralizing influence\\nupon the morality of the whole nation.\\nThe oft quoted remark, that the question of the\\ngovernment taking the railroads has been settled by\\nthe railroads taking the government, is apparently\\ntrue at present, but great revulsions of public opinion\\nare not unknown in this country, and it is within the\\npossibilities that, at some future time, possibly sooner\\nthan now appears probable, our people will refuse to\\nlisten longer to arguments got up by politicians, osten-\\nsibly to prove that the kind of money in use makes\\nthem rich or poor, but in reality to distract their minds\\nfrom issues of real and great importance; or to have\\ntheir attention diverted from these real issues by such\\ndevices as a foreign war, this latter having been one\\nof the stock tricks of governments in all past times\\nfor quieting discontent at home, and will make the\\ngovernment ownership of railroads a prominent issue\\nin politics. A few of the advantages derivable from\\nsuch ownership are economy in operation, better and\\nquicker service, lower and equal rates of freight and\\nfare to all, the less unequal distribution of wealth,\\navoidance of waste of capital by building parallel lines,\\nand the employment of more labor consequent upon\\nheavier traffic.", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0057.jp2"}, "58": {"fulltext": "58 ECONOMICS.\\nA vast saving in the expense of operating the rail-\\nroads of the country would be effected by eliminating\\ncompetition, and placing all under one management.\\nAt present the lowest freight and passenger rates are\\nmade by the most indirect lines. Under natural con-\\niditions all freight and nearly all passengers would go\\nfrom one given point to another by the line combining\\nthe most advantages, such as short distance and easy\\ngrades, but under existing traffic agreements such\\nlines are compelled either to charge higher rates or\\nbring their service down to the level of the line hand-\\nling the business at the greatest disadvantage. If a\\nstraight line with easy grades and up-to-date equip-\\nment puts on a faster train, say from New York to\\nChicago, than its competitors can conveniently run,\\nthe latter combine and force the progressive road to\\nabandon the train or else charge extra fare. So it is\\nwith freight, the most indirect lines, and those pos-\\nsessing the poorest facilities for handling the business,\\nmake the lowest rates. If this were not the case they\\nwould not get any business at all. By this system the\\npublic never gets the best service of which the best line\\nis capable, and always pays rates based on the cost to\\nthe poorest equipped line handling any part of the busi-\\nness. Under government ownership goods would be\\nforwarded by the most direct line, and rates would\\nbe based on the cost of the service by that line, not\\nby the poorest, as at present. Shipments between\\nimportant points would go by trainloads, not carloads,\\nas now. If a hundred cars of freight, on an average,\\nmove daily from one city to another, distributed among\\nten different routes, each getting ten carloads, these", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0058.jp2"}, "59": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 59\\ncars are put into trains composed of cars destined\\nto many different points, the trains are taken apart at\\nfrequent intervals, all along the route, and much time\\nand labor wasted in switching the cars back and forth,\\ntaking one train apart, and, after an interval of hours,\\nor perhaps days, making up another. With all the\\nroads under one management, shipments between large\\ncities could be routed so as to insure solid trains from\\npoint of shipment to destination.\\nI have no means of ascertaining what proportion\\nof the total number of passengers are furnished free\\ntransportation, but everyone who travels much, knows\\nthe number to be enormous. Obviously, those who\\npay must pay for their own transportation and for that\\nof those who do not pay. An enormous saving would\\nbe effected by not hauling any deadheads.\\nIn means of travel and transportation, as in many\\nother things, we are too apt to compare the present\\nwith the past, rather than with what might be. We\\nare too easily satisfied. For instance, a Pullman sleep-\\ning car may be a luxurious mode of conveyance com-\\npared with a stagecoach, but compared with what\\ncan easily be imagined in the way of a luxurious car,\\nor with other sleepers which have been invented and\\nsuppressed, it is a long way behind the age. There\\nare few more uncomfortable places on earth on a hot\\nsummer night, on a dusty road in the South, than a\\nberth in a Pullman sleeper. Under government own-\\nership it would be perfectly practicable to furnish a\\nclean, well-ventilated, private apartment, where com-\\nfort and privacy could be secured, and where neither\\ndecency nor the laws of health need be violated, for a", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0059.jp2"}, "60": {"fulltext": "60 ECONOMICS.\\nlower charge than is now exacted for a shelf in a car\\nwhere gaudy furnishings are the chief attraction, and\\nwhere everything else is sacrificed to arrangements for\\ncarrying the greatest number of passengers at the\\nminimum cost.\\nThe large sums spent in advertising would all be\\nsaved.\\nThe army of intelligent and industrious men now\\nwasting their energies as freight solicitors could be\\nfar more usefully and productively employed in other\\nways.\\nA large amount of clerical work would be saved\\nwhich is now necessitated by each road having to keep\\naccounts with the others.\\nAll freight would go through without transfer.\\nThe labor of all the people at present employed by\\nfast freight lines would be released for more produc-\\ntive employment.\\nThe profit now going to owners of private cars, both\\npassenger and freight, in mileage paid on sleeping\\ncars, parlor cars, refrigerator cars, etc., would be all\\nsaved; so would the excessive bridge tolls, terminal\\ncharges, and the arbitraries now paid for short hauls.\\nSmall roads would not have to handle their business\\nexpensively for want of modern equipment.\\nThe presidents of some railroad companies are said\\nto receive salaries as high as $50,000 a year. No such\\nsalaries would have to be paid under government\\nownership. The best railroad talent could be obtained\\nfor half the money.\\nThe sums spent annually to influence legislation,\\nbribe officials, and defend damage suits would all be", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0060.jp2"}, "61": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 6l\\nsaved, as would also the enormous losses sometimes\\ncaused by strikes.\\nBetter service would be secured because, under gov-\\nernment ov/nership, no one would be a gainer by fur-\\nnishing poor service. There could be no conceivable\\nreason for crowding cars or having trains by different\\nroutes between the same points start all at the same\\ntime. Where the distance between given points is\\nshorter by one route than by others, the fare by the\\nshortest and quickest route would be the lowest, not\\nthe highest, as now. Sleeping car and dining car\\naccommodations would be within the reach of all.\\nEconomy in management and operation and in-\\ncreased traffic would make far lower rates possible,\\nand the increased traffic in conjunction with the\\nshorter hours of labor which would be required of\\ngovernment employees would render necessary the em-\\nployment of many more operatives than now, better\\nwages would be paid, and the market value of all\\nlabor throughout the country would be raised. Prob-\\nably the greatest of all the benefits derivable from\\ngovernment ownership is that the rates of freight\\nwould be alike to all. Discriminations in freight rates\\nhave probably built up more lai^e fortunes in this\\ncountry than any other cause except the increase in\\nthe value of land, and nothing short of government\\nownership can entirely prevent such discriminations.\\nThe ways by which anyone filling an important posi-\\ntion in the management of a railroad can enrich him-\\nself and his friends are many, easy, and obvious. The\\nprocess consists merely in making contracts between\\noneself in one s official capacity and oneself as an", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0061.jp2"}, "62": {"fulltext": "62 ECONOMICS.\\nindividual. This may be done to a moderate extent,\\nso the individual is gradually enriched to the extent\\nof a few millions while his company continues to\\nprosper and pay dividends, or it may be carried to\\nthe length of appropriating the entire net earnings of\\nthe company and gradually absorbing its capital. By\\nthe latter method, carried to its extreme length, it has\\nbeen possible for property worth fifty or sixty mil-\\nlions to be accumulated during the life of a single\\nindividual. Under the most corrupt political admin-\\nistration it could be no worse than this, and it could\\nnot be carried on as long by the same men, for suc-\\ncessive politicians would have a chance at the stealing\\nand the wealth would be more widely distributed.\\nUnder present conditions the cinch is handed down\\nfrom father to son, and may remain indefinitely in the\\nsame family.\\nThe fact that in those European countries where\\nthe railroads are owned by the government the rates\\nare not lower or the service better than here, proves\\nnothing. I have never heard it claimed that any at-\\ntempt was ever made to run those roads for the good\\nof the people. And conditions over there are so differ-\\nent from those prevailing here as to render any intelli-\\ngent comparison impossible.\\nNeither can I see that the fact of our already hav-\\ning lower freight rates than exist in other countries\\nis a valid reason for not trying to get still lower ones.\\nComing to the question of how to raise the capital\\nto pay for the railroads, nothing is simpler. No new\\ncapital would be required. It is only a question of\\nthe transfer of capital already in existence, not alto-", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0062.jp2"}, "63": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 63\\ngether unlike that which takes place when a railroad\\ncompany is reorganized, and the holders of the old\\nsecurities exchange them for new and better ones. As\\nexplained in the chapter on interest, there is hardly a\\nrailroad in the country, if any at all, which does not\\npay running expenses and some profit on the capital in-\\nvested. This profit is usually absorbed in the payment\\nof unreasonable interest on bonds, or in other ways\\nbest known to railroad accountants; but, taken as a\\nwhole, the railroads of the country pay a fair net\\nprofit on their total capitalization, water and all, under\\ntheir present management. If acquired by our gov-\\nernment at a just valuation it would be a difficult mat-\\nter to keep them from paying more than 5 per cent.\\nOur present 3 per cent bonds sell at a premium. With\\nthe additional assets of all the railroads in the country\\nbehind them, bonds paying 2^ per cent would sell at\\npar, or higher. All the railroad bonds and stock now\\nin existence would be canceled, and the present holders\\nof those securities would be invited to take govern-\\nment bonds in their stead.\\nThe net earnings of the railroads would be devoted\\nto the payment of the interest on the bonds, and the\\nsurplus over and above the amount required for this\\npurpose could be applied towards the payment of the\\nprincipal.\\nNot only would nearly all the holders of the present\\nrailroad bonds and stock be glad to exchange them on\\nequitable terms for government bonds, but thousands\\nof capitalists, large and small, throughout the country,\\nwould be glad to invest in diese bonds, and they\\nshould be issued in such denominations as to make", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0063.jp2"}, "64": {"fulltext": "64 ECONOMICS.\\nthem a practicable investment for the savings of the\\npoor, thereby furnishing a government savings bank\\nwithout the objectionable feature of anyone having to\\nbe taxed to pay the interest.\\nWhile opposed to the issue of government bonds to\\nraise money to pay current expenses, pensions, or for\\nmilitary and naval equipment, I can see no objection\\nto their issue where the proceeds are applied to the\\npurchase of property yielding a larger annual net\\nincome than the interest on the bonds, so that a sur-\\nplus is applicable to the extinguishment of the debt,\\nand no one need ever be taxed for the payment of\\ninterest or principal.\\nIf the government ownership of the railroads should\\nprove undesirable, the roads could be sold at a profit\\nbecause, when consolidated under one management,\\nthe advantages and economies of such consolidation\\nwould be so apparent, and the net earning capacity\\nof the roads would be so increased, that the value of\\nthe property as a whole would be thereby vastly in-\\ncreased.\\nINTEREST.\\nInteresting as the subject is, it would perhaps be\\nout of place, when discussing economics of the prac-\\ntical variety, to argue the question of whether the\\nexaction of interest at all is justifiable whether, when\\na lender receives back all he loaned, in as good condi-\\ntion as when he loaned it, he has not received all to\\nwhich he is justly entitled; but the average rate of\\ninterest in this country to-day being not much more\\nthan half what it was within my own memory, and\\nthe rate everywhere being much lower than it was", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0064.jp2"}, "65": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 65\\na generation ago, makes it appear within the possi-\\nbilities that a time may come when it will not be un-\\nusual for capital to be loaned flat even on purely\\nbusiness principles, where the security is absolute and\\nno risk is involved. Nearly all forms of property\\ndeteriorate rapidly and must be repaired or replaced\\nat short intervals, so that a lender who gets back\\nexactly what he loaned is often a gainer by the transac-\\ntion.\\nCapital increases faster than population, and with\\nthe march of improvement it will, as time goes on,\\ndoubtless mcrease proportionately still faster, while\\nthe increase in population seems likely to be less rapid\\nin the future than in the past. As the relative propor-\\ntion of capital to labor increases, a smaller share of\\nwhat is produced will go to capital and a larger share\\nto labor. The next generation will, I think, regard\\n2 per cent per annum as a fair rate of interest, and\\nthat would have been about the current rate now if\\ngovernments throughout the world had not absorbed\\nalmost incalculable amounts of capital and wasted it\\nin the maintenance of armies, navies, royalty, nobility,\\nand other equally useless things, and at the same\\ntime sustained the rate of interest by being always in\\nthe market for capital, bidding against all comers for\\nit. As long as national, state and city governments\\nstand ready to pay 3 per cent and upwards for all\\ncapital offered, companies and individuals cannot bor-\\nrow for less, but with the extension of knowledge of\\nfinance and economics it is not unlikely that people\\nwill gradually realize the extent of the burden which\\ngovernment bonds impose, and their issue will become", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0065.jp2"}, "66": {"fulltext": "66 ECONOMICS.\\nSO unpopular with the masses that governments will\\nnot attempt to issue them to the same extent as has\\nbeen done in the past.\\nIn borrowing capital there is a very general tend-\\nency, as there frequently is in making purchases, to\\npay for what one hopes may be the result of the\\ntransaction rather than for what may legitimately be\\nexpected to result from it, and this general hopeful-\\nness has a tendency to keep rates of interest above\\nwhat the borrower can pay in addition to fair pay for\\nhis time and reasonable interest on his own capital.\\nIf a man living in Julius Caesar s time had invested\\na sum equal to a dollar of our money at compound\\ninterest, and had given instructions that it be kept\\ninvested in that way at the current rates of interest\\nand be handed down to the eldest son in the direct\\nline of descent, and his wishes had been carried out^\\nall the property now in existence would belong to the\\npresent owner of the fund, and the earth s other in-\\nhabitants would be helplessly in debt to him. This\\ntends to show that rates of interest have hitherto been\\ntoo high that borrowers have paid more for the use\\nof capital than it is, on an average, worth to them.\\nMany a business man, inexperienced in the manage-\\nment of large amounts of capital, has thought he\\ncould use additional capital to great advantage, and\\nhas undertaken to pay rates of interest so high that\\nthe borrowed capital, as well as his own, has been\\ngradually absorbed in the payment of interest, so\\nthat after a lifetime of hard and honest work, and\\nafter he has really paid back both principal and a\\nfair rate of interest, he has found himself bankrupt.", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0066.jp2"}, "67": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 67\\nThis same thing has happened to nearly all the railroad\\ncompanies in this country. They have, with hardly\\nan exception, earned a fair rate of interest on the\\ncapital invested in them, but they have also, with\\nfew, if any, exceptions, been enormous borrowers of\\ncapital at higher rates of interest than the business,\\nas usually managed, pays; and a large majority of\\nthem have, after defaulting in the payment of these\\nimpossible rates of interest, passed into the hands of\\nreceivers when this occurs a reorganization takes\\nplace each bondholder is given a new piece of paper\\nin exchange for his old one, usually at a lower, but\\nstill too high, rate of interest; each stockholder pays\\ninto the treasury a certain number of dollars (to be\\nagain absorbed by the interest on the bonds ahead of\\nhim) per sliare of stock which he holds, for which\\nhe also usually gets a new piece of paper of some\\nsort. Most of the roads in this country have passed\\nthrough this process at least once, and many of them\\nhalf a dozen times or more, and each time the game is\\nworked some influential financier gets an enormous\\nrake-off from the new capital which he succeeds\\nin getting paid in.\\nI do not know of a railroad in the country which\\ndoes not pay its running expenses and some return\\non the capital invested in it, and if this capital had\\nbeen contributed as stock, instead of bonds, every\\nroad in America would to-day be paying dividends,\\nand not one would be in the hands of a receiver. The\\ninterest on their bonds takes all the net earnings of\\nmost railroads and gradually absorbs the capital con-", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0067.jp2"}, "68": {"fulltext": "68 ECONOMICS.\\ntributed by the stockholders, just the same as the\\npayment of too much interest ruins any other business.\\nGovernment three per cent bonds command a pre-\\nmium money in Wall Street loans on stock collateral\\nat two to three per cent, and in London commercial\\nbills are discounted at these rates. All these invest-\\nments involve a certain slight risk of loss, so it does\\nnot appear unreasonable to assume that the actual\\nrate of interest, leaving out all risk, is, at present,\\nnot more than two per cent per annum; and, conse-\\nquently, anything paid above that rate is for risk\\nfor what economists designate as insurance, but\\nit appears to me that in this kind of insurance the\\nwrong person pays the premium. If a business man\\nborrows capital at six per cent he pays two per cent\\ninterest and four per cent for the risk which the lender\\nis supposed to take, but if the borrower loses the\\nmoney he is not released from the debt he has, there-\\nfore, paid for insurance which he did not get. Even\\nthough he pay the four per cent insurance until it\\namounts to enough to pay off the principal, he is not\\nreleased. In other words, those who borrow at interest\\npay not only the interest on what they borrow, but\\nalso pay both interest and principal for those who\\nborrow and never pay, just as a man pays his tailor\\nfor his own coat arid for that of the customer who\\nnever pays. This is injustice, and I think that\\nwhen the subject is more generally understood, capi-\\ntal furnished for use in business will be considered at\\nthe risk of such business and if sunk therein the lender\\nwill have no recourse on the borrower beyond re-\\nquiring him to show that he used the money as he", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0068.jp2"}, "69": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 69\\nagreed to use it, and that it was really and honestly\\nlost. Then King Solomon s remark that the bor-\\nrower is servant to the lender would no longer be\\ntrue, for they would be partners. Honesty and in-\\ndustry could not then result in bankruptcy, as they\\noften have in the past.\\nIf all such devices as bonds and preferred stock\\nwere abolished and only one kind of paper, namely,\\ncommon stock, were allowed to be issued by compa-\\nnies, there would not be one in the hands of a receiver\\nfor every hundred there now.\\nI have no quarrel with any capitalist who embarks\\nhis capital in any kind of enterprise he sees fit; so\\nlong as he takes all the risk he is fairly entitled to all\\nthe profit to which he is entitled if he win. But the\\nother kind, who want all the profit, and more, while\\nsome one else takes all the risk and does all the work,\\nshould not be protected by law in their efforts to ac-\\ncomplish the desired result.\\nIt is undeniable that many men have succeeded in\\namassing wealth for themselves while paying the\\nusual rate of interest on borrowed capital, and have\\nbeen enabled to enlarge their business much faster\\nthan it would have been possible to have done if they\\ncould have increased their operations only as fast as\\ntheir own capital increased but these would have done\\njust as well for themselves and those who furnished\\nthem capital if it had been understood that the cap-\\nital was, directly, at the risk of the business, and it is\\nequally true that most men have an exaggerated idea\\nof the percentage to be made on capital by men of\\naverage business ability and opportunities. One rea-", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0069.jp2"}, "70": {"fulltext": "70 ECONOMICS.\\nson for the very general overestimate of the value of\\nthe use of capital is the underestimate of the value\\nof personal services in connection with it; thus, a\\nman who has $10,000 invested in his business, and is\\nmaking an annual average income of $3,500, is apt\\nto think he is making thirty-five per cent on his capital,\\nwhereas the truth, very likely, is that he could com-\\nmand a salary of $2,500, and is really making only\\nten per cent on his capital, and it is quite possible\\nthat he could not make even this on a larger amount.\\nWhile many individuals and corporations have be-\\ncome bankrupt by paying higher rates of interest than\\nthe profits of their business warranted, many a lender\\nhas suffered from the same cause. Millions of dol-\\nlars are annually invested by persons inexperienced\\nin finance, in bonds on which the borrowing company\\nor individual agrees to pay, and for a few years, per-\\nhaps, does pay, a higher rate of interest than its or\\nhis business warrants. Suddenly the interest stops,\\nand an investigation discloses the fact that both bor-\\nrower and lender are bankrupt the borrower because\\nhe has paid more for the capital than his business\\nadmitted of, and the lender because he has adjusted\\nhis expenses to a fictitious income. No such result\\nneed have come about if it had been understood that\\nthe remuneration for the use of the capital consisted\\nof a share of the profit, instead of a fixed annual sum\\nirrespective of the profits or losses of the business.\\nAll capital used in any business is in reality at the\\nrisk of the business in which it is used, and it would\\nbe better for borrower, lender and the whole com-\\nmunity if this fact were generally understood and", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0070.jp2"}, "71": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 71\\nlegally recognized. It is true, theoretically, that the\\nborrower s own capital must be exhausted before that\\nof the lender is trenched upon, but in most cases the\\nformer is invested in plant and other fixed invest-\\nments, so that it is not immediately available for the\\npayments of debts, and in the case of railroads and\\nother large corporations the common stock is usually\\npure water, so that the capital contributed by the bond-\\nholders is immediately and directly at the risk of the\\nbusiness, although it is not always so understood by\\nthem. Instead of passing usury laws to regulate the\\nrate of interest, which are often unjust, and can al-\\nways be evaded, it would be better to educate the\\nprospective borrowers and lenders of capital so they\\ncould intelligently estimate its value, and the risk\\ninvolved in its use for various purposes. And it\\nwould be better for both borrowers and lenders if\\nall investments of capital, except, perhaps, temporary\\nloans for short periods, were made for a share of the\\nprofits instead of a fixed rate of interest. Investors\\nwould then take a more direct and personal interest\\nin the management of the enterprises in which their\\ncapital was ^embarked, thereby, frequently, checking\\nwaste, extravagance and fraud while, on the other\\nhand, the energetic, enterprising men who are the\\nlargest borrowers of capital would get its use for\\nabout what it is worth, and would not, as is often the\\ncase under present conditions, pay the owners of the\\ncapital a good share of the profits when successful,\\nand stand all the losses when such occur.", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0071.jp2"}, "72": {"fulltext": "^2. ECONOMICS.\\nTAXES.\\nTo go thoroughly into the subject of taxation would\\nincrease the size of this little book beyond the limits\\nset for it, and every public library contains so many\\nvaluable works devoted to that subject that I am\\nonly going to write a very short chapter on it. I\\nbelieve in the single tax idea, not to the point of con-\\nfiscating for the general good all past increase in\\nland values, as advocated by Henry George in Prog-\\nress and Poverty, but that a single tax on land is\\nthe fairest, the simplest, the most natural, the easiest\\nand cheapest collected, and in every way the best\\nform of taxation ever devised. And as some of my\\nreaders may not have had the time or inclination to\\nread the able and exhaustive works of Mr. George and\\nothers, some of them written a century or more ago,\\nadvocating a single tax, I will try to show, in a few\\nwords, its justice and some of its advantages, in the\\nhope that some who have not given serious thought\\nto the subject may be induced to investigate it.\\nTo begin at the beginning, it is difficult to conceive\\nhow any human being ever got, or could get, a valid\\nand exclusive title to any piece of land. Most titles\\nrun back to grants from some pope, lord, king, queen\\nor other government who granted away what never\\nbelonged to them, and in the very nature of things\\ncould not have belonged to them, and a thing which\\nwas originally wrong cannot, by lapse of time, become\\nright. What are called Vested Rights are almost,\\nor quite, invariably Vested Wrongs, and private\\nownership of land is the greatest of them.", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0072.jp2"}, "73": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 73\\nBut we are discussing practical economies, and as\\nit is not practicable in the present condition of public\\nopinion to abolish such private ownership we will go\\nno further in that direction than to advance as one\\nreason why landowners should bear the whole burden\\nof taxation the fact that they are using, or compelling\\nothers to pay them for the use of, that which of right\\nbelongs to all.\\nThe land owner is a sort of residuary legatee, who\\nreceives all the profits of nearly all industries over\\nand above the usual rate of interest on loanable cap-\\nital and moderate wages for those engaged in them,\\nand no injustice is perpetrated when he is required\\nto give back to the public in the form of taxes a part\\nof the income derived, without effort on his part, from\\nthat which he never produced.\\nA tax on land is one of the few taxes which cannot\\nbe shifted from the shoulders of the rich onto those\\nof the poor, or comparatively poor. A tax on buildings\\nhas a tendency to restrict their number, thereby help-\\ning their owners to obtain high rents for them. A\\nduty on imports is always and immediately added to\\nthe selling price of the goods; obviously no one\\nwould engage in the import business unless this could\\nbe done. When a law is passed requiring a stamp\\nto be attached to telegraphic messages, express re-\\nceipts and the like the company requires the sender\\nof the package or the message to pay for the stamp.\\nWhen a workingman votes that a street car company\\nshall pay a part of its earnings into the city treasury\\nas compensation for the use of the streets he, as a rule,\\nhas no idea that he is voting to shift a part of the", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0073.jp2"}, "74": {"fulltext": "74 ECONOMICS.\\nexpenses of the city government from the shoulders\\nof land owners onto his own, but a very little reflec-\\ntion shows that compensation to the city is simply\\nan ingenious device for shifting the burden of taxa-\\ntion from the backs of those who should bear it to\\nthose of the masses who ride to and from their daily\\nwork in the street cars. Supposing the companies to\\nbe required to pay twenty per cent of their gross re-\\nceipts into the city treasury, it is obvious that when\\na passenger hands a nickel to the conductor he is\\npaying four cents car fare and one cent tax. I have\\nseen it stated in the newspapers that Glasgow is a\\ncity without taxes because the income from the\\nstreet railways pays the entire cost of running the city\\ngovernment. If this is true, which I believe it is not,\\nthen Glasgow should not be described as a city with-\\nout taxes, but as a city where the patrons of the\\nstreet cars pay all the taxes, and where those who\\nuse more aristocratic modes of conveyance pay none.\\nBut a tax on land must be borne by the owner; he\\ncannot shift it onto anyone else. As explained in\\nthe chapter on values, all values are determined by\\nsupply and demand. The amount of land in existence\\ncould not be decreased nor could the demand for it\\nbe increased by the fact that its owners had to pay\\nmore or less taxes, and rents would, therefore, not be\\naffected except that owing to the fact that taxes would\\nbe the same on unimproved as on improved property\\nowners of the former would find it to their interest\\nto improve it, thereby increasing the supply and di-\\nminishing the rent of improved property, so that if all\\nother taxes were removed, and a single tax on land", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0074.jp2"}, "75": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 75\\nsubstituted for all others, the masses, who live in\\nrented houses or flats, would be doubly benefited.\\nThey would be saved the sums they now pay indi-\\nrectly in duties on imports, in taxes on their personal\\nproperty, etc., and would obtain the same houses or\\napartments, which they now occupy, or better ones, at\\nlower rents. The owner of a home in the city or\\nof a farm of reasonable size in the country would not\\nfind his taxes increased, because a large part, perhaps\\nthe larger part, of the taxes which he now pays are\\nassessed on his buildings and improvements, and not\\non the land proper. If the single tax were in force\\nthe land would be taxed entirely irrespective of the\\nimprovements on it, a vacant lot just the same as one\\non which stood a sixteen-story building, and we should\\nsoon see fewer vacant lots. I am unable to under-\\nstand why the owner of a piece of land who refuses\\nto use it himself or to let anyone else use it should,\\nfor that reason, pay a smaller tax than the man who\\nbuilds a home or otherwise makes use of his land\\nmust pay.\\nPROTECTION AND FREE TRADE.\\nEvery country must, in the long run, import as much\\nas it exports, except that creditor countries, like Eng-\\nland, can import more, in value, than they export to\\nthe extent of the interest on the obligations of the\\ncitizens of other countries which are held by its citi-\\nzens and debtor countries, such as the United States,\\nmust export more than they import, to the extent of\\nthe interest on the obligations of its citizens held by\\nthe citizens of other countries.", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0075.jp2"}, "76": {"fulltext": "y( ECONOMICS.\\nThe interest on debts, public and private, due from\\none nation to another is nearly always paid in com-\\nmodities, not in money, so that debtor nations export\\nmore than they import, while creditor nations import\\nmore than they export.\\nWith the increase of wealth in this country, and as\\nopportunities for the profitable investment of capital\\nbecome fully occupied, American capital will probably\\nbe more and more invested in other and less advanced\\ncountries where higher rates of interest can be ob-\\ntained; then those countries will have to send us\\nmore than we send them, and our imports will regu-\\nlarly exceed our exports but until then we must con-\\ntinue to send them more than they send us.\\nIf, for a time, the exports from any particular nation\\nexceeded in value its imports to such an extent that\\ngold is imported, the increased supply of gold in that\\ncountry will cause the value of that metal to decline\\nthere, or, in other words, prices there will rise, thereby\\nchecking exports. If, on the other hand, imports\\nexceed exports to such an extent that gold is exported,\\nthe diminished supply of gold will cause its value to\\nrise so that prices of commodities will fall, whereby\\nexports will be stimulated and imports checked. If\\nthose simple facts were generally and clearly under-\\nstood it is probable that fewer efforts would be made\\nto artificially stimulate exports than are now made\\nby the governments and citizens of most countries.\\nIt is sometimes advantageous for a country to im-\\nport a commodity which it could produce more cheaply\\nthan that commodity can be produced in the country\\nfrom which it is imported, because the labor and cap-", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0076.jp2"}, "77": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. yj\\nital of the importing country can be more profitably\\nemployed in other ways, on the same principle as a\\nfarmer who can plow better than his hired man may\\nstill find it profitable to hire his plowing done because\\nhe, himself, can employ his time more profitably at\\nsomething else.\\nProtection causes the diversion of labor and capital\\nfrom their natural channels to others which, but for\\nthe protection, would be less remunerative, and the\\ncommunity is a loser to the extent of the difference\\nbetween the profit which would be derived from the\\nformer as compared with the latter under natural\\nconditions, without the protection. It is a mistake\\nto suppose that any part of the labor and capital em-\\nployed in protected industries would remain idle if\\nthe protection were withdrawn from these industries.\\nThey would simply flow into their natural channels\\nwhereby the community in general would be benefited,\\nthe laborers would be as well, or better, off, but some\\ncapitalists might receive a somewhat smaller return\\non their capital. A community, as a whole, cannot\\nbe better off because of the diversion of its labor and\\ncapital from employments which are profitable under\\nnatural conditions to others which only pay capital-\\nists the average rate of profit, or more, by compelling\\nconsumers to pay a higher price for goods of domestic\\nproduction than imported goods would cost if it were\\nnot for the protective tariff.\\nIf all duties on imports were removed we would,\\nundoubtedly, import many more goods than at present,\\nbut we would also export vastly more. We would\\nbuy from other countries such goods as they can\\nLore.", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0077.jp2"}, "78": {"fulltext": "78 ECONOMICS.\\nproduce better or cheaper than we can, and we would\\nsell to them everything which we could, under nat-\\nural conditions, produce better and cheaper than they\\ncan. The division of labor among nations, if free\\ntrade prevailed, would be like that in a well-regulated\\nfactory. Each would do that for which it, and its\\ncitizens, are best adapted all would enjoy many things\\nwhich are now within the reach of only the rich, and\\nall would get many things cheaper and of better quality\\nthan at present.\\nI cannot see anything in free trade to cause a re-\\nduction in wages. Admitting that we would import\\nsome things which we nnow produce for^ ourselves,\\nwe would have to produce, for export, much that we\\ndo not now produce at all, because, obviously, the\\nforeigners would not give us their goods, and, conse-\\nquently, every import would have to be paid for by\\nan export of corresponding value. We could not con-\\ntinually import more than we exported if we tried;\\nbut the exchange of commodities between any two\\ncountries does not, by any means, necessarily balance.\\nIt is the grand total of exports and imports between\\nany one country and all others which must, in the\\nlong run, come out even. We may export to A and\\nonly import from B, in which event the imports from\\nB will balance the exports to A except that we must,\\nas already stated, export enough in addition to bal-\\nancing our imports to pay the interest on our indebt-\\nedness to other countries.\\nThe policy adopted by many governments, of trying\\nto stimulate foreign trade by encouraging exports,\\nand simultaneously doing all in their power to prevent", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0078.jp2"}, "79": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 79\\nit by imposing high tariffs, is like the argument of\\nthose people who advocate protection because it raises\\nprices, and at the same time denounce trusts for their\\nefforts to accomplish the same result. If foreign trade\\nis a bad thing both exports and imports should be\\ndiscouraged. If it is desirable, then both should be\\nencouraged because they are inseparable one cannot\\nlong exist without the other.\\nFree trade would do more than any other legislation\\ncould do to defeat the ends of those trusts and com-\\nbinations which try to raise prices by restricting pro-\\nduction, because the unrestricted introduction of for-\\neign goods would make such restrictions futile.\\nIt is sometimes argued that American consumers\\nhave to pay more for goods of American manufacture\\nbecause these same goods are sold for lower prices in\\nforeign than in domestic markets, but the reverse is\\noften true. This state of affairs demonstrates the\\ncorrectness of the argument that there is no necessary\\nconnection between the cost of production and value;\\nhut it does not, by any means, prove that the domestic\\nconsumers pay more than they would otherwise have\\nto pay because of the comparatively lower prices at\\nwhich the foreign consumer is supplied. No Ameri-\\ncan manufacturer would be so foolish as to sell his\\ngoods below cost in foreign markets, and then try\\nto recoup the loss by raising the price to domestic\\nbvyers. It would be more profitable for him to pro-\\nduce only as much as the home market would take at\\nthe same price as though the foreign trade existed.\\nWhat the shrewd manufacturer really does is to sell\\nall he can to the home trade at the highest prices he", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0079.jp2"}, "80": {"fulltext": "80 ECONOMICS.\\ncan charge without bringing in foreign competition,\\nand then he disposes of the remainder of his output,\\nfurther away, in open competition, at such prices as\\nhe can get, as long as they cover the actual net cost\\nof manufacture and transportation, and pay something\\ntowards fixed charges, and as long as the average of\\nthe prices obtained for the goods sold in both foreign\\nand domestic markets is higher than he could obtain\\nby selling an output of the same magnitude at home.\\nIf this latter were attempted prices of many commodi-\\nties would go so low that their production would soon\\nhave to stop altogether; and if production were re-\\nstricted to what the home market would take at a\\nfair profit the cost of production would be so increased\\nthat prices would have to be raised higher than those\\nnow paid by the domestic consumer even though the\\nforeigner is supplied for much less.\\nThis same line of reasoning applies to all lines of\\nbusiness. A merchant whose usual gross profit is ten\\nper cent on the amount of his sales, and whose annual\\nfixed expenses absorb seven per cent of his average\\nbusiness, still finds it profitable to make certain sales\\nfor a gross profit of five per cent, after having satisfied\\nhimself that a higher rate cannot be obtained. All\\nhis expenses go on the same whether these particular\\nsales are made or not, so that the gross profit on them\\nis all net gain in the same sense as the amount which\\na manufacturer receives from the sale of a by-product\\nis all profit, although the business in both cases is, in\\nanother sense, done at a loss; for if all the business\\ndone were on the same basis a disastrous loss would\\nbe shown by the balance sheet at the end of the year.", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0080.jp2"}, "81": {"fulltext": "ECONOMICS. 8l\\nI know nothing about the actual cost of operating\\na railroad, but, to illustrate this same principle in the\\nbusiness of transportation, let us assume that the\\naverage cost of running a freight train is fifty cents\\nper mile, including maintenance of way, of rolling\\nstock, interest on bonds, and all other expenses; and\\nthat thirty cents per mile covers the net cost of fuel,\\nwear on track and rolling stock, and wages of train-\\nmen, the remaining cost being made up of maintenance\\nof roadbed, bridges, signals, wages of station agents,\\nclerks and officers, and interest on the company s in-\\ndebtedness. Obviously, if the revenue from all busi-\\nness amounted, on an average, to only forty cents per\\nmile for each train the company would lose money,\\nbut if a dollar or more per mile can be obtained for\\nhauling first-class freight it will be found profitable\\nto haul cheap and bulky goods, which would not move\\nat all, or only in small volume, at a higher rate, for\\nforty or even thirty-five cents per train per mile, be-\\ncause that rate will pay the net cost of running the\\ntrain and something towards the fixed charges, thereby\\nmaterially reducing the cost of handling the more\\nprofitable business. This principle was long ago given\\nexpression by railroad men in their maxim of charging\\nall the traffic will stand, in which there is less in-\\njustice than is at first sight apparent. The same is\\noften true of the custom of selling goods for export\\ncheaper than for domestic consumption, and we often,\\ndoubtless, get the benefit, on this principle, of lower\\nprices for goods which we import than the consum-\\ners in the countries where they are produced pay for\\nthem.", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0081.jp2"}, "82": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0082.jp2"}, "83": {"fulltext": "Quo Vadis Henryk Slenkiewlcz\\nReproach of Annesley.. Maxwell Gray\\nReveries of a Bachelor. D. G. Mitchell\\nRomance of Two Worlds. .Marie Corelli\\nRouiola Georpe Eliot\\nSaddle and Sabre Ha wley Smart\\nSamantha at Saratoga. Marietta Holley\\nScarlet Letter, The Hawthorne\\nSecrets of the BastilcWm. Parmiter Kent\\nShadow of a Sin Bertha M. Clay\\nShadowed to Europe.. .James Mooney\\nShips that Pass in the Night. .Harraden\\nShe H. Rider Haggard\\nSign of the Four, The. ..A. Couan Doyle\\nSilas Marner George Eliot\\nSister s Love, A W. Heiml)urg\\nSketch Book Washington Irving\\nSon of Clemenceau.The. Alex. Dumas, Jr.\\nSon of Porthos, The Alexandre Dumas\\nSpy, The J. Fenimore Cooper\\nSquire s Darling, The. .Bertha M. Clay\\nStory of An African Farm. .Olive Schreiner\\nStory of a Wedding Ring. .Bertha M. Clay\\nStrange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.\\nRobt. L. Stevenson\\nStrange World, A M. E. Braddou\\nStudy in Scarlet A. Conan Doyle\\nSunshine and Roses The Duchess\\nTerrible Temptation, A.Charles Reade\\nThelma Marie Corelli\\nThorns and Orange Blossoms. .B. M. Clay\\nThree Guardsmen Alex. Dumas\\nThree Men in a Boat. .Jerome K. Jerome\\nThree Red Knights. The. DeFeval\\nThrown on the World. .Bertha M. Clay\\nTillyloss Scandal J. M. Barrie\\nToilers of the Sea Victor Hugo\\nTour of the World in Eighty Days. Verxie\\nTourmaline s Time Chequss.F Anstey\\nTramp Actor Elliott F. Barnes\\nTreasure Island Robt. L. Stevensoa\\nTrue Magdalen Bertha M. Clay\\nTrumpet Major Thos. Hardy\\nTwenty Thoiisand Leagues Under the Sea.\\nJules A erne\\nTwenty Years After Alexandre Dumaa\\nTwo Orphans R. D Ennery\\nUarda George Ebers\\nUmlercurrents The Duchess\\nUndine De LaMotte Fouque\\nUrania Camille Flammarion\\nVendetta Marie Corelli\\nVicomte de Bragelonne. Alexandre Dumas\\nWalter s Wooing Bertha M. Clay\\nWeaker Than a WomanBertha M. Clay\\nWedded and Parted Bertha M. Clay\\nWee Wifie Rosa N.Carey\\nWe Two Edna Lyall\\nW^hat sBred in the Bone. Grant Allen\\nWhen a Man s Single... J. M. Barrie\\nWhite Company, The.. .A. Conan Doyle\\nWife in Name Only Bertha M. Clay\\nWife s Sacrifice, A R. D Ennery\\nWindow in Thrums J. M. Barrie\\nWinsome but Wicked. ..Maud Meredith\\nWoman Against Woman Mrs. M. E. Holme*\\nWoman s Error, A Bertha M. Clay\\nWoman s Face, A Florence Warden\\nWoman s War, A Bertha M. Clay\\nWon at Last Beatrice Marean\\nWon by Waiting Edna Lyall\\nWooed and Married Rosa N. Carey\\nWormwood Marie Corelli\\nWorth Winning Mrs. Lovett Cameron\\nYoung Girl s Love. A. .Bertha JLClay\\nThe above works will be sent to any address in U. S., Canada or Mexico\\nupon receipt of 25 cents each copy, or five copies for $1.00, post paid by us.\\nM Fast SeiiiQO Wm Hovels\\nTHE MARIE\\nST. FELIX\\nBOOKS.\\nA LITTLE GAME WITH DESTINY\\nTWO BAD BROWN EYES\\nPATRICIA\\nOver one million of these books\\nhave been sold.\\nFor cleverness and originality nothing better has been written in the English\\nlanguage. New editions\u00e2\u0080\u0094 illustrated covers\u00e2\u0080\u0094 50 cents each or the three books\\nfor 51.00, postpaid.\\nDONOHUE BROTHERS,\\n407-429 Dearborn St., CHICAGO.", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0083.jp2"}, "84": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\n013 721 228 6", "height": "2712", "width": "1784", "jp2-path": "practicaleconomi00sand_0084.jp2"}}