The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-11-06

/ capital and an empire OF inaccessible
| land Is going tO~waste with no other crop
/ than wild grass and snakes In my judy
ment, the attacks on the business of the
/ country have got to stop. unless the peo-
4 pie really believe they will profit by d
period OF stagnation and no work. |
| suppose my knowledge Of business men
I Is equal to the knowledge OF the average
politician. So / put my word and my
| experience against him, and say that
the merchants, manufacturers, and bank
ers OF to-day are no less honest, either
I IN truth, conduct, or money, than the
merchants. manufacturers, and bankers
/ or ten, thirty, forty, or fifty years agr,"
Meanwhile, / said, the opportunities
for accommodating a great fortune are rap
/ idly vanishing?"
Rich Gold Camp.
THAT is true. Mr.. Griscom answered.
The United States might be compared
to rich gold camp that has settled
down 10 careful and scientific manage
ment after the rush of discovery and tie
quick and rough building incident there
to are over. Money was made very
rapidly by some men during the develop
ment of the country. The hurry. IN
roar. and confusion were much like the
noise that is heard and the apparent
tumble that is seen around a sky-scraper
in course of construction.
The farmer moved IN wagon to the
prairie or forest, and now his heirs have
land that Is selling at 500 an acre. The
mechanic started shop at the side of
a road. A village came and then a city.
The mechanic is now the president of a
I N = M fs4fargf F-fFlur
roads merchant taking tallow and eggs
for his goods, has become the proprietor
OF department store. Men grew with
their localities. The growth. however
is mostly over. Thus, while the excen-
tional man has lost the chance 10 get
very rich, the average man Is living bet
ter than ever before and is happier, and
the genera welfare is to be preferred be-
fore the welfare of the individual"
What else, inquired. lis the matter
with the country besides the Injurious
attacks on business?'
i think we Americans are becoming
recklessly extravaganza We condemn
combinations, but by the natural process
of Capitalization We brought about econ
omies in operation and thus reduced the
cost of many products 10 the consumer
Combinations therefore, were an Offset
by their influence on prices. TO the in
creasing extravaganza of the people
There was a natural balance, you see.
and we were in no danger. But new
ways of spending money are coming into
fashion. l am a director in banks and
trust companies and know what 1 am
talking about
All Seek Luxury.
Mortgages are being put on homes to
obtair Injuries What would have been
said five years ago Of young man who
pledged his house. the refuge of his wife
and children. that he might buy two or
three horses and carriage? Well the
practice is common now, only the We
hicle is not a carriage and the motor is
a gasoline engine and not horse flesh.
We are losing the old balance between
economies of operation and our expendi
lures for things that are not wholly nee
eSsaTy. There is menace In the stu
alton.
Moreover, I have been thinking about
the 100000 immigrants who annually
swarm into our country. They are tai
ians, largely, and are needed on our
railways
The Irish come no more and those who
do are not common laborers. The i'm
migrants OF the present concentrate in
cities and around our mines and manu-
factories. They are not farmers As a
result. we are eating up our surplus of
wheat and meat Ships to Europe now
make their money on passengers and not
on freight-many OF them. eastward
bound. are only loaded to half of their
capacity. Our imports are dwindlng. the
flow of money to the United States has
been checked. food is rapidly going up