The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-10
A NOVEL PLAN BY
WHICH IT'S HOPED TO
MAKE LIVING CHEAPER

ST. Louis, April 10.-A national pub
Ifcity campaign has been inaugurated
by Leonard Matthews, a millionaire
banker, broker and business man of
st. Louis, to exploit a novel plan he
has evolved for reducing the cost Of
living.
The aim Of Matthews in setting forth
MS plan is to bring about a change
in present conditions so that the fan m
and labor, the source of all wealth,
will get their just proportion of it.
He declares that a system which per-
mits three-fourths of the wealth Of
the country to be owned and controll-
ed by less than One-tenth of the popu-
lation is wrong and should be rem
edied
Though he is SO years old, Matthews
is still active in business and is at his
Office for a few hours every day. He
has magnificent home at SAT Ca
bana Avenue, surrounded by half an
acre of beautiful grounds. He has
appointed himself to the task of find
ing a solution to the present condi-
tons as his just duty to his fellow men
All business corporations are spe-
cial privileges and hence lead to pre-
datOry monopoly Matthews declares
THE monopolistic tendency of capital
may be characterised as the Money
Trust, an Intangible entity, which is
known as electricity is known-by it's
effects through the tendency of ex-
tracing gold from the pockets Of the
people.
MY plan proposes to absorb all mo-
nopo.ies and business corporations in
single, gigantic cooperative holding
company to be known as the Eota
Company, which is an acrOstic of the
slogan Equal Opportunities to ALL
This concern will manufacture goods
of all kinds and sell the same and will
do a general banking, insurance and
railroad business. 1t will operate in
perpetuity under a Federal charter
and with unlimited capital 1t is to
be controlled by government permits
sion. Any person may own stock in
the company.
I'm order to prevent business disas-
ter through a radical change in con-
ditions it is planned to have all cor
pOrations, now existing or which may
organize in the future, obtain Federal
charters, limiting their capital and
term of existence. Provision also is
to be made for the control of prices
salaries Of officials, wages, dividends,
insurance premiums and freight rates
of all business corporations, includ-
ing the Eota Company.
All corporations except the Eota
Company are to set aside 2 Ia per
cent. per annum in a sinking fund,
from which the shareholders are to be
reimbursed at par when the stock of
the corporation is turned over to the
Eota Company at the expiration of
the term of existence as provided by
the Federal charter. AS general
proposition 25 years would be suffi-
clent time to permit a. corporation to
accumulate in it's sinking fund enough
to pay it's stockholders and would
give time enough for the expiration of
existing contracts such as leases,
bonds, etc.
1.-The Eota Company will not be per-
mitted to pay more than six per cent
dividends and the stock held by any
shareholder in excess of s150,000 will be
subject to call at par. The latter
provision will also apply to all exist
ing and new corporations until they
are absorbed by the central company.
with high rents, high rates of in
terest, high salaries to officials, profit
to jobber and retailer and such ex-
penses eliminated, a pair of shoes
which now retails at $3.50 can be sold
for $1.50 by the Eota Company at
profit and suit of clothes that re-
tails for SIS will be sold for SIS or Sc.
With the proceeds Of the company
over the six per cent. dividends, State
and National taxes could be paid,
and the company could build roads,
make rivers navigable, drain swamps,
establish museum and theological gar
dens and buildings for educational
purposes. And all these projects
would give work to more laborers and
would result in immigration of me-
chanics which would enlarge the mar
kets of the country. With the cost
Of necessities reduced and the buy
ing power of money increased the for
mer and laborer would come into
their own